In a simple Japanese style house in the suburbs, an old man was walking leisurely around the yard of his house which was filled with yellowed leaves. Autumn has come. It's time to stock up on all the supplies in the house before the fierce winter comes. The old man looked up, staring at the branches of his tree that had become completely bare.
"Aaarrrggghhh!!!"
The screaming sound made the old man turn his head. The origin is not far from his standing position, precisely in the backyard of his house. He walked over to the source of the sound, then found four children inside the dojo* dressed with dogi*, obi*, and white trousers. The old man did not go directly into the dojo. He looked at the four children with a smile.
Two short-haired boys stood in front of a small curly-haired boy who was half-recumbent. The children who was standing smirked with a grin while the fallen child looked at him with his red face. A young girl who was taller than the two boys stood beside the little fallen boy while nagging toward both of them.
The atmosphere in the dojo at that time was uproared because of the actions of the four children. Adults dressed similarly to the children but with hakama* began to come to separate them. Even so, the old man continued to observe from outside the dojo. At that time, his smile grew wider.
"You wait here!"
The little boy silently watched the back of the girl who went back into the dojo to approach her sensei*. The boy crossed paths with the old man, but immediately looked away, pouting his lips. The old man also walked up to him, then sat beside him.
"What lessons have you learned today, Ken?"
The little boy said nothing. He didn't answer. His position was still looking away in the other direction. He puffed his cheeks, made the old man chuckled silently.
"Hm ... do you think what Minato did to you was wrong?"
Unlike before, the little boy immediately replied in a huffy tone. However, his face was still staring in any direction. "Of course it's wrong! He's so annoying! Suzume and I hate him!"
"Then, did what you did to Minato wrong?"
This time, the boy turned his head. His face looked upset. "Of course not!"
After that, the little boy begins to tell all the events from the very beginning. The reason why he doesn't like his cousin. The reason why he screamed loudly. The reason why he fell to the point of making his knees and calves hurt. All he told with anger gushing out.
The old man listened carefully until the boy ended his story with a rough snort while folding both arms over his stomach.
"Hahaha ...." The old man laughed softly. His gaze led to a pile of rubbish leaves in the corner of the yard. "Why is Ken sure you doesn't feel guilty about Minato when you're the one who challenging him?"
"It wasn't me who challenged him first, Jii-chan! He's the one who beats me up! I don't accept it!"
The old man laughed again, this time while patting the top of his grandson's head. "In that case, it seems that Ken has forgotten something that Grandpa and Sensei once taught you."
The boy tilts his head to the side. His face look confused. He turned his gaze to the side, trying to recall what his grandfather meant that he had forgotten.
"Focus in our dojo is self-control, Ken," he said in a gentle tone. "That's why, don't be surprised if Grandpa and Sensei never taught you to return a punch with a punch, or a kick with a kick."
The swish of the wind pushed the leaf litter collected in the corner of the yard into the tall bamboo fence behind it. The wind made the dry leaves fall again and scattered in every corner of the yard. One or two dry leaves also fell between the two of them who were sitting around, as if it wanted to join the small discussion with them.
"Everyone has energy in their body, Ken," the old man added. He raised one of his hand. A small whirlwind emerged from there, then led and spread towards the dojo courtyard. The whirl of the wind made the leaves scattered on the yard blown into the corner of the yard, and gathered in the same place neatly.
"This energy, of course, does not come entirely from ourselves from birth, but rather there is interference from nature. Therefore, in here, we learn to balance the energy that is exists in our body with the universe. If a person cannot restrain himself in control, then the universe will also not be able to restrain that person from remaining in harmony with him. If a person is able to restrain self-control and blend his energy with nature, then it will allow him to always be in peace and harmony."
The wind blew away the dry leaves that have time to fall to the ground. That sentence, for an eight-year-old boy, is rather difficult to understand. Surprisingly, the sentence remained neatly in the boy's memory for many years later until finally his brain could slightly digest the meaning and intent of the sentence.
The most memorable memory in autumn that Ken can't forget besides the wind and dry leaves is when he was still often taken by his father to play at his grandfather's place. His grandfather who was a former high school teacher and martial arts teacher is a figure he cannot forget, even later when he dies. His unpretentious and thoughtful figure taught Ken many lessons from his early age. A person who never tire of feeding him the knowledge of self-existence and life, the harmony of life with nature, and other life values that cannot be found easily in academies, schools, or perhaps anywhere else.
It's just, Ken doesn't like it when he has to reunite with someone he doesn't like the most every time he visits his grandfather's house or the dojo.
"Come on, get down."
His father's word only replied by an indifferent murmur by Ken. The car they were driving had arrived at his grandfather's yard. However, Ken did not immediately come out and ran over to the owner of the house. Ken just stuck his body in the car door. His eyes glanced sharply in all directions, as if he was looking for someone's whereabouts with anticipation.
Tuk tuk.
Ken flinched back when the car window next to him was suddenly knocked by someone outside. When Ken looked up, he hurriedly picked up his waist bag and opened the car door. Someone who had knocked on the car window smiled at Ken's behavior.
"Take it easy. Minato and Isamu are in the capital right now."
Hearing that, Ken instantly heaved a sigh of relief as he lowered his guard. He follows his grandfather and father who walk into the house which Ken feels has not changed since he last visited many years ago. The difference is, the ceiling of each room he enters no longer feels so high. The atmosphere also feels quieter. There is no noise that usually used to be heard from the dojo that located behind the house.
Ken was curious. "Jii-chan, is there no one in the dojo?"
The old man who had just opened the sliding door leading to the living room turned his head. He smiled, then replied, "There was. Now there is none."
Ken smiled obliquely. His grandfather's style of speech and way of answering absolutely nothing changed. The old man seemed to not want Ken to directly find the point of the answer he was looking for. His grandfather always made Ken's brain work optimally only for one question that was actually easy to answer with just a 'yes' or 'no'.
Because at his grandfather's house there was no television to break Ken's boredom, he decided to go around outside the house. The winter wind at his grandfather's place was blowing stronger than at his house. The difference is that here the snow does not fall as much as in his home. As Ken recalled, it was snowing in early or mid-January, and the winds on that month were colder than Ken could have imagined.
Ken's steps led him towards the dojo right in the backyard of his grandfather's house. Unlike his grandfather's house, the dojo that was still standing firmly in front of his eyes seemed to change to the point that he almost didn't recognize the building.
Ken climbed into the dojo after taking off his shoes. The interior of the room, just like its exterior, is changing. One that hasn't changed is a pitch-black inked calligraphy board attached in the center of the room. The kanji 'Masakatsu Agatsu, Katsu Hayabi'* that was there when Ken looked closely, it looked a little different from what he remembered in his childhood memory. He thought, maybe hus grandpa already changed it because the ink seems bolder than he remember.
His gaze was suddenly attracted by a group of photos located right next to the calligraphy board. His eyes immediately turned towards one photo that captured an image of five boys and three girls smiling broadly. Ken observed the photo while squinting, then burst into laughter. His gaze slowly moved down, looking through the other photos. Until arriving at a photo that contains an images of three boys, his face instantly turned sour.
"Ah, Sensei, are you inside? We just finished training—"
Ken turned his head and also his body to the side when he heard the sound of someone entering the dojo. There is a man about his father's age but older, stood as he looking at Ken without blinking. His eyes instantly widened when he finally remembered who is the young man who's standing in front of him.
"Ken! You're Ken, right?"
Ken chuckled, while nodding his head. The man walked over to Ken, then gripped both of his shoulders tightly. His eyes seemed to tremble, as he ready to cry.
"How are you, Ji-chan?"
The man was silent for a while, as if still not believing with his own eyes, then he laughed out loud. His big muscular hands were wrapped around Ken's shoulders.
"I'm always in a good condition as you can see it, Boy! It's been a long time since you've been here!" The burly big man said with a wide grin. "Now you're already this big. Oh right, I and my whole family watched the first day Ketteibi and saw you in TV!"
Ken could only smile wryly. For him, that's not something to be proud of. Therefore, he could only look down, lowered his head.
"Why you suddenly so lethargic, huh?! Raise your head! It's not something to be ashamed of!" said his uncle while ruffling Ken's hair. "It just this morning Minato went to the capital accompanied by Isamu. That kid ... hahaha! He seemed very upset when he see you in TV on Ketteibi's first day."
Ken smiled wryly, again. His eyes looked in the other way. "We'll never get along, Ji-chan."
His uncle laughed again, this time sound louder and looser. He was holding his stomach as he let go of his laughter too much.
"Oh, you're back, Yuutaro?"
Ken and his uncle reflexively turned their heads towards where the sound came from. His grandfather, as well as the great master in the dojo, walked over to the two followed behind by Ken's father. His uncle took his arms off Ken's shoulders, then walked up to the two men who had just arrived. Later, his uncle seemed engrossed in a conversation with his father while his grandfather approached Ken.
The old man led him towards the center of the room. "Now ... try to expend a little bit of energy in your body, Ken."
Ken looked at the old man in front him with a doubtful look. "... I can't control it yet."
"It's okay," His grandfather's response was so relaxed that it made Ken somewhat confused. "I'll help you."
The youngest man in the dojo was still in doubt. His eyes stared in all directions. "But, this is in the room. Isn't it dangerous?"
His grandfather shook his head calmly. Those eyes, when Ken looked right at his iris, looked at him with seriousness. He then nodded once, coding Ken to immediately do what he asked.
Ken was silent for a while, looking at his grandfather with an incredulous look. He finally let out a long sigh, then raised one of his hand as high as his chest with his palm facing up.
From his palm, flames gushed outward and moved in circles with Ken's palm as the centerpiece. The fire was quite large, half times as large as the flame of a torch.
Because it was still unusual, Ken was a bit afraid to see it himself. It made the flames above his grasp blow and dance in any direction wildly. His grandfather quickly raised his hands, guarding the fire with his opened palm. Suddenly, the movement of the fire began calmer and no longer spread in all directions, as if there was an invisible belt that made the fire unable to scatter in any direction it liked.
"Hm ... not that bad," Ken's grandfather commented, stroking his clean chin without a beard. "Yuutaro, how many wooden supplies are behind the dojo?"
Ken's uncle who had been quietly observing at the edge of the room with his brother in law, somewhat stammered before replying, "Quite a lot, Sensei. It can be for the next five days."
The old man nodded. "Take five logs and put them to the yard for Ken's training aids."
Without much questioning, the burly man walked out exiting the dojo and immediately did what his father in law asked him to do. In the meantime, Ken looked at the old man in front of him with a frown. He clenched his right hand into a fist, making the fire in his grasp vanish in a moment. Confused and curious, Ken asked the meaning of his grandfather's words a minute ago.
The old man rubbed his palms lightly as he replied with a gentle smile, "It doesn't matter if we try to practice outside the dojo, right?"