Rushing through the streets of Gwangjeon, which is where he resided, he looked far and wide for a shop that sold Senbeis but alas, he couldn't find any
"Shit! I could've sworn there was on place that sold 'em."
Just as he was about to give up, he saw Jinbei his student at the dojo. He knew Jinbei had a sweet tooth so he'd know all the sweet shops in Gwangjeon.
"JINBEI!"
Jinbei, alarmed by the shout becomes straight and salutes in the direction of the voice
"Sir! Yes sir!"
"NO WAIT JINBEI YOUR TRAINING IS OVER FOR TODAY DON'T CAUSE A SCENE HERE!"
The voice further alarmed Jinbei who was now fearing for his life
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! WHERE ARE YOU?! SHOW YOURSELF!!"
"I'm right in-front of you idiot!"
Ryukishi flicks Jinbei on the forehead
"Ow! That hurt!"
"Good. That'll teach you not to shout on the streets"
Jinbei gave a look of sadness and then calmed himself down.
"So, sensei why did you call for me?"
"You love sweets don't you"
"Yea. I love 'em soooo much!"
Ryukishi sighed. He thought to himself, "It's clear to see if Jinbei wasn't in the dojo, he'd either be the victim of a sugar disease or the perpetrator making it happen. But, he's still a kid so I guess it is a bit unfair to be so critical on him this early."
"Well in that case, can you tell em where the shop that sells Senbei is?"
"Oh, it's right there."
Jinbei points to the left. Lo and behold it weas right there. In-front of Ryukishi's very eyes. He couldn't believe how unaware of his surroundings he was.
"I-I see… Thank you Jinbei"
"No problem sensei. See you tomorrow!"
Jinbei waved and walked away. The last thing he said reminded Ryukishi that he also had to break the news of him leaving to the kids as well. Who was going to run the dojo while he was gone? How would they react? All these thoughts in his head but he set all those aside for the one that's most important right now…
Delivering the senbei to Hiroshi.
The sun was at it's lowest. Had it gone any lower, you would say it was the evening. Ryukishi, now with the Senbei in hand was running up the steps to get it to Hiroshi before it gets cold.
"The sun's already setting?! How long have I kept Hiroshi waiting?! I have to get there as fast as I can!"
Ryukishi, still running up the steps begins to run out of breath. His pants can be heard from a mile away as his lungs call desperately for more air to come in.
"Just… a little bit more… Come on… Don't give up on me now..."
A few minutes later and he finally makes it up. He sees Hiroshi and is relieved to see he finally made it up before the Senbei got cold.
"Ah… Hiroshi… I'm so sorry I… kept you… waiting… for so long…". With every few words, Ryukishi takes a large breath of air in.
"Don't worry about that. More importantly, are you okay sensei?!"
Hiroshi was shocked. He had never seen his master this tired. Never in his life did he think he'd see this sight.
"Yea… I'm… Fine… Just… Gimme a few minutes… to calm down…"
"Ah. Okay then."
After a few minutes of resting inside Ryukishi's house, he stands up to open the door. It's become a habit for him to gaze at the stars. However, today was a bit too early for that. Nevertheless, he didn't mind watching the sun set either.
He turns his back to Hiroshi and looks at the sky. 'It's so beautiful.'. He thought to himself. 'Why didn't I do this instead of watching the stars?'. You can't blame him for thinking that. The orange hues greatly compliment the shades of pink and maroon that have colored the sky. The clouds did not pull any punches either. They were arranged in such a way that you could only think that mother nature had used this sky as a canvas to create an abstract drawing only she could understand. As for us humans, we just have to look in awe at just how majestic it looks. You couldn't capture it on a scripture or a canvas. You just had to be there to see it.
After a moment of silence, Hiroshi began to speak
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yea. Makes me wish I'd seen it more often"
"I was lucky to have been in the military. Most times we set up camps in areas with a high view so when the sun sets, hoo boy!"
"I see. And how was the training?"
"Honestly, it was really good. I learned a lot. So much so that I think I could beat you." Hiroshi said it in a lighthearted manner, but he was eager to know what his sensei's reaction to that statement would be.
Ryukishi laughed it off, thinking Hiroshi was up to his jokes again.
"Hahaha, we'll see about that when I come back."
"Come back from where?"
"Oh, yea I haven't told you right? I will be leaving in about 7 days or so for an escort mission."
"An escort mission? Really? They're giving you fodder missions now?"
"Well, not exactly."
"Then? What makes this escort mission so big?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. The details for this mission are classified."
"Wow. It's that big of a mission? If that's the case then the next few days are gonna be you just training your ass off and packing up all the resources you need huh?"
"Yes. You're right."
"Meaning, your schedule is packed huh?"
"Yup."
"Then in that case, I have one request."
Ryukishi turned his head to look at Hiroshi before answering.
"Oh? What is this request of your- "
Before Ryukishi could finish, he had been sent flying out of his house and into the backyard. Hiroshi had punched him. By the time he saw the fist, it was already too late. He couldn't even gather his thoughts. 'Why did he do that?', 'Did I do something wrong?' 'Is he out to kill me?', all of these were questions lingering in his head. However, he didn't have time to think any of them through. Hiroshi was standing in-front of him.
"OI HIROSHI! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
Ryukishi, obviously mad shouted at Hiroshi for his rude act.
"Sensei, I thought you'd have figured out by now. It seems that the passage of time has dulled your senses"
This didn't feel right for Ryukishi, Hiroshi never spoke that formally. He was never this well worded. He had begun to realize that the Hiroshi right in-front of him may be a far more intelligent and sinister Hiroshi
"Do they have language classes in the military now?"
Hiroshi chuckled.
"Nah, I happened to develop a habit of reading. It has certainly helped me out in a few situations."
"I- I see… Good to see you reading up. Wait, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about. WHY DID YOU PUNCH ME BRAT?!"
Hiroshi laughed. He couldn't believe how dense his sensei is.
"Oh boy… Do I have to say it outright? I want to fight you, for real this time."
Ryukishi was dumbfounded. For a while he began to consider that Hiroshi may have turned to the dark side and was out for blood. In reality he just wanted to test how good he was.
"Eh? That's what this was about?"
"What? You disappointed?"
"Can't say I ain't. With that punch I thought you were going to kill me."
"What? Me? Kill you? Not in a million years! All I want is to show you how good I am."
Ryukishi had regained his footing. He had also calmed himself from all the adrenaline that was pumped into him with that punch. He walks towards a rack where all the weapons are.
"In that case, take this."
He throws a sheathed blade to Hiroshi. Hiroshi unsheathes is and shocked to find out what kind of blade it is.
"Hey, this blade is metal. I said I only wanted to spar."
"Don't worry, these are dull ones. I use this to teach the kids about weight and balancing."
"Oh. You're smart."
"Wouldn't be your teacher if I wasn't. Now that we're on the same page, LET'S FIGHT!"