"Bye Kuzan!"
"Bye, bye. Remember to give me a call when you get there!" I shouted at the girl, while making sure she had all her bags packed correctly once again before she left.
Despite wanting to see her best friend who she had dearly missed since coming to Japan, the girl was a little hesitant to leave. She wanted to confirm once again the next time she would meet the man after their parting.
"And you promise that you'll visit soon?"
"Yes, yes. Now come on, if you're any later, Melissa won't let me hear the end of it."
'It all worked out in the end. For some reason, I couldn't help but worry about Xiao Li's safety while in Japan with those inmates loose and everything. Despite all her training, she's nowhere near their level on a chance encounter. Now, I can focus on my training again.'
Still, as I was seeing her say her last goodbyes, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that it had to come to this.
"Ok, fine, humph." She seemed a little upset at me for trying to 'rush her out.'
"Come on now, is that really how you want to leave?"
It seemed as if the girl had made up her mind. I could see a flash of light pass through her eyes as if making an important decision before leaving.
I could partially guess what it was by the subtle hints displayed by her body language as well as all of our previous encounters...
'I might have some muscles, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot.' I had long noticed the 'feelings' that Xiao Li had towards me.
At first, it was at the Temple, when she had just started to hang out with Melissa. I could tell she was trying to get close to me through her. It just didn't make sense. Why did this girl, who was raised by someone like Master Shikai Bun, spend so much time with a girl she had just met?
Any relationship takes time to build, so why did she instantly take to my sister? How was she 'useful'?
Because of me.
'It must have been because of me, but why?'
How could I, of all people, help this girl who was but a stranger to me then? If she needed strength, I was sure she could utilize her connections or even her own grandfather. If she needed someone dead, I was sure she'd be able to plan it herself.
'So what was her aim?'
I eventually found out after training more in-depth with Master Shikai Bun, not that that man was much of a talker during training. Still, I was able to glean enough information to make an educated guess.
'I remember, that was the trigger, the day she suddenly started crying in front of us during one of my sister and I's regular spats.' I realized then and there that her motivations were personal; it had something to do with her family.
Thus, I was able to solve the mystery. It was quite simple really, revenge born out of jealousy and hatred.
Initially, I had no plan to help her in any regard. If I were to ever fight her fellow 'brother' in training, I would do it for myself, because it's 'fun.'
But then I saw the change.
Every day, while hanging out with my sister, she began to change. It was surprising to watch, for someone to change their motivations so much in such a short period of time.
After spending some time with my sister, she basically 'forgot' about her initial reasons for spending time at the Temple, never once bringing up any 'deals' for me to act as I expected her to.
Day by day, she spent more and more time at the Temple, and I could see day by day how she was changing.
Every day, it was a little more, a smile at first chipping through her shell, a grin the next breaking through her face.
I was mesmerized.
It was like rain in the desert; it was unexpected, it was miraculous, it was otherworldly, and it was beautiful. Her change, her effort to change, it was something I deeply respected.
I didn't realize the weight of my actions until it was too late, taking her out to eat, taking her on 'dates' without being aware myself of the subconscious motivations behind my actions.
I could see it, the way she looked at me, changing over time from something useful to something she adored. Wanting to spend time with me, wanting to be by my side at every moment. I had seen it before in Aunt Elizabeth, when she was first trying to woo Uncle Albert.
But it was wrong.
I finally undertand a long time later, that what I felt for her wasn't love, but kinship. She was unaware as well it seems, having very low emotional intelligence.
'Maybe if they didn't interfere, she wouldn't have mislabeled her feelings so soon.' I shook my head while putting all the blame on my family members, taking it off myself.
I would be lying if I said that I had completely understood my feelings for her. If I had, I wouldn't be feeling the way I was currently, torn from the inside out as she's getting closer to give a parting kiss before leaving.
'Come on Kuzan, you're running out of time.'
'Maybe this was for the best, having her leave, having no more distractions that would make me question myself late at night.' It was so easy becoming stronger, there was such a clear path to the summit, but when it came to love, even the Ogre with all his might wasn't able to tread the path lightly.
Still, my heart tore at my actions, as I turned my head, making her kiss land on my cheek instead of my lips.
It seemed as if she considered it an accident due to her nervousness at her actions, as just having "missed" her target by a margin, however she was still blushing.
However, I still didn't know how to respond, still working out my feelings for her, choosing to pull her into a hug before she entered the private plane that would take her away.
[30 minutes later]
I was walking home from the airport, still distracted by my thoughts of her even after she had left.
'It was for the best.' I kept telling myself, 'Now, I can finally focus completely on my path.'
'It was for the best.'
I was stopped in my tracks, however, as I ran into someone unexpected while making my way back to the hotel to plan forward. But as they say, you can't plan for the unexpected.
"So kid," the giant of a man asked while holding what seemed to be a "dead" body, "what's got you all distracted?"
Instead of replying, I chose to stare at the man, mesmerized by his body.
'Those muscles.'
'They're breathtaking.' I was sure no bodybuilder on this Earth had muscles as pristine as his, as if being sculpted by the Gods themselves.
"Like what you see?" the man asked in an amused tone, coming closer and giving me a pat on the back as a show of goodwill, which I gladly accepted.
"Can you blame me? You're a legend," I responded while still mesmerized by his pecs.
"Oh," the man seemed interested in my statements, "I didn't expect to hear that from a Kaiou like you, boy. You have trained under so many great masters kid who are also famous, what makes me so special?"
He had a fair point, even Master Orochi's fame was no less than the man who was currently standing in front of me, with Master Ryuu and Master Kaku's surely surpassing the man by a great margin, especially in China.
But that was different.
"Because you're different," I spoke to the man, still trying my best to hold myself back from attacking him in recognition of his strength, "not to discredit their hard work, the effort it must have taken to dedicate their lives to the different martial arts."
"But you're different. You chose the path of a much purer strength, the strength housed within your natural body."
'I'm jealous.'
"I've heard about your training, pulling choppers to the ground with chains through sheer brute force alone. No martial art can accomplish a feat like that, the love you have for pure strength."
"It's beautiful."
"HAHAHA," the man seemed pleased by my genuine appreciation for his strength, "you're a smart kid."
"But, as much as I would like to have some fun with you," the man continued his words while pointing at the man he was currently carrying, "right now I'm a little busy, as you can see."
"Why don't we continue this another time? Heck, you know what?" the man continued to try and convince me.
"Why don't I invite you over to my home? Come see me whenever you're free and we'll continue this later."
I was again pissed at having to hold myself back from a fight that had walked right up to me. The man could see my deep-seated frustrations at the circumstances of our meeting, as he decided it necessary to placate me further.
"Now, now kid, no need to be so sad. How about I show you a trick to make you feel a little better?"
My face rose, and I nodded my head in agreement, predicting the demonstration that was about to take place in front of me.
The man seemed pleased with my behavior, striking a pose with his arms out to their sides before showing me something spectacular.
"Now watch this."
'So cool!' I wasn't able to hide my amazement at his act, like a kid who had just witnessed his favorite magic trick being performed by his favorite magician.
It wasn't like I hadn't seen it done before. Quite recently actually, I had seen Master Kureha do the same thing by concentrating his muscles to his upper body, making himself look like a moving fortress of muscles.
'Extreme muscle control.'
It was an example of extreme muscle control. By flexing in sequence, he made it look like one muscle was traveling around his body.
It seemed as if the muscle was moving across his body, reaching his shoulder, going behind his head, and then continuing onto his opposite arm.
It was amazing, being both interesting to watch and informative.
'Ah, I finally get it.' I had seen it before performed by Doctor Shonogi in passing during one of his lessons. He refused to teach it to me before I mastered his "medical knowledge," hoping that it served as an incentive for me to continue improving in my training under him.
However, seeing it performed on that marvel of a body, I was finally able to discern the "trick" behind the technique, that was able to "focus" my strength wherever I choose.
It was the only "magic trick" I respected, shown to me by one of the people I most respected in the world.
"Thank you," I responded to the man with tears in my eyes, sincerely grateful for the time he gave me despite being so busy with his assignment.
"No problem kid," the man responded while picking up the body he had previously dropped to show me his trick, turning to walk away, "just make sure to visit me later."
"Sure!" I continued my walk with my day brightened, despite the departure of the only "friend" I had in Japan.
'It's fine Kuzan, you can't keep letting your feelings cloud your thoughts, you need to be fully focused for it tonight.'
It was finally time. I had been waiting so long for the trash that had made its way to Tokyo to be cleaned up by the locals. It was time.
'Judging by what Master Kureha told me last night over the phone, about his recently admitted patient who seemed to age rapidly overnight, it's tonight.'
The most dangerous gamble I've taken since coming to this world.
'I can't wait.'
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Author's Note: I wanted to put this here since I was getting a lot of comments from people who were mad or sad about Xiao Li's loss in the vote. Again, the vote doesn't have nearly as much impact to the story as you might believe, all it does is change the person taking the 'lead' role in one of the very important planned chapter's wayyy down the line. Kuzan hasn't "abandoned" Xiao Li or anything, don't worry.
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Vote Winner: Princess Diana
Detailed calculations of the votes can be found here. However, Diana won by a large margin, so I don't think it would matter even if I counted one vote wrong or something. I also didn't count duplicate votes from clearly the same person using different accounts, as it wouldn't be fair for everyone then, sorry.