Although I wanted to brazenly walk in like I owned the place, knocking down the front entrance and causing a commotion in the building would only delay my meeting. Plus, I was here on invitation.
"Hello," I introduced myself to the head instructor, who was at least experienced enough to figure out my level of skill, reaching out my hand in greeting.
"Hello, Atsushi Suedou. Nice to meet you..." the muscular young man with a brown undercut continued to shake my hand, waiting for my response.
"Master Bun," I answered his inquiry, "I am here on some business with the elder. He should be expecting me, I believe."
"Elder?" the man asked, choosing to seek absolute confirmation before disturbing the old man.
"Yes, Master Doppo Orochi. Our families are old friends," I said. Finally, the man had stopped his questioning and started to walk upstairs, telling me to follow him to the old man's office.
We walked to the top floor of the building, and he knocked on the door.
"Come in," I heard the voice of a lion, as if playing with its food before eating, as cats tend to do. Suedou gestured for me to enter by myself, choosing to go back to his training and giving us some much-needed privacy.
"Hahaha, you've no idea how long I've waited for this, boy," the old man spoke, taking the words right out of my mouth. "When that aunt of yours told Natsue about where she was spending her summer vacation, I thought I had misheard while overhearing."
"And when she told her that her nephew, the same one she's always so overprotective of, was receiving training at the Temple and had even earned himself the title of Kaiou, you know I couldn't just pretend like I didn't hear anything."
"You've caused me a lot of trouble, boy. Do you know how long I had to convince Natsue before she dropped the idea of going to the Temple for a vacation?" the old man growled out his frustrations.
"Just what in the world was your Aunt doing there?"
I had no response, too embarrassed by the directness of the question, so I just chose to give a smile in response.
I wasn't lying to Suedou about our families being old friends. Apparently, my Aunt and Master Doppo Orochi's wife were old childhood friends or something, as they already knew each other pretty well.
There was even some bad blood between my Aunt and Master Orochi, though not like my Aunt would choose to reveal it, only telling me to "beat the bald man up" if I got the chance and refusing to elaborate further.
'You don't have to tell me twice, Aunt Elizabeth,' I thought, a grin surfacing on my face as I analyzed the old man's strength. 'What kind of nephew would I be if I couldn't even fulfill such a tiny little request?'
"So boy," the old man stood up out of his chair after seeing my grin, "what're you here for?"
'This cheeky old man, he's even more shameless than Master Ryuu, asking me such a question while he's already raring to go.'
"To have some fun, Master Orochi," I spoke with glee.
However, I chose to calm myself down and make some plans for the future before losing myself to my instincts.
"Ah, and I thought we were just getting to the good part." The man seemed displeased, sitting back down in his chair in a huff.
[2 hours later]
I had finally finished introducing myself and my past to Master Orochi and had devised an extensive training plan with the old man to learn Karate under him for the foreseeable future.
It was much easier to convince the old man than I thought; he just wanted to see my skills in battle to get a good grasp on where I was currently at before deciding how to train me further.
'I'm getting too good at flirting with these old men. I have to stop hanging out with so many of them in the future.' I lamented my charisma, feeling a shiver up my spine as I thought so.
Master Orochi had initially wanted to set up a match with his son Katsumi before taking me under his tutelage, but Katsumi was currently out of town for a few weeks. Thus, Master Orochi, under the pleading of my puppy-dog eyes, decided to have a talk with Mr. Tokugawa about setting up my first match in the Underground Arena located below the Tokyo Dome.
The old man was hesitant to book a match at first, due to having not seen my skills prior to setting up the match. However, with the recommendation of Master Orochi, as well as the credibility of my Kaiou title, he finally relented and set up the match for tomorrow morning.
I was currently on my way to my last destination of the day before retiring back to my hotel to get some sleep, when I coincidentally met a fellow disciple on the street.
'God, what's the chance? Is my luck finally improving now that I'm no longer around my sister?' I asked myself while in a staring match with the man in front of me.
The man was decently tall and very well-built, choosing to have his long black hair tied up into a single pigtail braid. The most striking part of his appearance, however, was his face, specifically his thick eyebrows that were reminiscent of small scythes.
'Kaiou Retsu, in the flesh,' I thought to myself while returning the man's greeting. 'Can this day get any better?'
"Kaiou Bun, if I am not mistaken," spoke the formally ashamed disciple of Balin Temple, "I was not aware that you were traveling to Japan. I've heard much about you from Master Ryuu, especially about the striking rock that you carved out."
Despite his respectfulness, I could tell the man was a little annoyed at what I had done to the sacred tradition of the temple, choosing to carve the face of my sister into the perfectly round ball instead of leaving it as it was.
I decided to return his kind words in turn, "I have also heard a lot about you. Your tales are sung across the halls of the Temple and across all of China, in fact. I would appreciate it if I could receive some guidance from the legendary master of 4,000 years of Chinese Kenpo."
I screamed out the last part of my sentence, imitating his voice as I did so.
'I just couldn't help myself, you know.'
It seemed that the man didn't find my portrayal funny as instead of laughing at my joke, he replied with a face full of seriousness, "I am sure that you are aware, Master Bun, that fights between fellow disciples are forbidden by the Temple's rules."
I wasn't having any of his nonsense, too excited by the interaction earlier in the day with Master Orochi to calm down now.
"Two fellow disciples can't fight according to the Temple's rules," I exclaimed in excitement while getting ready to fight, "but they don't say anything about a battle between two Kaiou, now do they?"
It seemed the man was dead set on having no fun today, as instead of responding to my question, he chose to walk past me and in the direction of the Shinshinkai Headquarters.
I chose not to stop the young Kaiou out of respect for his skills, but I wasn't going to let this be the end of it.
'Just you wait, Kaiou Retsu. By the end of my match tomorrow, you're gonna be begging me for a fight.'
I continued my walk down the road, eventually reaching my next destination, the most renowned hospital in all of Tokyo, as it houses the 'strongest' doctor known to man.
"Hello, I have an appointment with Ma-I mean, Doctor Kureha Shinogi," I spoke to the secretary at the hospital's entrance, who was too busy staring at my arm muscles to respond.
"My name is Kuzan from the Rosen family." It seemed my words finally got through to the young lady, as she broke out of her state flustered by my identity. "Oh, sir Kuzan, yes, the hospital is very thankful for your family's support. The doctor should be right with you in a moment. Please head to examination room one."
It seemed that the sizable donation my Aunt made to the hospital's funds was worth it, as I was able to secure a meeting with the legendary 'Super Doctor' with relative ease.
[Hospital Secretary POV]
'Thank god I was able to get control of myself when I did. Otherwise, if that young man got angry at my delay, I don't know if I'd keep my job till tomorrow.'
'Still,' I thought, while trying to focus my attention back on the paperwork, trying my best to hide the blush on my face, 'I may not have as much medical knowledge as the rest of the doctors in this hospital, but I'm sure...' failing in my attempt to not look back at the man's back as he walked toward the examination room.
'There isn't a single damn thing wrong with that young man's body.'
[Kuzan POV]
I walked into the examination room and sat on the bed, waiting like a child who was swinging his legs while waiting with his mom for the doctor to arrive for a check-up.
My wait was finally over when a man wearing a white lab coat and carrying a clipboard entered the room. Neither his tone of voice nor his tall and muscular frame matched his fairly feminine face.
'But as they say, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.'
"So, Mr. Kuzan, it's nice to meet you again." spoke the man in a calm tone of voice, extending out his hand for a handshake, which I obliged.
"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Mr. Kureha. I'm sorry that I don't remember our last encounter." I asked the man, trying to recall our previous meeting.
"Haha, Kuzan, it would be surprising to me if you did remember," laughed the man, finding my confusion amusing. "You were only an infant when your mom brought you in for a check-up. I was so sorry to hear what had happened. My apologies for bringing it up."
"It's fine, don't worry about it, doc. It was a long time ago," I placated the man's concerns.
"So, what can I help you with today? From the looks of it, I don't think you're here just for a check-up." The man asked, finally getting to the point.
"Yes, doctor, you see, I'm very interested in the correlation between the world of human anatomy and martial arts. I was wondering if you would have some time to teach me some of your skills, as I believe you are an expert in this field."
"Ah, now that definitely wasn't something I was expecting from you, young man." The man was clearly shocked by my request, seemingly unaware of my track record in battle.
"Well, you see, I'm not currently accepting disciples and I'm busy enough here as is with my work at the hospital..."
"You don't have to make the decision today," I cut the man off before he could say no to my request. "I'm having a fight at the underground arena tomorrow. You can at least come see my skills there before making a decision about whether to reject me or not."
"You truly do surprise me, young man. There's clearly more to you than meets the eye...." The man continued to consider in his head about my request.
"Fine, considering how grateful I am for your mother's help in the past, I'll give you a chance. Make sure to impress me, young man."
"I will, Master Shinogi."
"I will."