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________Narration_________
When the clock struck 6:00 a.m., Shiki was already awake doing push-ups on the floor of his room as sweat beaded all over his body. His progress was clear, the teenager now sporting defined muscles all over his body.
Since Yuji's departure, Shiki has not missed a single day of training, he focused on constantly improving his boxing.
Finishing his exercise, the boy stood up while grabbing a towel to clean himself, leaving his room and heading towards the kitchen.
Whistling a tune as he walked, the boy waved to an elderly man who was sitting in front of the kitchen table.
"Good morning Grandpa."
Opening the refrigerator, he took out a carton of milk and filled a glass, beginning to drink it while slowly moving his eyes to the old man on the table.
"..."
They stared at each other for several seconds, Shiki finally seeming to really understand the man's presence there.
"Grandpa?!" He almost spit out the milk, gulping it down in one gulp as he looked at his grandfather with confusion. "What are you doing here, sir? I thought you were traveling with Great Uncle Takamura!"
Scratching his head in nervousness, the old man turned out to be an aging Ippo Makunouchi, a boxing legend known for his heavy blows and mastery of his style.
"Takamura had an accident and we had to go back..." As if not wanting to bring up the subject, Ippo immediately changed the subject. "Since I was on my way home, I decided to stop by here first."
Shiki nodded, moving to her grandfather and sitting down next to him.
"That's good! That means you can teach me boxing!" Shiki spoke, his eyes gleaming with anticipation as he stared at Ippo.
"So you go on with this idea.... Well, your parents weren't against it, so let's go for it." Ippo cracked a smile as he saw his grandson's enthusiasm, memories of his time in active duty as a fighter coming to the fore for a moment, before he turned his attention back to the boy, who was bouncing with joy toward his room.
"I'll go change!" Shiki exclaimed, walking into her room and leaving an Ippo alone.
.
Akira dodged a punch that advanced toward him, he quickly moving in for a counter punch in an attempt to grab his opponent's wrist, only to have his shoulder grabbed and pulled, causing him to lose his balance.
Boom!
A kick hit him hard in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees as he grabbed the hit spot.
"You used foresight... You cheater..." Akira spoke between groans of pain, his eyes moving up to face his older brother, Kaneda Suekichi, with a serene expression on his face.
Kaneda let out a short laugh, his lips rising into a smile.
"I didn't use that time, you were just too predictable." Kaneda explained, crossing his arms as he watched Akira get up with a little difficulty.
"Predictable?! My reaction was almost instantaneous to your attack!"
"Well, it wasn't fast enough."
A vein popped out on Akira's forehead, him quickly moving towards Kaneda as he lowered his stance in an attempt to knock him down. As he reached him, a counterstroke came, his older brother advancing toward him in such a smooth motion that in Akira's vision, it was like he was sliding.
Bam!
Grabbing the boy's head with both hands, Kaneda knocked him to the ground while throwing a punch towards his face, interrupting the attack to leave his fist inches from his nose.
Akira blinked a few times, trying to understand what had just happened.
"What was that?" Akira asked, Kaneda pulling away and allowing him to sit down.
"That was Kujin style." Kaneda sat up supporting his knees on the floor, crossing his arms as he looked at his brother with his quiet expression. "It's a classic martial art. It focuses mainly on taking down and finishing as quickly as possible. What I did was just one of the techniques of the style."
Akira contemplated his brother's words, his eyes shining with animation as he slowly turned his gaze to Kaneda.
"Teach me."
Kaneda's smile widened upon hearing this.
.
"Don't stop! Keep going! Does it hurt? That means it's working, keep going!"
Osanai punched a punching bag constantly, the screams of his trainer coming into his ears as he kept up the strength of his punches, even though his arms were already aching. In a few weeks, he would be fighting in a professional tournament, so he sought out a boxing academy and began to receive instruction from his trainer. What he did now was power training, designed to increase the stamina and strength of his punches.
"10 seconds left, don't stop!"
Osanai increased the speed of his blows, the punching bag being constantly pushed back due to the strength of his fists, the blond man gritting his teeth due to the fatigue taking over his muscles.
"It's over!"
Osanai threw one last punch, lifting the punching bag horizontally to the height of his neck, he stepped away to sit on a bench, his breathing heavy as he picked up a bottle of water and began to drink it.
"Your conditioning is fine, Osanai. You just need to control your diet to stay in your weight range. The way you are, I am confident in saying that you will make it to the finals without any problems."
Osanai listened to the instructor's words, but just decided not to answer them as he focused on regaining his breath, only nodding in agreement.
The instructor's opinion was positive, but Osanai, on the other hand, did not agree with his words. The professional tournament was a completely different league, but despite this, he trusted his abilities. The problem was a single person, who he would be facing if he went on to the semifinals.
'Muhammad Alai Jr.' Osanai thought as he squinted his eyes.
The son of the one he admired, a boxing prodigy, who was said to have surpassed his father at a young age. Osanai was shocked to discover that a genius like him would be participating in such a tournament, and unlike many, who would feel their confidence shaken by the presence of a fighter like him, Osanai was not discouraged, no.
He was very excited, increasing the intensity of his training as he imagined himself facing such a prodigy.
Maybe his victory was impossible, but the blond didn't care. Whatever Yuji had to get so excited about just fighting someone, it had been passed on to his three friends like a contagious disease.