"Ku Ku, wake up, come on, it's time for school..."
"Uh huh?" I was still drowsy after having just woken up from a truly stellar sleep.
"What?"
"Come on, Kuzan, if you keep acting like this..." the girl continued her little threat in an embarrassed voice, "I'll have to wake you up like Sleeping Beauty..."
I decided to have a little fun, wanting to test the girl's resolve in waking me from my slumber, my actions not having anything to do with the fact that I was too lazy to get up yet.
"Fine!" the girl yelled as if making a declaration of war, leaning in closer, ever closer to my face.
Not wanting to take advantage of her pure intentions, I sat up and held her shoulders in place, surprised at the redness appearing on her face.
"Really, Diana, you're the Princess here, not me. We're not kids anymore, you know. That trick won't work on me again."
While frozen still and bewildered at having been caught in her actions, I decided to question the girl further, with a smile hanging atop my face due to her shocked expression.
"Now, Diana, why did you come here? I would have gladly picked you up from the hospital."
Finally breaking out of her stupor, the girl responded truthfully, "Well, Doctor Shonogu gave me permission, and Uncle Oliva told me you were here bothering someone."
I rolled my eyes at her words, knowing full well the 'weakness' of the old man I had just finished getting a beating from.
'This poor girl, worried about my soul as if it could ever be completely at peace...'
"Don't worry, Diana, I was just taking a lesson from Mr. Shibukawa in Judo and got a little tired while I did, so I decided to just sleep here.
'Well, at least I'm not lying.' I wasn't making things up, I just conveniently forgot to mention that I was slammed onto the floor by Mr. Shibukawa's use of Aiki. Thus, I passed out both literally and figuratively, having one of the best sleeps I had in Tokyo till now.
'As he says, the best way to learn is to feel it yourself.'
I had made insane amounts of progress just through our lessons alone, my previous skills in martial arts allowing me to learn these new tricks at an increasingly rapid rate.
"Anyway, stop worrying about me. Are you alright?"
"Yep!"
"Good."
"So, Kuzan, what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"
'Hmm, that's a pretty good question...' I had my match with Katsumi tonight, and I wanted to be in top shape before it.
Thanks to the Martial System, I had realized that no matter the duration between my training of a particular martial art, I would never lose its "progress" on the system's status.
'I assume it means that I won't 'get worse' at a technique or martial art once I have learned and practiced it correctly.'
Not in the short term at least, I wouldn't waste a lot of time trying to test out this theory when I could get stronger in the meantime.
Thus, I didn't need to "warm up" before the start of any match as my body was already optimally ready for a fight.
'On the other hand, if I start another training session with either Master Shibukawa or Master Ryuu, I might not be able to hold myself back and inflict even more damage to my body.'
Thus, I was in a unique position, needing to wait until the next fight to continue my training for optimal growth, as I needed to be fully ready for the next fight.
I had learned from my little spar with Hanayama that I couldn't grow complacent, holding back my strength or treating it as a game.
Despite my countless reminders, I could feel it: I was starting to become proud of my 'strength'. I needed that reminder not to grow arrogant.
'Having fun's fine, but letting that get in the way of victory just doesn't feel right.' Receiving blows when I don't need to, giving the opponent a chance to attack—I realized it when my punch almost caused the Standing Man to falter.
'Strength is strength.'
'Would I have been satisfied with such a fight, such a win?'
'Maybe.' I was satisfied with my use of tricks working, but I still couldn't hide my jealousy of the man's 'type' of strength.
'What about if I had lost?'
'Would I have felt satisfied with such a loss?'
'If strength is strength, isn't a loss just a loss?'
'Was I just making excuses for myself, only fighting in a contest of 'strength' and expecting to lose on purpose?'
'Would such a match be enough to satisfy me?'
'Could I ever be satisfied in a match that I lost?'
"Uh, hello? Kuzan, are you still with me?"
I shook my head, breaking out of my train of thought, realizing I had started to get off track from the original question.
"You know what, Diana? I don't think I have any plans tonight. What about you?" Taking the girl's head shaking as a 'no', I was once again lost at what to do until the match. I only had a few hours to spare after all.
"Hey Kuzan," the girl spoke, trying to get my attention, "why don't we go on an outing?"
"To where?" I was confused about where the girl was heading.
"Around Tokyo, you know. I haven't explored much of it, so I was wondering, you know, if you're not too busy, you know..." she continued her request while touching her index fingers together shyly.
"Would you mind showing me around Tokyo?"
'Hmmm,' I checked the time and mulled over her request in my head.
'To be fair, I have nothing better to do, and despite being here for all this time, I haven't really spent any time exploring the city or anything.' It was funny really, considering the amount of times I had looked out of my hospital room's window, longing to go 'sightseeing' outside, and not doing it now that I had the chance.
'To be fair, I have been pretty busy going from one dojo to the other learning new skills. Not like that's gonna stop anytime soon.'
"Sure, Diana, why not? But I have to tell you that I'm not very familiar with the popular spots of the city myself, so I might not be the best guide." I explained to her, not wanting her to get disheartened during the trip. "We'll explore together, okay?"
Judging by her enthusiastic nod, we walked out the door of the residence to begin our tour of Tokyo. Of course, I still had to say goodbye to Mr. Shibukawa before I left to thank him for his 'hospitality,' and to not be rude.
"So, young man, off on an adventure before your fight, huh, hahaha?" The man seemed surprisingly happy seeing us off as we started our trip.
"Thank you, Mr. Shibukawa, for all of your help last night. I'll make sure to continue coming back for lessons after the match."
"Don't worry about it, kid. I'll make sure to attend the match to see your progress."
"Wonderful." Again, I performed a small bow before remembering to ask one last little question I was still curious about. "By the way, Master, why did you not wake me up? I really appreciate your hospitality, but I wouldn't have wanted to burden you in this way..."
"Hahaha, young man, I'm a practitioner of self-defence. Now, come on, go, start your trip." It seemed the man would not provide more clarity to his statements as he shooed us away.
"So, Princess Diana" I turned to face the , speaking in an elent and safisticated tone reminicent of Uncle Ikaria, "would you like to see the castle here in Tokyo to compare?"
The girl responded in turn by laughing at my little joke and punching my arm playfully as she did so.
'Ow.'
Still, we continued on our trip, visiting all the popular tourist spots and landmarks I could think of. The Imperial Palace, Sensō-ji Temple, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, even Meiji Shrine.
'However, if I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be this, the symbol of Tokyo.'
We were currently at our final destination of our trip, standing on top of Tokyo Tower, overlooking and taking in the breathtaking view of the city below, a mesmerizing blend of modernity and tradition unfolding before our eyes.
'It's beautiful' "It's beautiful."
'Looks like we had the same reaction,' however, only one of us chose to say it out loud.
Still, it was getting close to the time of the match, and I couldn't delay any further despite not needing to "warm up" before the fight.
"It was wonderful, Ku Ku, thanks so much!" The girl seemed happy at our outing, skipping along the sidewalk as we made our way to the underground arena.
"Do you think we could-" However, her next words were unable to be expressed, cut off by a scream from across the street.
"DIANA!!!" The man across the street rushed towards us in a fury. After putting out my hand to hide Diana behind me, I was just about to clock the man until I got a better look at his appearance.
'Mr. Lander?'
"Do you have ANY IDEA how much trouble you are in, young lady?" The man continued reprimanding his niece, not even sparing the time to acknowledge my presence.
"I can't believe this, Diana, what if something were to happen to you? What if you were to collapse on the side of the road? Who would be there, huh?"
"Please, Uncle Lander," the girl seemed clearly embarrassed being scolded in front of me, gesturing for the man to calm down, "Kuzan was with me the entire time, and as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
I stood there in surprise, both at being pulled into this little familial argument and coming to terms with the fact that Diana had just employed a new skill since growing up: lying to get out of trouble.
'Really, Diana, lying to Uncle Lander. I wonder what would happen if I told the truth.' I thought with a grin about the 'trouble' I could cause the girl, however, after looking at her pleading eyes begging me to go along with her little lie, I decided to cease.
"Thank you so much, Kuzan, for taking care of her until now. I wish we had met under better circumstances. I currently need to take Diana for a check-up appointment, so I will make sure to set up a time to talk to you at length later."
The man thanked me with a handshake before pulling Diana away by her collar, looking as if an owner was annoyed with her indoor cat having escaped for the nth time and 'dragging' her back.
I let out a little smile at their little show and continued on my walk until I reached outside the Tokyo Dome.
This time, as I was already familiar with the path, I walked to the fighter's quarters by myself to 'prepare' for the match.
I had initially considered fighting Katsumi while blindfolded and only utilizing Karate and Chinese Kenpo to win, however, after my confrontation with Kaoru Hanayama, I had decided to put an end to my juvenile antics.
If I needed to put such a handicap on myself for the fight to be any fun, it was never a worthwhile fight to begin with. Thus, I would accomplish my goal while utilizing my full strength in the face-off.
'Two wrongs don't make a right, I have to do this despite my reluctance to 'grow up'.'
I let out a small sigh while changing into my newly tailored "battle armor," which consisted of just some red shorts made from an especially durable but breathable material.
"It's time." I relayed my declaration of battle to absolutely no one and entered the arena under the screams of the cheering spectators.
'Figures.' I could recognize that a majority of the crowd consisted of members of the Shinshinkai Dojo. I felt pity for the members that had traveled all across Tokyo just to witness this show in support of their great prodigy. Thus, I shook my head in sorrow as I made my way to the center of the arena.
"Master Katsumi, you have no idea how long I have waited for this," I spoke to the young man in excitement while getting into my stance.
'It's time, time to teach this fellow disciple of mine a lesson, to prevent him from making the same mistakes.'
'To show him the cumulative strength of the 501st year of Karate.'
"FIGHT!"