Holes, about five bullet wounds hidden behind tape indented into the renovated camper van. A balding man asking a man about said wounds as a generic comic book hipster asks the same bald man how he would know about them before stating they won't be harassed then ending with a curse word that was interrupted by Maya’s dad’s hands over Maya’s ears.
Maya laughed at this anyway, understanding the joke as she snuggled up to her father as they continued the show. She watched but as she was only five years old her eyes shifted and drifted until the episode was over and her dad made a loud groan.
“Alright kiddo, it's nine at night, it's time for bed” Her dad said, lifting her head off of his blue denim jeans that he always wore which Maya hated the feeling of and standing, reaching down to pull her up as well.
“Ok dad, but will you read me to sleep first?” Maya asked, eyes barely open, looking to her father, though she only saw his lower stubbled jaw and messy white shirt.
“Yes, of course sweeti-” Suddenly her father is interrupted by a violent robotic scream coming from a miniature radio he always charged in the kitchen. A voice screamed some address and number like it always did, however Maya always hated when they were at night.
“Ah dangit, sorry kid but duty calls.” Her dad said as he ran around the house putting on a vest, badge, and utility belt. As he was running out the door however, Maya stopped him in his tracks. Causing him to look down with a little hasty somber.
“Are you sure you’ll come back tomorrow to read?” Maya asked tears forming up because she knew the risk her father took.
“Of course sweetie, if you listened, it's just two people arguing that turned into a fist fight.” He said, holding the girl’s hand as he walked to the police cruiser that was parked at the front of the apartment complex. She of course didn't listen to the call because of the amount of static hurting her ears forcing her to cover them as it went off. The noises were bad and bad always brought more bad. As such, Maya stopped her father one last time and held out the highest declaration of a five year old’s trust and values.
Her pinky. Her father chuckled at this, crossing his left pinky with her right one and pushed her aside as he got in his car, pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. Her left pinky, then ring, then middle, then index, then thumb. This shook as well as the other parts of her hands, shoulders, knees and toes when she heard the news that next morning. Her father, shot in the head, and found dead at one fifty six in the morning.
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“That was the last I can remember doc.” Maya said, a man in a white coat writing on his board as he turned around in his chair and smiled a courteous smile towards her face. “That's alright, you remembered more than last time and that's all that matters, I mean heck” he scooted forward and slapped his knees,
“Most patients just come by and never can figure out why they’re here but you” The doctor pointed towards Maya.
“You're a more interesting specimen.” Maya just laughed at this, though the tenseness of her memory still ached her on and on. She tried to calm her nerves when she realised what the doctor just said. She normally would be repulsed by anyone, saying something as strange as calling someone a specimen, but the doctor it was… different. Anyways, the clock on the doc’s wristwatch finally went off and he breathed a slight chuckle.
“Alright well, as much as I would like to talk more, you have to go but I’ll make sure to see you next week.” The doctor then stood up and walked towards the door opening it for Maya to leave. She finally stood up and left the spikes on her back still raised from the conversation they had earlier. When she finally entered her sister's car she imagined an invisible figure sprinting across the building's roofs.
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Closer yet closer, the buildings, the walls of the backyards, everything. Got closer, then further, then closer again. The only thing that stood still long enough was the walls. The white walls that held him, the numbers besides doors that defined him, the woman distracted on her computer behind a wall of white was ever still, but once light burned, once again did everything start to move again, the path under him moved, the blurry bugs of incredible speed moved and the woman in front moved ever so closer to the distance.
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As distance itself became blurry, the room started to smell of food, but still it was blurry and blurry.
“Earth to Maya, do you want some rice or not?” A very snarky voice came into the void, it seems Maya spaced out again and without overthinking it she nodded her head.
“What? Are you a mute again? Come on, you gotta tell us beforehand if you are.” This snarky woman was Maya's sister Aneko. She always wore something bright, which always countered with her snarky and sometimes loud ways of life. Though most boys just noticed her eyes and heart because of her beauty which Maya never obtained herself.
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After some rice was mushed onto Maya’s plate, she sat down and tried her best not to space out again. She instead started to remember the words The Doctor had told her about her getting anxious.
“When you start feeling those uhh… spikes again, just try counting downwards to calm your brain.” he spoke then started to think some more.
“Then try to concentrate on your surroundings, after a while it should bring your mind back to working order…. and if the spikes stay, then try it again” The Doctors voice felt so familiar in Maya’s brain so without a second thought she started to do just that.
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‘One, two, three, four, five, mothers undershirt is a pinkish red and her vest has roses on it. Her hair is grey with time though some of the brown hair from pictures still peaks its head to say hello. Smiling at the world like a mother is right now. Wait.. mother isn't smiling. She's staring right at me.’
“So? Maya do you think that'll work?” Maya didn't know what she was talking about but decided to agree anyway with a quick nod. This sparked laughter from Aneko who grabbed her chest as her eyes filled with tears and banged the table with her fist gently.
“I knew you were a little weird girl but actually agreeing to wearing a cowbell is something else” Aneko laughed at this more and more which only brightened Maya’s face in embarrassment.
‘She is so annoying, I, I gotta go, it's her laughter, her laughter is everywhere, it's way too close, it's moving on the walls with the eyes, Eyes?, who's watching me?, everyones watching me, my face feels funny, is it on fire? Did my own sister set me on fire? How could she do this?My face burns, the walls are closing, where's the light going, I gotta get to my room, I have to go.’
In a blur, Maya ran and consequently slammed the door to her room causing the thin walled house to vibrate ever so slightly. She quickly ran through her bedside dresser and grabbed a small green figure of a dog with stitching and a goofy tongue, it was made of some type of gel that when squeezed made the rest of the toy expand and feel roomy on the inside.
‘Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. The walls, there not filled with laughter or eyes, my face, is not on fire, my hand, holds a green room that expands and implodes before going back into place, the room felt kind and cool, it sounded as if everything at once was squished into a liquid puddle then reformed again, this room felt of peace and tranquility’
A knock ruined this tranquility as the little green doggy was quickly put inside of Maya’s pocket. The door of the yellow walled room she called her own was slowly opened to reveal her mother standing there, a look of joy drawn on her face to mask a hidden worry. “I’m sorry about your sister’s temper, princess” her arms opened for a hug but quickly shut again because of the rules perplexed in her mind.
‘Rule 1, No physical touch from anything with a weird texture or color’
She just stared blankly at her mother as this rule ran through her own mind again and again although she did wanna feel some love again. “What's got your mind in a tumbleweed honey?” Maya looked around before giving an answer as to not be attacked again.
“Father…..” That word made her hand gravitate towards her pocket to squeeze the green room again and count her breath in silence. This word had an equal amount of effect on her mother as her weary smile drawn on her face was replaced by the true worry she felt but she quickly drew it back on, as to not worry Maya anymore.
“What about your Father are you worried about?” Her face looked puzzled until she seemed to change her expression to a returned calm once again.
“Would you like, if I told you the story again?” This would be the forty fifth time in recent memory that Maya would be told this story again but the story always seemed to make her mind come back into ease once again so for the forty fifth time she nodded her head.
“Alright, but get dressed for bed and throw your dirty laundry in the basket” This made Maya nod her head again though with a smile on her face. Though her mother knew that she was sixteen she had a funny way of showing it. As she got undressed out of her blue jeans and white top with designs on the collar and put on a white plain shirt or as she called it her jamies, she noticed her mother’s head while peaking through the door whispering something that Maya couldn't hear.
‘What is she saying? Is she talking about me? Did I do something wrong, she must be talking to Aneko, they’re making fun of me aren't they, everyone must hate me,she has to love her more than me, I must be nothing but a burden or something’
Maya went to her bed and layed down as her mother kept a crack in the door open for whatever eyes to make fun of the poor mute girl hiding in her sheets. After a while of waiting, her mother returned and sat on her bed.
“Are you comfortable sweetie?” Her head peaked over the invincible cotton walls of her domain. A shy nod met this intrusion and the giant left the wall unharmed. A low cough sounded, as if she were to clear her throat or maybe allow someone to enter and watch the stupid girl’s story time.
“Your Father was a fantastic man sweetheart, a fantastic man who loved his family and his country more. Though we're not from this country originally, but that's another story entirely” A low chuckle sounded and a small pat met it.
“He was a police officer and always helped those in need, but one day… your Father responded to a call on his pager and found it was the gas station was being robbed” Her voice then choked for a moment, she always got emotional when thinking of the past.
“You were only a little sprout at that time, it was so difficult to explain to you what happened that night but….. we had to, and ever since you've….” She cleared her throat, rubbed her leathery face against the blankets, her stuffy nose giving away her true feelings on the matter.
“Well…” mothers voice went silent, her throat catching limited breath.
“I'll let you rest honey.” The dark soft blanket had pressure against it for a moment, a step, another step, a croak of a door, then a click.
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Click, click, click. Fathers here, here in my soft blanket? No, of course not. Blankets are not large and show the reflections of water from the roof of a cave. Although, both have a type of safety in the form of Father’s signature. Whether that be his signature in writing on the handmade blanket or his signature stance where he looks like one of those fighters in those Japanese comics found on the side of Molote stands of our hometown.
“I know you're not here Father, this is but a dream.” Father then looked at me with sadness, his uniform and badge standing proudly even if he wasn't anymore. He then disregarded what I said as he jumped down from his rock above me and landed on his feet.
“I am here!” he said a silly, arm pumping pose struck which was meeted with a scowl I would give him before.
“But that's just it, you're not.. You're dead and… and mother has told me to let you go.” His brow lowered as he looked at me again.
“We both know that's not true, I'm in a coma and I'll be awake soon, then I’ll fight for evil once again” My eyes filled with tears once again.
“I mean, if you're in danger, then who are you gonna call?” He sang, though Maya didn't respond with her line as she did when younger.
“I know this is a dream, and I know that these are lies. So please.. Stop.” I open my eyes again, do a quick prayer that I don't return again. I close my eyes but find myself in the dark cave again. It's night this time, and my father is there, soaking his feet.
“Look, before you leave again, and get told that same story again. Please hear me out.” I always wondered if people had such a vivid imagination as I did but I know it's not my imagination doing this. It's my conscience.
“No!!Please, Father, stop. I'm not gonna hear you talk about how you're actually in a coma, and no I won't listen to you tell me to believe in you.” Father keeps his eyes on the water, his reflection phasing in and out with the ripples.
“Then… Can you at least do one last thing for me?” My heart dripped blood and my eyes beat with a somber melody.
“Listen to me. I will be back, and I'll start my journey as soon as you see the snakes.”
‘What snakes?’ I thought she was laid from overhead. The ripples of the waters reflected off the moonlight and onto the roof ahead, the ripples all slithering across the rock and into the opening, but not all of them as one fell into the water. Then another and another.
From the walls were the serpents’ curse, they looked down at me, watching me, their eyes wide as they stunned me. Medusa's stare caught my legs until they let go.
A snake slithered up through the water and stared as well. As long as I stare at it, it won’t move. A contest regarding life and limb. A standstill of sounds, rattles, judgement and competition. Whoever loses will forever regret it for the rest of their life. Father then sighs from beside me, walks up and sits next to me.
“Sorry kid.” He then punches me in the stomach making my gaze fall down upon the snake. The snakes all together rush towards me, a gelatinous blob of fangs and eyes coming towards me. I manage to struggle and fight off a few until one finally lands its fangs on my leg. It grabs and shreds my skin like a knife through butter, as other snakes grab onto it to pull me into the water. The victor lay dead, torn to worse shreds than I. But I won't allow myself to get that bad.
In the water I first push away the invaders at my arms, legs, and whatever's around me. Another battleground where once again the land is always the victim. This fight is only momentary as my arms are the first to lose their battle. Gnashing and gnawing my skin like a peeler to a side dish, my flesh is devoured. My hands look like gloves as its flesh is the only to remain,the bones feeling the effects as the snakes play with my veins as they take my hands in tow.
My legs and chest are next to be invaded flanking from beneath the wine red waters. The starved go for my upper legs, gnawing at the meat off my bones, some even biting the bones and hurting their fangs.
The angered go for my achilles, grabbing it and pulling me, making me trip as the pressure in my feet tighten and tighten until it pops and they fight for the trophy as my feet hang and soon after my skin stretches to thin, it rips away. My screams are drowned as I fall and my lungs are filled with water. My eyes sting as they're plucked from my skull. My final thoughts through the pain being.
‘THE WALLS THE WALLS THE WALLS WHY AM I ALIVE’ My fight to be safe has ended long ago and I start my fight to survive. As my consciousness gives way and is pushed away. Fangs grind against bones, tissues and layers of skin swim with me in this river of wine. But that's the last observation I have as I'm pulled into the water, the oxygen being stopped from blood flooding my lungs as more and more snakes enjoy their feast. The only thing people can hear from the outer shell of the cave is the waves crashing.
Crashing would be a blessing if not for the hardened wooden tile that held my room falling into the living room below. Instead the crashing thud resulted in my mother coming into the room and, after seeing my still slumbered state, lifted me into bed once again before swiftly leaving. Or she stayed, it was hard to tell after a fall like that.
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The next morning was filled with the normal amount of controlled hustle and bustle that came with breakfast. Mumblings from all angles as my family talked about their plans were throughout the day.
“Snakes” the word made me jump in my seat catching the attention from almost the entire table. Except my sister who spared me a joking scolding about my newfound fear of snakes.
“As I was saying, they’re all a bunch of snakes, but self defence training like that may be good for Maya.” My sister then ate the rest of her eggs and left for the sink to rinse it off. Trying to piece together the mumbles to snakes my sister snuck past and only an audible click was my hint that she left for work.
“So what do you think?” My mother side eyed me when asking, still chewing on some bacon that was left over. Without knowing what she meant, I rewarded her with a shrug.
“About taking self defence classes I mean.” Once she ended, Maya rewarded her with a stern look.
“Dear, it could be good for you, and if it's the trust thing or the snakes that you seem to fear, your sister works right next door.” After a moment of silence, her mother decided to try an old trick.
“And hey, if they get in trouble, and bad guys fill the scene, who do you call??”
“Ghost busters?” Whispered Maya. Which made mother laugh like she used to when they were both wearing young clothes.
“No no, seriously.” Her mother caught her breath in an exaggerated manner and asked again.
“If you get in trouble, and bad guys fill the scene, who do you call?!?” She said in a higher pitched tone which got Maya’s attention. She then gently raised her hands to the roof, only going higher than a foot above her own head of scraggly morning hair.
“Woo-op woop, I shall call-a da police” She said in a soft silence, her smile only showing for a moment as it disappeared.
“That’s as good as I’m getting.” Her mother laughed herself into a positive manner and loaded up her car.
Though Maya didn't know why they were taking the car anyway. She would remember a time when Maya and her father would just walk wherever they went. Her father would always explain that it was calmer or in his words.
“It's good exercise, plus if the future will be full of these floating cars anyways. Then we better respect the sidewalks by using them before they start flying too.” He would always then pick up Maya and hold her by her under arms. Asking what she was doing up there? Which she would always respond with “walking on the sidefly that's all.” Which always brought upon a great start to every outside adventure. Whether it be to get medicine, food, school, or even if it's just nice out. He would always try his best to stay away from driving, just something he did.
But he isn't here, he's gone and Maya hates it. She hates it when she enters the car, she hates it when she buckles her seatbelt, she hates it most though, when she looked outside and saw the perfectly sunny day, going to waste in a car.
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The sky turned kind and gave aid to calm the burning on his skin. He thought to turn towards the land that isn't written, Instead he turned towards the bridge above the clouds. He walked towards and climbed the steps besides, losing balance as he climbed the mountain of calcium oxide, the volcano's heat burning his feet under his robe, though the strings attached to his arm did not catch fire. Once atop the spire, he traversed forward, watching as schools rushed past him towards third grade, or would she be in high school by now? His strings seemed to drag behind him, almost as low as his heart, the man looked down to find it but instead found a new hurdle ahead, spikes of modello riddled the pavement ahead.
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When they arrived, Maya knew what was coming next, she tried to stay in the car, thinking of something she tried to stay perfectly still so maybe she wouldn't be noticed. But that just didn't work as her mother opened the back door and looked at her.
“You're a big girl now sweetie. You gotta come out on your own, I can't unbuckle your seatbelt for you anymore.” Mother said as she caressed Maya's head with her palm.
“Though I wish I could.” She said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and held Maya's hand out of the car, Aneko looked on in disbelief.
‘EYES STOP WATCHING ME!!!’ Maya just kept her head down though felt a spike starting to peirce her mind, and her breathing became just a little harder. Though she knew it would increase as they went towards the front entrance of the drug store. Her sister being the first to enter on her phone without a care in the world, Maya looked on to see her turn to a corner inside the store, going towards the candies as she always did because of her strange addiction to Dum Dums.
Maya still backed away as her mother walked inside of the drug store, the sliding doors opening for her like a gentleman. Or that's what Maya's mother told her to calm her down but Maya knew the truth. She knew that they could malfunction with improper installation and many others. When she was more naive, she would walk right through it, but that's when she had her father, her father is gone, gone and left her behind. So she had to live, learn, and understand, Maya knew all of this to survive, she knew of the eighty four year old who was crushed by one of these doors and died the same night. Would Maya even live to eighty four? Would Maya even live to tomorrow? Rule #2, Always be wary of the things around you, if you don't trust it, don't go near it.
Maya started breathing rapidly as one of her spikes started to arise, her mother rushed outside and grabbed her hand, promising that the door wouldn't hurt her or anything. Maya could barely hear her, it felt as if her breath was being stolen from her as she stood there drawn to her mothers eyes. As her mother shushed her, Maya regained her consciousness, what was around her? Remember the Doctor's orders. Remember the Doctor's orders.
‘One, two, three, four, A blue sky with not too many clouds, the clouds are a quartz white and stone gray, five, six, seven, eight, there's gum on the pavement below me, once pink, maybe, ummmmm, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Uh there's um.’ Maya's mind went into hyperdrive causing her to breathe even more rapidly than before but she did remember the first visit she had with The Doctor which seemed to calm her nerves.
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“Can you say that one more time, sir? I don't believe I heard you right” Maya said, now leaning towards the Doctor instead of just simply laying down on a nearby red sofa that she thought she would be doing.
“I apologize Ms, Maya. I only meant it as a suggestion, it seems to be the only reason people come in here, so I only ask one more time, are you trying to push your problems onto someone else, or do you wanna truly face your fears.” Maya still was very confused and her face seemed to have shown it because the Doctor corrected himself.
“Or I’m lame men's terms, do you want therapy, or go sky diving?” Maya still was confused but decided to answer genuinely.
“Therapy.” Maya answered, her voice still and honest.
“Perfect, but to first do therapy, you must promise me you will do a few things.” The Doctor stated, twisting a chair and sitting onto it backwards. Maya only nodded, confused why someone in a perfectly tailored lab coat would threaten stretching the fabric.
“First” He stated indicating with his pointer finger. “You must always listen to me, and remember what I say,” Maya nodded though she thought the point of having any type of doctor was to learn and memorise their teachings for better health.
“Second” He indicated with both of his pointer fingers for whatever reason. “You must be ready to face any and all fears you have with or without me, then tell me about it next time we meet.” Maya then smiled at this nodding again, she didn't know at the time all the things she truly feared when she agreed because she was in too good of a mood.
“Third, you lay there in that sofa and truly tell me what you're feeling, what your problems are, let your….. Emotions run free.” He said she looked down to the red sofa couch she laid on, its headrest felt strange but at the same time soothing, like it was apart or even attached to her somehow. She, in this regard, agreed again.
“And finally” He started doing circles in the air in front of Maya which she followed in a hypnotic trance. “You must never bring the same problem twice, I dislike specimens who make the same mistake twice.” Maya didn't nod at this which made the doctor laugh.
“Only kidding, almost no one ever nods at the third request so you're at least mentally normal as I know you now.”
Maya smiled at this man, he was cheerful and did he just call her a specimen? That didn't matter to Maya, as he reminded her of Father. Though he didn't act, look, or even resemble him, she just trusted him that much for some reason. So she thought of it and after a bit of laughter subsided the room fell quiet.
“So do you have any questions for me, Maya?” The doctor asked as he grabbed his clipboard and titled the page something Maya wouldn't see.
“Just one.” Maya held up her pointer finger, making fun of the doctor.
“What should I do if I find something I'm physically scared of?” The doctor smiled at this and put his two fingers together imitating a man with legs with only her fingers running towards a wolf hand on the other. The hand man ran towards the wolf then away then towards again.
“No matter what, face it head on!”
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“No matter what, face it head on!” ‘That's what I had to do, face this door head on. Nine, Ten, eleven, twelve, the door that she feared looming above, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, a set of couplings that hold the door up and steady so even if it were to malfunction it wouldn't fall. Seventeen, Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. I walked through the doors and into the store, mothers hand in mine as I caught my breath.’
When they entered a loud ding sounded behind them alerting the store clerk that they entered, who then gestured a wave and welcomed us inside. Beside his desk was a small colorful fridge, Maya liked the colors but inside was even better. Inside was an assortment of icecreams, yogurts, and sweets. Though Maya wanted one, she noticed her mother walking away towards the medicine and the last thing Maya wanted was to be abandoned in a drug store.
She swiftly rejoined her mothers side and waited beside her. She looked over at her sister who had a bag of Dum Dums in one hand while texting with her available hand. She never understood the need for having such a device like a smart phone. Her father had a saying with everything and when it came to newer and newer phones he always commented on that.
“They're going to become so thin and advanced that they're gonna be put in our eyes as contacts.” Which always made Maya wonder why anyone would want a phone in their head at all. It all stems from the time she learned about smartphone batteries while being in the car with her father while they drove to a nearby city for some materials to build bird houses. He said that
“Those batteries in phones can create a lot of radiation and can hurt the body badly, and plus being so close to the stomach can hurt the body and even prevent pregnancy.”
Though Maya didn't think of having kids she didn't want anything bad to happen just in case she did. She remembers after that car ride that she wrote Rule #3 as Don't let electric things near or on vital organs, it could cause serious damage.
But every time she would say something to Aneko, she would always make some comment about Maya's looks which she didn't like. Speaking of, Aneko looked over towards Maya and frowned in some unknown frustration.
“You look like a dog on a leash when you're that close to mom, it's weird” Maya looked at her sister with a destroyed look.
‘Why would you say that? That's not even called for, maybe she's right, I do look like a dog here, everyone looking at me knows it’ Maya's breathing started to speed up as she looked around and saw the clerk look over at her, as well her mother and Aneko. Who quickly said sorry and walked away with a little groan. That was before Maya ran towards the car and started to calm down. Remembering the Doctor's orders as she did.
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After getting the medicine, they drove across the street to the dojo and walked into the building. Her sister went next door to her job at the small city bank. Besides that, Maya went with her mother to a building which wore a cartoon man's face that had big eyes and wore a red bandana, his lips making a crooked excited smile that stated he was in mid swing. This man seemed to come to life before her eyes as a similar man bounced out of the facility's front entrance and lunged towards Maya.
A volley of swift punches, kicks and chops were performed around Maya as her mother backed away and giggled at the sight. The volley stopped when the man chopped at Maya's neck and barely glanced at it, causing Maya to back away awkwardly. The man then stood, did a stance and then bowed.
“If you were my enemy you would've been destroyed. YAH!!!” The man stated before doing a kick into the air, the man's full white gi moved with him. Maya thought this man was very strange, but found something familiar in him.
The man welcomed them inside stating his name was Mr Seonsaengnim but his students called him Sensei Onsa which Maya found a lot easier to pronounce. Because she couldn't understand how to pronounce.
‘See on?, Say on?, sean saen? Whatever.’ Maya thought as she observed the large room beyond the front desk placed near the front doors. The walls that held the doors showed the parking lot letting in a nice glow of the sun. Every other wall held yellow wall paper depicting coins with different designs ranging from dragons shooting fire from their noses to taijitu’s made of liquid as Maya will soon learn.
In front of these walls are red pillars all with golden tops and bottoms that hold symbols to a language Maya didn't recognise. The floor was checkered and made of tile, some pillars near the very back held mirrors between them. In front of them were boys with hands behind their backs observing the people in the middle play and making exaggerated pain noises while shadow boxing. In the very middle of the back wall held a chalk board which was dusted with old chalk from lessons past.
Once all the grown up stuff was taken care of, some that Maya will soon have to learn as she is going into the tenth grade next year, her mother tried to walk out of the door which Maya observed and stopped her with a hug.
“Oh? Honey…. It’ll be ok, I will be shopping for a few hours then I'll be right back to pick you up.” Mom’s hand petted Maya’s hair as she comforted her. Maya didn't hear any of it and hugged even tighter.
“If you're that afraid, Aneko is just next door working at the bank, so if you have any problems go to her alright?” Mayas spiked started acting up again, she didn't wanna be alone, she was a high schooler sure, but being alone was one of her biggest fears. She once read of a man's body who was found eaten by wolves, he couldn't call for help because he was alone. Maya can't be alone, in a room full of bushes and eyes that could be wolves or bunnies. Maya wasn’t a gambling girl so she didn’t wanna take that chance. Watching as her mother’s face turned into dismay, she finally gave in and sighed.
“Fine, but let me get my money back first, then you can go home and hide like norma-..” Her mother looked around.
“Where did that funny man go?” Maya's mother pondered as she looked around the room, it wasn't until a whistle blared around the room did they eventually find him. He was standing in the middle of the room, jumping off one foot to another clapping his hands like a chimp. The boys from the back of the room sat down and grabbed small drums from behind themselves and started to drum a booming cheerful melody.
“Radish and fried tofu
*Drum drum drum clap*
“Some chillies and fish eggs too”
*Drum drum drum clap*
“Watch it boil, Eat it up with me”
“Eat it so it doesn’t spoiled”
“Because it isn't oden unless it's boiled”
*Drum drum drum Drum clap*
Watching this strange man dancing around and singing this with the accompaniment from the boys in robes behind them was so amusing to Maya she didn't even notice her mother left minutes ago. After singing the same melodie over and over and watching some of the people try to join the strange man's dance, they all gathered and sat down in front of Sensei Onsa, signaling the first class has started.
Onsa stopped at once and fell down into a criss cross position immaculately. Everyone's energy seemed to vibrate with him sitting at the back of the room, the class facing him. His smile widened as he waved at everyone individually, parents soon left the room laughing at the strange man they left their kids with. The teacher then raised his hands up which had everyone stand, then lowered and sit. He did this till everyone was a giggly mess except Maya who found the exercise exhausting. Once he stopped, he laughed and clapped with his feet.
“Hello everyone!!!!!!!” He said waving like a maniac.
“Hello, Sensei Onsa!!!!!!!!!” The class said in unison loudly which Maya covered her ears in retaliation. Rule #4 of the trade. Stay away from loud noises, as it makes it hard to think. Though she was forced to sit so covering her eyes sufficed, which didn't stop her from hearing the room cracking crash of a wooden board against Sensei Onsa's foot. His face was one of pure rage and anger, though he kept his body composed in his furious state.
“I AM NOT SENSEI ONSA, MY FAMILY’S SURNAME ISN’T SENSEI ONSA, THERE SURNAME IS SEONSAENGNIM, THE NEXT PERSON TO USE ONSA WILL BE DISRESPECTING MY FAMILY AND AS SUCH WILL BE THE NEXT BOARD I BREAK IN TWO, UNDERSTAND?!?” The whole class hung their heads low as Maya was doing prior and nodded their heads.
“So??? What's my name?” Sensei Onsa said, looking out to the class as some of the higher ranking students that were around the room gathered the shattered wood and fragments.
“Mr Seonsaengnim” is what they were exposed to say but a mixture of see them anglisms, and seance gnims filled the room instead, with only a few students saying his name properly. Maya snuck in the words Sensei Onsa under her breath hoping no one noticed. She thought she was caught when he looked down towards the class and found Maya’s eyes. Instead he just jumped back and wrote on the board located at the very back of the room.
“Ok, the first lesson will be about the basics of Wu Foo, first of course being.” He wrote the words on the board the words.
“How to honor your family name.” and slightly underneath in smaller writing wrote, how to say Mr Seonsaengnim's name, which made Maya laugh.
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The three hour class went by with Sensei Onsa trying but failing to secretly teach the class how to pronounce his name. Eventually everyone was able to as long as he pointed at the parted Seon-saeng-nim written neatly on the board behind him. Underneath was the words sung - saing - nyem which was an easier way to say it in Maya’s opinion, though she would still and always call him Sensei Onsa instead. Which she did, when he came up to her and asked her what his name was. He did this after asking and therefore dismissing a multitude of students for the day.
“S-S…” Was all Maya could say as all of her jokes and vigor escaped out of her head and ran for the hills. The teacher just looked down at her with an angry expression then knelt close to her, whispering so no one else could hear. The people who stood around her backed away as her judgement seemed to begin and her life ended.
“Hey kid, look if you don't wanna chat, it’s ok, I’m not actually angry, I’m just doing it to get some of the bad kids to listen and be off their phones, it’s ok, I promise I don't mean harm” Sensei Onsa then tapped her hand which surprisingly didn't invoke rule one. Instead she found warmth and calm when he did that, he then stood and nodded, turning back into the angry man before her eyes.
“Now you know how your life will end, tell me my name.” Maya smiled at the man, a proper smile, she hadn't smiled this wide since her fifth birthday when her father got her that Barbie set. Though she still slightly smiled at the cherished memory because of it being the last time she saw her father. Finally returning from space, she faced the man who looked angry but secretly had a heart of gold like her father and said his name outloud.
“Sensei Onsa” She stated outloud, smiling as she did expect him to do the same but instead his face was stern. Maya made the wrong choice.
“With me, NOW!!!” The man said loudly, which made rule #4 come to play quickly. She did as she was told, however her eyes filled with tears as his arm seemed to crush her shoulder, spikes appeared again as everyone in the dojo looked towards her. Eyes, everywhere, ones she didn't know, the bushes held wolves after all, all looking at the girl who did wrong, her breath became unsteady and rapid as everyone stared. She tried counting but the dojo wasn't one to look at.
‘One two three four, the dojo’s walls have red pillars that fill the sides, the glass towards the front entrance has spider webs at the corners, everyone outside is looking….. NO!!! Five, six, seven, eight. The peoples’ gis are white, they're all wanting me gone, they're all going to make fun of me, I'll be the laughing stock of the dojo, nine, ten, eleven, twel-.’ Her thoughts were interrupted by Sensei Onsa grabbing her hand and lifting it in the air, her tear filled eyes and rapid pace stopping at the strange action. Once her hand was in the air she looked towards Sensei Onsa and found his eyes darting towards his free hand making and unmaking a fist rapidly.
His lips read “make a fist” as he did this and in a confused state that Maya was in, she did just that. The man then seemed to smile and wink at her, as he let go of her hand and jumped back from her and crashed into the ground. Everyone gasped at what had just occurred including Maya.
“SO!!! You not only disrespect my family but you embarrass me in front of my dojo????” Maya saw this man, faking his injury and grabbing his chest, coughing as he did, then he raised his fist with her, as she hadn't lowered hers just yet.
“I-.... uh I-” Maya was stunned.
“No, No I understand clearly.” He then stood up and clapped his hands, getting the attention of everyone including entering parents, and siblings, Aneko being one of them.
“Everyone!!!!, We need to clap for this young Wu foo fighter right here as she has passed the first test!!” Everyone looked towards Sensei Onsa in confusion as he looked around.
“Well??? CLAP!!!!!” He said while clapping towards Maya, one by one, everyone else did the same. For the first time, Maya was the center of attention and it wasn't in vain, she didn't know what to do in this situation so she just smiled once again and just stood there awkwardly.
“She passed the first test I put upon you all today and unfortunately everyone else has failed.” Everyone looked on, some groaning, and some laughing.
“Though don't worry, I will never trick anyone ever again and this lesson was more of a challenge. Though…” He looked towards Maya.
“That doesn't mean you don't earn anything today Ms Maya.” As he said this, he walked over towards the small chest on the side corner and held a band out for the rest to see.
“This is the sensei’s apprentice band, this will go home to the person who impresses me the most at the end of every day, and today!! It goes to Maya!” He made a stance and punched towards Maya, the band in his hand. She took the band from his hand and tied it around her forehead, awarding another set of applause from the students which made her smile and her chest feel warm as she took pride in the cheer and this time waved.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIR6ggNqd7u
On the walk home, Maya waved at her classmates goodbye as her sister took her hand and started walking down the sidewalk away from home. Apparently, their mother was caught up in something and needed to meet them across the bridge.
“Well, you seemed to be having fun, huh?” Aneko said, smiling at Maya as she nodded her head in agreement. Though once she realised it, her frown returned home and the bandana on her head felt cold and uncomfortable Rule#1. She swiftly took it off and handed it to her sister, wiping her hands from the sweat it held.
“Huh, this thing isn't that bad of quality, sis.” She stretched it to its limits then stopped, placing it on her head before pushing it away swiftly.
“Ew, girl you sweat a lot.” She laughed, giving the bandana back to Maya as they came to the corner. Ahead of them was a large stone bridge that was over a canal full of water, usually at least. When it comes to summer, it never seems to be full, just a dry open cut in the world. It separated houses, built tunnels underneath them, etc etc. Maya always wondered what was down there but always feared of what germs would be there. Her father always joked that there were pizza loving turtles down there, but Maya always laughed at that, turtles don't like pizza, or karate.
“But yeah, what did you think of your first class of karate?” Aneko asked as they crossed the street. Maya checked three to four times that the light was actually red and gave the pole a few taps for stability before crossing, Rule#2. Maya then pondered the question.
“It… was nice… I guess.” Maya's mind then swiftly panicked.
“But if it costs you or mom too much money then I don't have to go anymore, anything to keep up afloat in our house, and and and and and.” Aneko just looked down at Maya then shook her a bit. This seemed to calm Maya down for a second before Rule #1 came into effect and she pushed her sister's hands away.
“Look, it's a free thing and you seem to enjoy it, don't worry about the itty bitty stuff like money or how the house is holding, worry about what makes you smile girl.” Maya looked up to her sister, no spikes ever came but her sister's words did.
‘ What do you mean don't worry about you guys, you're my family and I love you. And money isn’t itty bitty, it's what makes the world go around and around, without it, we wouldn't have the nice things we have, I do worry about what makes me smile, you and mom have me going to a therapist about it anyways, which in turn is an even bigger waste of money!!’ Maya thought.
“T-Thank you” Was all Maya said, her voice low and sad. Aneko groaned at this and went back on her phone, Maya looking around her to make sure she didn't do something like walk into traffic as she researched and found that 23% of cell owners have bumped into something or someone due to being distracted by their phone. Instead Maya herself got distracted when she looked out towards the canal.
Maya saw the sun setting on a beautiful day, across the canal looked like the sun was going to fill it with liquid rays. It was a beautiful sight, if only she had a way to capture it on. That's when Maya chased after Aneko and asked for her phone.
“You mean the brick you force me to hold? Sure.” She reached into her back pocket and grabbed a small flip phone then handed it to Maya. Maya then ran towards the middle of the bridge and held out her phone towards the picasso in front of her. It took a second but she got the image, then sended it to her sister's phone. Maya stared at her sister until she gave up and showed the image which was a little pixelated but still was beautiful. It was until her phone made a noise and a message from Mom, came down and she snatched her phone.
“Oh, well mom told us we have to walk home tonight, apparently her work called and now she has to stay a little.” They both groaned at this and started their trek back. Before going Maya looked at the other side of the bridge. Off the bridge, past the dojo which held people sitting on their phones outside of the dojo waiting for a ride home. Until they got to the familiar winding path that led them to the cul de sac that held their two story home.
Here they walked the winding road and Maya had time to think of her day. How everything felt like it happened so fast. How she actually was able to smile and express herself. She enjoyed the time she had there truthfully but if it cost too much she wouldn't wanna do that to her mother. She already works two jobs so why have her work more? Maya frowned at this but found that she couldn't do anything. Not until she's old enough to get a job herself that is. She looked across the road and saw a fast food place with a sign saying they were hiring. Once she starts the tenth grade she will get her first I.D. and work there.
Maya looked down to her flip phone and sighed. Placing it back in Anekos back pocket and watching the trees around her. She remembered when her father gave her that phone, saying it was one he had when she was born. Always telling her that when Maya was a baby she always grabbed at it and put it in her mouth which always made her father laugh. Maya could never do something like that, or even that she did do that at all, the idea sent shivers down her bookcase full of information on germs, Rule #3 and Rule #1.
But she still keeps it, it's something to remember her father, she then thought of that dream she had last night. After everything that has happened today it has crept to the back of her memory. It's silly anyway, but terrifying. She read up about snakes the night before. How they don't attack unless threatened, if only she could've gotten a look of one before they… chewed her to pieces. Her death and all the pain she felt wasn't even the worst, it's that her mind still thinks her father is coming back. She wishes he did, she misses him every day.
With that final thought Maya and Aneko turned the corner and walked home, no dinner for tonight so Maya's sister heated up a stromboli and headed to bed. Maya on the other hand looked at their kitchen, then their sofa located across the bar. She missed sitting there and watching shows with her father, how she felt when something happy happened and they made fun of it, or something sad happened and Maya always had tissues because of her father. She missed spending time with him, but most of all, she missed him.
She then sulked and walked up to her room, laying down and pondering what to do next. It was too early to sleep yet too late to start studying one of her many books located in the bookcase next to her closet. She still grabbed one of the books and read its contents. It was an informative book on dog breeds and their individual positive and negative trait's as well as their history. She always wanted a dog, maybe a basset hound or a golden retriever. Though with her mothers allergies she would be lucky to even receive a cat. After reading the fascinating history of basset hounds and how they affected the france civil war she heard a car pull up to the home and a car door slam.
‘Mother never slammed the door’ Maya thought as she tried to look out towards the driveway but found it improbable, only seeing a small corner as her window was on the side of the house. She didn't see any car or the hood of the small van they owned. So who was it at their door? A murderer, a thief? Whoever it was, each new iteration of the threat outside filled her with more and more fear. She ran over to the hallway and rushed down the stairs but stopped her quick pace to preserve that she was downstairs the whole time. The last thing she needed was the killer to hear her.
She looked towards the front entrance, there was the door, painting and a keyholder drilled into the wall. If it were a few years ago the small pouch located on that key ring would hold Maya's father badge and under it his belt. But no such luck as Maya looked and saw the door handle vibrate. She saw it jiggle then jiggle more. Then came the knocking, the knocking on Maya's skull as this masked murderer sips on wine while her head is used as an ash tray.
Maya's breath started to become rapid, the stakes raised under her skin and pierced the fabric of her outer layers. She felt as full of needles as a haystack, everything feeling wrong and hurting, she had to do the top lock and save the house but did she believe in herself? Maya froze, watching as the banging got rapid and then stopped. Eyes, two of them in the cover of darkness, watched Maya and knocked on the window.
She wished her father was there, he would've taken care of this, like in one of the tv shows they watched, he would grab one of his guns and fight the bad guys then win. He would be done with and finally they would go back to watching tv. But instead Maya has to face this head on, she wasn't her father, she will end like she did, she will die here and now. But then she stood up, she thought of her father and how he died. He heard the story over and over again, and how he died fighting for what he believed. She thought of the day she had, how she was actually able to smile again, she wants to live for that, she grabbed a nearby bat, unlocked the front door, then as it slammed open swung with all her might.
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One swing and a few ice packs later Maya reawoke on the sofa. An icepack holding up her aching head as her mother was in the kitchen. She looked towards Maya and smiled.
“Goodmorning my baseball star” Maya's mother said, handing her a bowl of ice cream and sitting next to her.
‘Did I have another one of those crazy dreams again?’ Maya wondered looking down at her icecream as its bowl seemed to freeze Maya's legs in place. Maya then looked at her mother and then the front door, a noticeable dent in the wall near the door stopper was there and Maya knew what she did.
“So you wanna explain why the front porch light was off and you tried to hit me with a bat before passing out?” Maya's face was cherry red, she was so embarrassed her eyes started to fill with tears once again.
“No No No it's ok baby it's ok” Her mother hugged her but Rule#1 came in effect and she ran up the stairs and went to sleep. Her ice cream, never being able to be eaten as the night came to a close.
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The week went by in a flash, another weekly visit with the doctor and it was complete. The day came again when Maya went into the dojo. Today there were some pieces of wood and small black boxes were located on the tables that surrounded the center, the words Wu foot extensions put onto a sign from the side of the table's tarp. Maya didn't understand what they could be used for but quickly the class started, though this tim with no music just a loud cymbal attached to a wooden post via rope called a gong.
“Goodmorning class, when this gong sounds at the beginning of class I expect the holder of the senseis apprentice band to come up and return it to me.” As he stated this he eyed Maya. She looked towards Sensei Onsa as he stated this then quickly walked the band up to her teacher who took it from her hands and placed it back in the box behind the chalkboard.
“Good, now. What is my class name?” The entire class stated Mr Seonsaengnims name outloud with Maya saying Sensei Onsa as given permission to. After his face twitched, obviously hearing Maya he sighed.
“Good, now today we are going over the basics of our class, now raise your hand if you ever heard of Wu foo before?” Maya sat there and pondered, she only ever heard it from this class but saw everyone else raise their hand around her.
‘What if they make fun of you for not knowing? You've lost all your friends before you even made a single one? Such a loser is what they'll say, they'll never let you live it down so raise your hand’ Maya feared so she was about to raise her hand the same until the teacher made a loud audible buzzer noise.
“WRONG!!! For everyone who raised their hand, do 15 push ups, for the few of you who didn't that's good, you didn't succumb to common peer pressure. I had a few of my elite students you see standing at the back purposefully raise their hand so I can get a judge of character from each of my students.” He looked around as one by one they all went down and did fifteen push ups though some did better than others. He walked up to Maya and a few of the other classmates who didn't raise their hands and put them in a group.
“You all didn't succumb to such peer pressure, and as such I'm proud of you all, after everyones done we will start our class properly with stretches and such, Maya” He said all of a sudden walking up to her with a smile.
“don't think I didn't see you start to raise your hand, it's ok to wanna be like others but sometimes being yourself is the best answer of all, so live your best life girl friend” He said that last part in a swoony tone doing strange hand gestures as he did which made Maya and the others laugh.
“Alright!” Sensei Onsa said walking back to the back of the room once everyone was done.
“Today we will be learning the basics of Wu Foo.” He walked up to his chalk board and wrote the word in bold letters.
“Wu Foo is something I made up when I was studying with kung foo masters, it's the art of using Kung foo with basic weapons you have, or can make inside of your purse or area around you.” Maya looked at the tables and saw that the once perceived nun chucks were actually two pieces of wood from chair legs tied together with some type of twine. Though she couldn't understand what the small black plastic brick could be used for.
“In this class you will learn to create, use, and safely maintain your weapons made.” He stated grabbing the makeshift nun chucks he flung around himself while he spoke.
“But before any of that all of you must learn that Wu Foo has three basic rules that must be followed in order to be allowed to master it because knowing this power is very dangerous.” Maya found this hard to be true because the weapons on the tables were mere pieces of wood and packed plastic, how hurt could someone truly get? Her father would know, she assumed.
“First, only ever use Wu foo in deadly self defence, This isn't normal kung foo here, you can seriously injure and possibly even kill someone with the information you gain in these next couple classes. So if that makes you scared then leave now.” Maya panicked hearing this, she didn't wanna hurt people and the idea of killing never even crossed her mind as an idea, it disgusted her thinking of it now. She almost stood then and there if not for the fact she would be wasting her mothers money. So she stayed seated and stayed silent, the class doing the same.
“Good, Second rule is that learning this doesn't make you some type of super hero or another jackie chan, don't start using this to save or help others, again with the damaging and killing part, leave that heroism to the police department.” Hearing that made Maya slouch down a little more, memories of her father all rushing in at once bombarding her mind, causing her to sniffle and panic. The teacher caught note of this, listening to the groaning of Maya and the people around her and quickly changing the subject.
“I apologize but thats how it is, Third and final rule you must understand before learning Wu foo. Never, EVER, have it be your first option. The reason why it's an add on to Kung foo and not its own separate thing is because you must let weapons be the last thing you think of when defending yourself, always try and subdue the target before using a weapon.” Hearing that made Maya calm down a bit. She can't do much anymore, have good grades, keep a decent schedule, eat three meals. Maya thought if she didn't have her mother she would probably be starved to death by now.
“Today, we will study and understand these rules as follows until everyone can recite them in similar or simpler terms, once that is done we will go around and observe some of the weapons you can create or hold. But first, we need to stretch.” Sensei Onsa stated, rolling out a mat in front of him, he pointed to multiple rolls on the side of the facility behind a table and everyone rushed over to get one.
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After stretching and the memorizing of the three basic rules which Maya used a notebook she brought with her. She found the stretching a little taxing, especially when she had to stretch her legs for minutes on end. Her inner glutes started to burn but she was up and moving before she had time to even wonder complaining about it. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. He showed off the multiple different hand crafted weapons such as the nun chuck made of chair legs, a sharp fragment of a broken pot tied with tape to prevent cutting the user, and finally he ended on the small black box. He asked for a volunteer to test the strange box. One of the men a guy in his mid forties volunteered and stated he knew what he was in for. He stepped up, had two of the assistants grab his arms and was quickly used to demonstrate the small plastic box.
Electricity, about fifty thousand volts went into that man's stomach and caused him to fall over, salivating in pain on the floor as he laughed. At once everyone either backed away or looked closer in interest. Though fear clouded her mind Maya was with the ladder, the small plastic was in fact a cover for a small taser held within. Maya wrote down in her notebook that she would need to obtain one once she could trust herself, after all, it is a self defence class. She jotted down, though she didn't wanna actually get one, her mother always read her notes so she didn't wanna seem like she was wasting her money.
Sensei Onsa ended the class by teaching the starting basics of stances, stating that.
“Without proper footwork, you couldn't even do a proper kick without falling over” which he demonstrated by kicking the air then falling on his bottom which caused the class to chuckle. Though Maya still chuckled she remembered the week prior where she did something similar with a bat so she quickly quieted down. That day went by fast and Maya wished she learned how to do this stuff sooner. She expected to be tired at the end of her class but she felt sort of energized. Sensei Onsa stated that the next week they would study grabs and kicks, whatever that meant and the class ended with Maya smiling once again.
Anekos and Maya's walk was peaceful as ever and the night ended calmly as well, the next week flew and Maya learned of kicks and grabs. She learned proper grabbing techniques as well as kicks. She couldn't wait to show her sister what she learned as her sudden interest from the days prior made Maya feel confident.
The first person she ended up grabbing was a boy named Amoureux, a french boy who once lived in Canada and was Maya's designated partner for the rest of the course. Maybe it was because the last names were so close or maybe he was the only person who was the same age in the entire class as Maya, she never found out. Though the first thing he did was apologize and stated the name everyone calls him is Armor. Both because he always laughed when people tried to say his name before and that he remembered Maya preferred nicknames.
She had to do a simple grab that she was training on a long sand bag for the better part of half the class. The grab consisted of grabbing their arm while they swung it towards them, then counter attacking at the lower abdomen. This counter attack ended up severely bruising and scratching Maya's knuckles because she put her full body into the punch. But when she had to do it to a person she couldn't. She backed down and Armor equally didn't want to do it to a girl. Sensei Onsa frowned at this and walked them over to the side.
“Look, I understand both of your view points but if you wanna learn you're gonna have to do stuff you won't wanna do, what if it's a girl who mugs you or you get mugged at all?” They both understood what Sensei Onsa was saying but both couldn't bring themselves to do it. That's when Sensei Onsa had an idea.
“Alright, you and you” He pointed towards two of the elite students Sensei Onsa had in the back. They both stepped up and bowed towards him.
“Demonstrate the simple grab using each other, no double counters, just one attack and one counter, GO!” Like Machines they both did a similar stance, bowed at one another and both swung but one did the technique with adequate speed to the other then stood up, bowing towards their teacher while the other struggled to stand but did the same. He then looked down towards us to find the same faces painted on our canvas, he then sighed but quickly thought of another idea while looking at Maya's bruised knuckles.
“See? Easy, but maybe don't punch that hard, watch, Armor… Ar.. you know who you are, swing at me.” Without question Armor agreed and swung towards Sensei Onsa, in breakneck speeds he was under Armor and his fist connected with his stomach, though when Armor started to tense up he stopped, looking down to see where he was punched yet never connected.
“I never said you had to go full force, just make the connection thats all, does that make sense?” Maya found this such a simple answer and then felt bad for the sand bag she punched full force earlier before. As they both understood they both did there stances and bowed.
“I still don't like the idea of hurting a girl, especially one as pretty as yourself” Armor said mid swing, Maya was going to speak but then stopped dead in her tracks of the counter.
‘Did he just call me pretty?’ Maya thought as a punch connected and a body hit the floor. Not Armors though, it was Mayas, who was just punched in the face by the boy who called her pretty.
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Maya reawoken in the dojo though later in the day, with her sister Aneko above and yelling at Sensei Onsa. He reassured her that this was bound to happen as stated by the contract there mother signed off on. Aneko wasn't having any of it and Maya normally would stay out but she stood up and did her stance again against what Aneko tried to stop.
Maya was aimed straight at Armor, whos tears filled his eyes so much that Maya found it unfair to fight but didn't stand down. She knew what Sensei Onsa was right, and that showing her sister that doing this simple grab would be the way to proof her that she was ok. In fact her face hurt so much that when she dashed for Armor her eyes started to fill with tears as well. Aneko tried to stop Maya, thinking she was going to beat the kid senseless but was swiftly blocked by the teacher.
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Once Maya reached Armoureux she tapped her feet, he looked at her strange taps but saw she was in the stance they learned last class. But he saw her face full of tears and snot starting to drizzle down her nose and above her bruising cheek which he punched.
‘She must hate me so much that she wants to beat me up, I deserve it, she will never wanna speak to me again’ Armoureux thought, stancing and getting ready for the counter attack to come as he swung towards her cheek once again. This time some lady that Mr Seonsaengnim was blocking screamed for him to stop but his arm was swiftly grabbed, pulled and he was flicked in the abdomen. Surprising himself and the students who started to gather once she went down.
She then stood up and laughed at him, somehow, Armoureux made the pretty girl laugh, and it was by punching her? ‘Americans are definitely strange’ Armor admitted to himself but ran with it. She was the only person his age in this class after all. Once she stopped laughing she collapsed on the floor and was carried out of the dojo.
“It seems one of our pupils used to much of there energy” Mr Seonsaengnim stated, everyone in the dojo at this point looking at Mayas sister carry her out while placing a water bottle on her chest so when she awakens she can have a drink.
“Let this be a lesson class, don't use all of your energy on one feeble attack, it'll leave yourself open for the enemy to counter attack.” Everyone nodded towards Mr Seonsaengnim’s teachings and Armoureux was assigned to one of the Gi wearing jocks in the back, who were surprisingly gentle on him at first for the rest of the day.
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Maya awoken inside of a hospital bed. Looking around to see she was alone.
‘What the heck happened’ Maya thought as she reached towards her head. She didn't feel to hurt, besides a bruise that formed on her cheek shown by the hospital mirror beside her bed. A small tray had flowers and some fast food. Though she didn't care much for the flowers she sat up and ate the fast food, turned on the tv and watched some cartoons which she couldn't do at home since cable was expensive.
‘How did I get this bruise on my cheek’ Maya pondered, thinking of the day as she sipped sprite from her cup. She slowly but surely remembered the days events and the cute boy who punched her. Armor, and how he called her pretty. it's the only thing Maya could think about for a little while as she watched cartoons and felt her heart fill with butterflies. The episode of the cartoon ended and advertisements filled the screens corners. She was at piece for a moment before her skin started to sting suddenly. She realised where she was and started to panic, about the food she just ate, the people who stay in hospitals, the cost of a room. SHE WAS IN A HOSPITAL.
Maya then quickly jumped out of bed, ripping all the strange electronics that attached to her arm and ran for the door. She then looked down to her sweaty and dirty clothes as well as her unwashed hands.
‘GERMS, EVERYWHERE, GERMS, MUST GET OFF OF ME.’ Mayas mind panicked, as her breathing became heavy and rapid. She read once that hospital acquired infections occur in about 1 in 31 patients. She dashed for the nearby sink and washed her hands. Though she knew it would do her no good as these infections were often caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi that can be found on surfaces, equipment, and even in the air. Once she remembered the air part she stopped cleaning her hands and sat down on the dirty grimy floor. Rule#1.
‘I MUST CALM DOWN AND CALM MY BREATH’ Maya thought as she tried to count to the places around her.
‘One, T-two threeeeee four. The white bacteria covered wall, the uhh, floor that im touching, eww, when was this last cleaned, and the shower…’ Maya thought, her eyes dropping dead as she looked in the white shower. Underneath the showerheads neck was a blood splotch of gray, from over use of water causing water damage to a over use of cleaning chemicals it all spelled the same problem. MOLD. Maya swiftly sprinted out of that bathroom, holding back vomit as her head became dizzy and her body started to lose balance. Her breathing becoming more rapid, her mind filled with a million different facts about mold and the human body. All the health issues that can arise, as small as a common cold to the loss of a liver. She didn't wanna lose any of that and started to cry because she was just in a room full of the stuff.
“The walls’ Maya thought, panicking even more.
‘What are the walls hiding? More mold more bacteria? THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE’ Mayas already rapid breath exceeded further as she started to cough more and more, her laying on the maintained carpet. Her grabbing her chest before passing out once again, a nurse entering as she did.
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Armoureux was given the senseis apprentice band that day for being one of the first students to take on one of My Seonsaengnim's elite students and still stand. Though his body payed the toll once the grabs became more complex and he became the test dummy. The rest of the day was talk of a tournament and teaching of more grabs. A prize of three thousand dollars as well as a vacation trip to hawaii was given to the student who one. Though his mind wasn't on that or even the band. It was on Maya, the pretty lady he made faint.
‘I knew I made all the ladies faint but that was a bit much’ Armoureux chuckled towards himself. His false persona swiftly changing as his mind started panicking about seeing her the week after.
‘What if she hit her head so hard she ended up cracking her skull? Or heart one of her lungs from laughing to hard? Will she even like me after everything is said and done?? Will she hate me’ Armoureux feared, though he couldn't understand why, they just met only three hours prior and hes worried about her?
‘Love at first sight I guess’ Armoureux argued, though with himself than anyone else, he just took the answer at head value. No need to get paranoid about it after all. But that didn't stop his mind.
‘Should I see where she is from Mr Seonsaengnim? Is she in the hospital? If so which one? The one across the bridge? Maybe because it's so close but where else’ Armoureux pondered before putting his faith in her. After all, she did stand back up after getting sucker punched by…. Him. Armoureux didn't feel good about that last part as he left that dojo for the day, planning on giving her something when she returns next week, if she still wanted to talk to him that is.
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When she reawoken she found herself in a wheel chair, sitting as her mother talked to the lady behind the desk.
“And it looks like shes awake now mam” At the lady's word Mayas mother twisted swiftly and embraced her in a hug.
“My baby, my sweetie, my princess, what happened in class? Who was the boy who hit you? What was his name? WHO IS HIS MOTHER?? IM GOING WITH YOU TO THE NEXT CLASS AND I WILL GIVE THEM A PIECE OF MY…..” Mother went from sentimental to angry real quick. The room filled with her angry rage, until she realised where she was and corrected herself.
“My apologies, if I may have the bill, Ill be by tomorrow to pay it” The lady behind the desk handed it to her mother by her request and they left the hospital. Finally out of that germ jail Maya immediately looked towards her mother.
“Clothes?” Her mother helped her out of the wheelchair as if she was in serious injury and then looked shy.
“I….. Forgot them, Im sorry sweetie” Maya then frowned and told herself to not touch to much of the car on the way home. She looked out the window thinking of what her mothers temper brought out. Watching as they turned right and went across the bridge, the other side showing the dojos somewhat empty lot.
‘What do I think of him? Armor is just a boy who happened to be chosen with me,not much else, so why cant I get him out of my head, him and his pretty blue eyes, and and’ Mayas mind went crazy as she felt her face flush, must be the medicine she thought.
“Armor” Maya said aloud, her mother listening in.
“Armor? Well, you may have been bruised but you don't need armor honey.” Mayas mother said giggling a little bit to herself. Maya wanted to correct her but her mind slowly went spikey again as she thought of the bill that sat on the dashboard. But he wouldn't escape her mind so she spoke out.
“No…. His name is Armor, and hes… my friend” The rest of the drive was silence, Maya had another spike that night and the week went by relatively quickly.
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Armoureux looked towards his phone after getting done playing conflict of countries on his phone. His calender showed it was the 9th of june which meant the next dojo class was tomorrow. He looked up from his phone to see he and his mother was at DWT, the drug store that also doubled as a last minute gift service.
Though he wanted to be there sooner his father was busy with work and couldn't help him. So he went today and had to run in and grab something quickly. He grabbed a card, a envelope, and a singular scented plastic flower, he paid and walked to his car. When he entered his father chuckled.
“Whats her name slugger” He joked, poking at his son as he locked him out of the car which was a ongoing joke between them.
“Her name is Maya if you so have to know” His joking deminor changed as he unlocked the door for his son.
“Wait… an actual woman? You??, Ha!!! Your barely in Amerloque land and you found a woman, you are my son after all” He then looked down to his sons hands.
“Is that it?” His father asked, making him ponder and panic.
“Is this not enough??” Armoureux questioned before his face went full flushed and defensive.
“And it's not like that père” Armoureux defended swiftly, he didn't mean to sound so angry but it suddenly bounced out of him. His father looked towards him in a sort of shock but smiled a half second later.
“Ohhh so it is?” His father then looked down in Amoureux arms.
“And thats all your gonna give her?” His father asked, pointing at the bag full of stuff.
‘Isn't this enough? WIll she like it? Is this to much? Is this to little?’ Armoureux panicked, thinking of all the ways this isn't good enough but his father intervene.
“Well, lets go inside together and while we get better gifts, you can tell me how you met this girl Monsieur tout ça” His father said while exiting the car. Amoureux always disliked when his father would say american sayings in their native tongue but he never minded cause it always made him laugh.
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When Maya awoken that morning she expected to get the same nonsense she got the morning before. So she breathed, walked down the stairs and sat at the breakfast table to see her Anekos eyes brighten and her mothers smile show.
“Im back from being home husband, you wanna kiss me with your fist to show our love is true” Aneko mocked, looking towards there mother as she giggled and did a dramatic pose.
“Only if you punch me back in a kiss of love, then we can punch each other with our ring hands and be punching bags for life.” Her mother said, making dramatic poses as she did. After both got done lollygaging they both started to giggle at the inside joke that Maya was sadly the main character of.
Ever since Maya spoke about Armor as a friend her mother and Aneko have been teasing Maya about them becoming a couple. Maya at this point is used to it after having to deal with it for the past week. Though she had noone to speak to about it as they skipped this weeks therapy session with the doctor for ‘health reasons.’ Though Maya always assumed it was so she could be made fun of more.
“So you excited to return honey?” Mayas mother asked as she put sausage and pancakes onto her plate.
“Yeah I bet your husband is just dying to see you again.” Aneko stated never letting Maya get the next word out. Once they got done with there giggle fit Maya finally got the words to speak up.
“it's not…. Like that… and yeah, I guess” Maya answered in a shushed tone though they wouldn't stop talking about it through the car drive. But Maya wasn't too bothered, the boy she flicked, the boy who punched her was the only thing on her mind for those days. When she had the few spikes she had while they teased her all she did was listen to there words about Armor and it all suddenly seemed to go away. She didn't need to focus on much except imagining what the pair was saying about him and her. She actually liked the idea somewhat, as if this boy she just met made her feel safe.
When they arrived to the dojo her mother insisted on coming in as well because she needed to ‘See the classroom’ which Maya knew was a excuse to meet Armor. When they entered they found Sensei Onsa talking to some of the other students about throws and how to use them but stopped when Maya entered.
He rushed over to Maya and her parents then dove to the floor in front of them bowing as if they were royalty.
“I am so so so so so sorry for what had happened yesterday, I must first excuse my apologies as my behavior was unacceptable but also that it was written in fine print that this may have happened but not to the point of her passing out, I hope this is understood and if you wanna take her out of the program I 100% understand.” He said in a rush, as if he said it any slower he would lose his tongue. Though all three looked down to him in confusion and scruffed it off.
“Uhh were just here to make sure she arrives safely” Mayas mother said which made him shoot up and apologize again for looking like a fool. His apology was cut short however as the door behind them opened swiftly and the whole class looked in awe of what they saw. Maya swiftly started to feel spikes under her skin as everyone looked at her.
‘Look towards the girl who passed out, oh shes such a fool, who would ever be friends with her’ Her mind started sprinting towards every horrible thing everyone was thinking as they looked at her with discuss, it caused her to bundle onto the floor and tear up. She wanted to go home.
“don't tell me the boy at the door is Armor, is it really?” Maya heard her mother say after gasping, Maya who was wallowing in despair was tapped on the shoulder which made her stand. When she turned to look at the supposed boy she was confused, there wasn't a boy just a hand holding a bouquet of flowers. But when she blinked and looked again her world went still. There was Armor, wearing his gi and a shy expression which complimented his flushed face. In his hands were a bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates though not heart shaped as expected and a envelope with the words, TO MAYA written atop them.
So everyone's eyes weren't on Maya, they were on the boy who just brought her a lovers test. Maya saw the display in front of her, and her heart started to race. It wasn't a spike like normal, no it was the feeling she felt all week, her stomach felt light as if she was about to throw up. But she never did, her legs shook as if she were a woman in a dress being proposed next to a lake. Her eyes filled with tears her mind with questions.
‘Why would he ask in public like this, why would he ask at all, we only just met so why di he think she would even say yes?, What is it hes tryna ask her by doing this? But most importantly, who was this guy?’ Mayas mind pondered as her mind went from frantic to calm.
‘A boy, a boy I just met, is asking me out like this? Me?? Why, Im not pretty or cool, im a failure at everything I do, so why would anyone wanna ask me..’
“Yes, I….. I would love to” Maya said aloud, though not asked any questions she said it with pride which she never seen before. Neither did his mother, sister, or even Armor who’s flushed look turned to confusion.
“What? OH!!! No No No, not like that, I mean” Armor looked down at his hands and to what he was holding and looked as if he started to panic.
“I would love to really, it's just… This was…..” Armor stuttered and panicked where he stood, trying to find the words in his throat but never could find them. Or maybe he did, Maya didn't listen all she heard was one word echoed in her mind.
‘no…..No? Of course it was No. Who would ever wanna date me, or even wanna be seen with me, I should've figured, all it was is a apology thats all, he would never wanna date me or anything else, all he wants is to apologize….. He said no to me…… he said no’ Mayas eyes filled with tears at this point, this boy she didn't think of as a love interest rejected her on the spot, with flowers that petals danced at a never again seen joy, the classmates behind hers eyes all stabbing into her back, spearheads going through her heart and held high like a torches flame. All her joy, her confidence, her newly found smiles, destroyed, for all to see. And it was Armors words that displayed it in a wooden case.
Armor seemed to sense this, through roses and tears Maya assumed his words were on a conveyer belt towards a fire, not real, just fantasies of what could have been. But her mothers words knocked her out of her depressive transe and Maya heard properly.
“Would you… like to go out with a guy like me?” Armor said, though Maya couldn't believe him.
‘After all that, after getting my hopes up, after all of the emotional trauma you put me through you expect me to just say yes? Boys, Aneko was right about them, they only wanna be with themselves and brag to there buddies about yucky stuff, he doesn't like me, he just doesn't wanna see me sad, he just doesn't wanna seem like the boy who made the class idiot cry, there all staring at me, does he think this gesture will work?, is he that foolish, ima give him a piece of my mind!!!!’ Maya brought to life as her fist went through the other side of the roses and landed straight on Armors cheek.
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‘What is it with this girl and punching’ Armoureux thought, as her fist connected with his cheek and the impact started to follow. As it did he fell to the ground and he could hear people gasping around him.
‘First she asks me out, then she sucker punches me after I get flustered and don't have the words to say yes, I mean, shes been on my mind all week, thats why I got her this stuff like dad wanted’ He angrily thought, catching himself before standing up swiftly, though he didn't mean to make his stance look so angry.
‘Sure, maybe flowers and chocolates wasn't the best im sorry and sure, maybe father is waiting for me in the car just in case something goes wrong but it's the best im sorry he could think o-’ Armoureux realised what his father had planned. He realised the situation he just put himself in.
‘She didn't just ask me out by saying yes, I just embarrassed her by looking as if I was about to ask her and said NO!!!!. Mec, je suis un idiot” Armoureux thought as he swiftly switched from standing ready to fight to bowing down. It was something close to an apology which he learned while being taught japanese culture in school.
“Im Sorry Maya, take these flowers as a showing of it” Armoureux stated, to worried about her next actions as he didn't dare lift his head from the floor.
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It was thirty minutes later and class started with some new drama, Maya just exited the car after telling her that it was ok if she didn't wanna do class. Maya didn't wanna go, after all she did just get humiliated in front of the whole class and punch the boy she had a crush on but her mind kept going back to what he said.
“Would you… like to go out with a guy like me?” Armors vision stated, seemingly on loop in Mayas mind as if she was watching a movie in a theatre.
‘What did he mean? Was it not his intentions on asking me out? Whats the use, like he would want me anymore anyway, I punched him and then forced him to give me chocolate when he apologized, why did he even apologize to a stupid girl like me?, why did he even show up with a box of chocolates if not to ask me out?” Maya thought as her eyes burned from all the crying and her knees stung from hitting the floor in front of him. When he bowed Mayas legs gave out and for a moment, she laid next to the boy on the floor, not knowing what to say or do. In fact, it was her mother who took the flowers and sister the chocolate, though she didn't know where the letter went.
‘I wonder what the letter said, I wonder if Sensei Onsa will let us be partners any more. Probably not, but theres only one way to find out.’Maya thought as she cleaned her eyes the best she could, opened the car door and looked towards the dojo.
“Are you sureee you wanna go sweetie? You don't have to be in the same room as that jerk Armor” Mayas mother protested as she shut the door behind her and called for her out the car window.
“Yeah sis, if you want I can punch him and see if the name Armor really is used for something other than a stupid name“Aneko said, close behind to her mothers response, which gained a small giggle from her mother.
“Yes…… Love you both….. See you both later” Maya said as she walked into the dojo and waved to her mother, and sister behind. She didn't remember when was the last time she said she loved them aloud, but she wanted all the love she could get at this point forward. As the doors bell overhead ringed, and she needed to find her own love to.
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Class, went by as normal, and surprisingly Mr Seonsaengnim didn't separate Armourex and Maya. Though the tension between them seemed to become warm and unluckily it was the third week of the nine week program, which meant it was sparring day.
“Alright class, today is one third of the way there before the big tournament is to come up, that means it's sparring day.” Mr Seonsaengnim stated, looking around the classroom as some students shrunk and others stayed calm.
“There will be only one more sparing day and by then you will all be able to use the martial arts part of Wu Foo, then for the final three weeks you will learn the weapons portion of it” Mr Seonsaengnim said though Armoureux wasn't paying much attention because his eyes were glued onto Maya and her reaction.
‘She looks…. Sad, or maybe stunned? I cant tell, but when he said weapons it must've surprised her, I hope she is alright’ Armoureux thought as her once calm and quiet expression was now one of seriousness and thinking.
“Alright everyone, your sparring partner will be your training partner, you must teach each other and learn from each other, you cant just expect to grow up eating noodles then becoming a Wu Foo master, here we have no pandas, only warriors.” Mr Seonsaengnim said as he raised his hands for everyone to stand, which they did then all walked there own ways.
As they did though it was Maya who walked up to Armoureux and looked at him in what seemed like anger. Though she never spoke a word, she stanced and waved her hand, taunting him to test her. Armoureux watched this girl with shock, she looked battle ready and afraid all in the same time. He remembered the last class and how he knew more throws and grabs than she did, and yet she stanced like she knew every move he would make. He was about to stance as well and assuredly lose the fight if it wasn't for Mr Seonsaengnim stepping in and blocking the two.
“I understand there is some anger from both side of this fight yes?” Mr Seonsaengnim asked, though both heard and stopped stancing both didn't agree or disagree.
“So why this tension? This is both not the ways of Wu Foo and distracting to the other students.” Mr Seonsaengnim showed as every classmate was in there stances but looked towards the both of them.
“If you both don't first apologize, then you wont spar. Plus, this fight is unfair so I have a job for the both of you today” Mr Seonsaengnim stated, first doing a dance then ending it by pointing at Amoureux.
“Your gonna teach her what she missed, meaning the two other throws, and the tournament at the end of the classes.” Mr Seonsaengnim stated before dancing and once again ended it by pointing but this time at Maya.
“And you, Your job is to listen, learn, understand, and for the love of everything don't knock out our sweet angel Armur…. Arrrrmorrr…. This guy” He said, grabbing Armoureux’s face and squishing it, which is something noone had done since his mother in france. Though, that was only in a picture he saw once, apparently the baby smiling in front of the Arc de Triomphe being him as a baby and the woman with long brown hair being his mother, squishing his baby face and smiling.
“Well… first… uh…, We learned how to-” And then Amoureux taught her everything she missed that day, her gaze never leaving his eyes which intimidated him, never speaking a word as he explained to her the techniques and how to do them properly. She stayed silent until he spoke of one of the grabs that they rehearsed that will immobilize there opponents next.
“So. Let me try on you then” Maya said, frightening Amoureux as all the blood from his face flushed down the drain.
“Alright” He sighed in defeat, he got in his stance and she did the same, though he knew what was coming, he didn't expect her to not stop. His arm was twisted and in pain, his other arm flayed uselessly as he started to groan in pain.
“What was in that letter you threw away?” Maya asked, her voice stern with anger. Amoureux strained and was in so much pain he didn't hear her which caused her to twist a little more causing more pain.
“Where is that letter you threw away” That time Maya's words connected with him which caused him to tap his hand on the mat below him.
“I Give, I Give, I don't know what you're talking about” But instead of letting go she held on longer and longer, causing him more and more pain. Amoureux looked around for help before finding Mr Seonsaengnim watched over and called students over to observe his knowledge.
“This is a situation you may find yourself in class, and there is two ways to go about it. First, you can lift your body using your free arm which will make it harder for your opponent to hold on, or you can flip, dislocate your arm and be able to fight again. No matter what, your opponent will need a lot of will power to do this.” When Amoureux heard this he did as told and lifted his body, he hoped by doing this she would release fairly soon but she never did. She stood there, struggling, sweating, tearing up, her muscles tightened and her face of anger turned to pain swiftly. But she never gave up, never stopped. The teacher looked on in aw as she did this.
“This….. Isn't how this is exposed to go, the muscles in your body when in situations like this excerpt seven times more pressure than available to lift. If Armorex is able to lift lets say ten pounds only, Maya is feeling seventy pounds of pressure. And as he was the teachers apprentice last class it's safe to assume Maya is holding a lot more than seventy pounds of pressure. MAYA Let the boys arm go” Mr Seonsaengnim said as she finally released Amoureux’s arm which winced in pain and hurt to move. She then bowed and sat next to him, poking his cheek.
“So where is the letter” Maya said casually, as if she didn't just torture Amoureux for half a hour. He just grabbed his arm in pain and looked towards her, for some reason he still thought her expression cute.
“it's in my pocket, on my broken side thanks to you.” Amoureux said wheezing in pain, when she then knelt down and grabbed the envelope out of his pocket she stopped short and was face to face with him. She just stood there for a moment before just standing up and pocketing the letter for later. Amoureux just watched as she walked away and Mr Seonsaengnim followed suit after telling everyone to get back to there respective spars, he let Amoureux rest for the rest of class and thats exactly what he did.
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“How did you even do that? That must've hurt you as well as him you know” Sensei Onsa stated to Maya as she sat down, the envelope in her pocket sitting heavily in her pocket.
“I don't know, I just…… it was like I was in some strange area, like it gave me sudden energy I guess” Maya explained, grabbing her now throbbing arms which slowly distributed the pain she just went through. She knew where she was, she knew the actions she was doing, but she didn't mean to, she smelt blood in her nose and her arms were burning even before she did the grab.
“Well, you've sure impressed me Maya, not even my personal pupils have that much mana” Sensei Onsa stated, sitting down next to Maya before his face seemed to light up.
“Mana Maya, that should be your nickname,” Sensei Onsa said, laughing at his own joke before standing back up and walking towards two people who were sparring a few feet away.
This gave Maya ample time to reach for the envelope, open it inside was a piece of paper with writing. Maya looked around to see everyone was busy with there own thing which left Maya all alone in the corner of the room, a place Maya mastered in. When she opened the envelope she at first skimmed for some key words before just reading it fully.
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To Maya
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My father wanted me to write you a letter with the roses and such. Though I don't know why exactly I will make this as brief as I can. Honestly I wanted to give you this stuff in the hospital, well not this exactly, it was originally gonna be just a card and a plush bear but my dad said it was indigne d'une dame. OH I forgot you don't know french, basically it means it's not fitting of a girl, though I don't know how this is but maybe an American custom? Sorry Im rambling and running out of room on this page. Basically Im sorry for punching you in the face and even wonder if you wanna be friends? I don't have much room left so just answer me in person ok?
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From Amoureux
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Maya read the pages and figured maybe she misread it. After reading again however found she just injured a person who in fact didn't just dump her or try and embarrass her but instead wanted to be friends. She felt different after reading the page, It felt like her skin was being pulled back, and it wasn't from her throbbing arms or eyes that hurt too much to cry, she felt awful, and a horrible person. She swiftly stood up and located where Armor was, his arm cupped the other as he sat there and occasionally drank water with his free hand.
When she approached him he looked up to her with a pain filled expression.
“Came for the other arm I presume?” Armor said, frowning and sighing as he did, he lifted his other arm, being more like a limp toy than a body part. She just stared at him, she wanted to tell him she was sorry but she couldn't do it so she sat next to him instead.
“Soooo? Did you read the letter?” Maya heard Armor but didn't know what to say, she just nodded her head and handed it back to him.
“Keep it, as a memento of your first win in sparring, im sorry that we couldn't have become better friends.” Armor said as he pushed the envelope away and frowned.
“N-no I…. I wanna be… friends” Maya whispered, her emotions not letting her speak louder as spikes ran her body, she didn't know why she did anything she did, it was like someone else took over.
‘Whats the use, he wont ever wanna be friends with me after what I did, who would, he will probably just call me weird and go away from me, I cant be loved, I cant be befriended, it's my own fault’ Maya thought as she looked over to Armor whos gaze never left hers, she was the first to cower and decided to hide her head against her knees, hoping he would go away. Instead he did something she never would've expected, he laid his hand around Mayas back and hugged her. He then held her against him for a while, not in a normal hug sense, not pulling or pushing her but instead just laying his arm on her back.
‘Ew Ew Ew, I need to move now, his arm in on my back and hes a boy who knows where it's been, but… It feels, nice, and warm, I feel, safe.’ Maya realised. Around Armor, or even thinking about him makes her feel nice, she realised she didn't even have much spikes while thinking of him this past week. In that moment or maybe many minutes that passed, Maya realised that Armor made Maya feel safe, and those spikes that rose earlier on, only went away because of him. Maya smiled as she rested her head against her knees. For once, she didn't worry about what others thought. She just sat there and it felt like they were the only two on earth.
That moment or minutes, came and went as Sensei Onsa blew his whistle and everyone ran over to him. Maya rose her head from her self made cavern and looked to see Armor on a smartphone playing some game while still resting his arm. He looked over to her and turned off his phone, putting it away.
“Ready to go over there….. Friend?” Armor asked Maya as she smiled and fought back tears. She nodded her head and went to there meeting which ended with some kid getting the apprentice band or sparring excellently. When the class ended Maya and Armor walked together outside where he stayed waiting for Mayas mother to show up or even Aneko, though she wasn't working that day. It wasn't a few minutes later that Maya heard her phone vibrate and she picked it up hesitantly as Rule #3 and #5 took affect.
“Hey honey, I know you've had a stressful day already but can you be a big girl for me and do something scary?” Mayas mother said, some hesitation in her voice as she said it aloud.
“W-What?”
“Can you walk home tonight? Ill bring home any fast food you like if you do and you can uhh…. Get some icecream for dinner tonight”
“Aneko?”
“She hasn't answered her phone for some reason so safe to assume it's dead” Mayas mother explained which Maya understood, Aneko wasn't good about charging her phone.
“it's easy sweetie, just go down the twisty path and take a left, walk down the street and our house is there, Ok?” Mayas mother said in a sort of desperate explanation. Maya really didn't like being alone letting alone walk home alone in the dark but she didn't know what else to do.
“Ok mom” Maya said her silence answering the tension question.
“Alright sweetie, Im so sorry but If you do this everything and more will be given to you when I get home, Call me when you arrive home and we’ll talk more” Mayas mother said, Maya still imagined the vault full of icecream if she could have anything.
“Love you sweetheart”
“Love you to mom” And with that Mayas mother hung up the phone and she had to walk home for the night.
“Whats was that all about?” Armor said, looking out towards a minivan that pulled in.
“Oh… My.. Mother wants me to walk home.. Alone.” Maya said sort of embarrassingly, though she didn't know why.
“Oh…. Well, do you want someone to walk you home??” Armor scared Maya with his words which properly were placed.
‘We barely just became friends and he wants to go to my home already? Shouldn't that wait till later chapters of the story?’ Maya thought, remembering a few books she read while pretending to sleep.
“Sorry, uh.. I don't mean to be to forward… I MEAN… like, we just became friends and uh” Armor babbled on, Maya knew what he meant and just wanted to watch him continue until he mumbled and apologized, Maya found it cute at least.
“I mean… sure. It is getting a little dark… but wont you have to ask your dad first?” Maya said, secretly hoping he denies it.
“Yeahh, but thats his mini van so ill go ask him and then be right back ok?” Armor stated as he stood up and started a small sprint to the vehicle before sprinting back to Maya mid trip.
“Oh… Um… whats your address?” Armor said sort of sheepishly. Once Maya looked to old text messages from her mother and her she found it and told Armor, before releasing the phone was on and in her hand and quickly powered it off. Rule #3.
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“So son, how did it go?”Amoureux’s father stated as he looked towards where he was sitting on the curb previously. Seeing a slightly heavy girl with a ponytail and a sad expression.
“Oh my… Is that her mon petit oiseau d'amour?” He said with a little twang in his voice near the end. Though Amoureux didn't laugh this time around he just stared at him with a angry glance.
“What? Something I said?” His father sort of cowered but stayed firm.
“More like, something you did, but thats not important now, I wanna walk her home and for you to pick me up, afterwords we will talk” Amoureux said in a slightly aggressive tone. Though he never would talk this way to his father he sort of deserved it.
“Well… Alright, but only because it'll be dark soon, whats her address?” Amoureux’s father questioned, reminding himself to not publicly scold his son for his attitude. After getting the address he pulled out of the parking spot and rolled down his window as Amoureux walked back to the curb.
“Oh and son” He said, foot on the break. Amoureux turned to see what his father had to say.
“Im sorry for whatever I did, and we will talk about this later” He said, making a comically large circle as he did. Then he drove away. When Amoureux approached Maya she stood and looked at him in a way of confusion and with a somewhat pouty face.
“So… What did he say?” Maya said in a hushed tone, she isn't much for speaking aloud Amoureux assumed.
“He said he would meet us there, so would you like to lead the way?” Amoureux gestured his hand for her to stand which she took and started there walk down the windy path away from the dojo. On the walk there they spoke only of class and apologies came from both sides for their actions. They then spoke about class and genuinely what she missed, her eyes seem to light up when hearing about the tournaments prize pool but he never questioned her on it. When they turned the bend towards her house Amoureux realised, as friends in america, he should ask her for something.
“In my time studying about america, I learned that friends exchange phone numbers… I was wondering if I could have yours?” Amoureux stated though once he said it he knew it sounded wrong and so he tried to defend himself. It was something he did on occasion and always annoyed his father, remembering that he should breath and think before he speaks, though it was hard with a cute girl next to him. She just watched him mumble and freak out with a look of curiosity before he stopped and apologized.
“Well… I have these… Rules… I guess.. Where I uh” Maya started before shushing herself for a moment to catch her breath.
“I don't like having my phone or anything electronic near me really…” Maya said, looking more sad as she did, though he didn't know why. Amoureux then thought of an idea and looked at Maya.
“Do you have something I can write on?” Amoureux said as he grabbed a led pencil from summer school that day out of his pocket. He then looked toward her and saw that she in fact had no pockets. This made Amoureux frown and put the pencil away, sad that he didn't have one himself. His emotions swiftly shifted however as he saw his father at the house getting yelled at by a woman on her phone.
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“Yeah right, and even if that was true your son broke my little sisters heart!” Supposedly Mayas sister yelled while holding her phone to her ear.
“Im being serious lady, I am just here to pick up my son Amoureux who is walking with your little sister right now to this address” Amoureux’s father said aloud from his car which he leaned against.
“Sure, sure. Im calling the police right now so don't you go anywhere ok?” Mayas sister said as she dialed something on her phone and put it to her ear. She then lowered it cursing under her breath.
“Your lucky my phone is dead or else you would…” Mayas sister looked over to the pair walking towards the house. She swiftly sprinted towards the pair and hugged Maya when making contact.
“Goodness girl, why didn't you call me? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Why are you walking with him?” Mayas sister stated over and over before side eyeing Amoureux for a second then walking Maya towards the house, and leaving him behind. He swiftly rushed behind the pair and towards the van, getting inside to find his backpack in the backseat. He then grabbed a pink sticky note and wrote his own number then ran up to Maya and her sister who eyed him. He grabbed the pink note and gave it to Maya who barely was able to glance at it before her sister took it and walked inside, with Maya chasing behind, not even saying goodbye. Amoureux then turned around, door slammed in his face and walked to the mini van which his father accompanied.
“Ill be honest son, I don't like her family that much” Amoureux’s father said as he started the car and started on there way home.
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“Give it back!!” Maya screamed at Aneko who held the sticky note that contained Armor’s number on it. When Maya reached her sister just pulled away over and over, somewhat running until her sister got into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind her.
“Nope, girly your gonna thank me later, boys are nothing but trouble, I wont let you go through what I did your age.” Aneko said, the sound of ripping being audible through the door before she opened it and walked out with a calm smile. Maya threw herself against her sister and pushed her out of the way before finding the sticky note in pieces in the small trashcan next to the toilet.
“No!!!! Why did you do this?” Maya screamed at her sister, crying as she did she ran out of the bathroom and to her room, tackling her bed and melting into a puddle of tears and despair. Even when she grabbed her green squishy dog it didn't help.
‘I hate everything, I hate my sister, Why would she do that? What is with people and hating me? What if by not calling Armor thinks I hate him and he ends up not wanting to be my friend anymore? He will probably hate me and make fun of me. He probably wont wanna ever talk to me again, He…. He looked so sad when I ran towards Aneko’ Maya finally thought as her tears and lack of breath got the best of her and she passed out on her bed from crying.
Later that day Maya awoken to find her mother sitting above her, the clock read she was out for three hours and she missed supper. When she sat up her throat felt dry and eyes burned. Her arms hurt to move but she still did to grab and devour the fluid inside the cup her mother brought her with her dinner. When she got her voice back her mother told her that she talked to Aneko about what had happened and that Maya had been through enough. When she finally left the room she was given a plate of what her mother made for dinner and on top was a pink sliver of hope.
With her food Maya found the pink sticky note again, this time taped together and the numbers being written in a proper order. All her feelings of sadness was removed as she went into her sisters bedroom. Aneko looked at Maya with a look of sadness.
‘Mom must've yelled at her’ She realised as she sat on the bed next to her.
“What do you want sis? I already got yelled at so don't… oh yeah… sorry about the note he just…. Doesn't seem good for you is all.” Aneko slugged, her voice lowering as she did. Maya couldn't remember the last time she saw Aneko sad so instinctually she hugged her. Aneko saw this and started to cry.
“Im sorry Maya, for everything, the making fun of you.. The judging you… all of it.. I just do it cause I care about you, you know that right?” Maya asked in between tears, her eyes looked like they stung from all the previous crying Maya didn't attend. Maya just looked at her wanting to say something but couldn't, she just couldn't. So she just nodded and smiled. Hugging her sister as she did. She then remembered what she came in for after about a couple minutes of hugging her sister. She then looked up and softly asked.
“Where is my phone… I wanna um… add his number to it.” Maya said, realising it may have been to soon to suggest it.
“Oh… ok… well it's in the top cupboard of the drawer…. Just… promise me youll be careful ok.” Aneko asked, Maya just looked at her and twisted her head. it's not like shes dating him or anything.
“Men are…. Horrible, disgusting creatures…. Ask mom she will agree with me… I just don't want you to be hurt but your growing up… so be careful ok?” Aneko finally asked, her eyes looked serious but her tone was soft. Maya, again star struck of what she had said then extended her pinky, when Aneko coupled it Maya smiled and hugged her again. Before taking the phone, adding the number and texting Amoureux for the first time.
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“Hey. it's Maya, The girl you walked home today. Add this if you wanna talk more.”
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Mayas first contact and text with someone besides her mother or Aneko, she reread it and realised it was a new chapter of her social life. She did a fist bump in her mind and smiled widely. Of course he wouldn't message her this late at night but it was ok. For now she had to put the phone away. Once she did she hugged Aneko again and ran to her room, a smile on both the girls faces. Maya was almost to excited about this new chapter in her life that she couldn't sleep. Almost. As suddenly she just laid down and fell asleep, the next week being on her mind as she went.
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Though she didn't find herself there, instead she was in the cove again. Maya looked around and was seemingly annoyed. She knew what this dream meant and didn't wanna deal with this. She just started a new chapter in her social life and didn't need it getting in the way of that. A bunch of sudden rage came from this, contained from the day she had as she swung around towards her father and yelled.
“YOUR NOT REAL, YOUR NOT ALIVE, YOU DIED AND I HAVE TO GET OVER….. It?” Maya turned to see an empty cove. No father in sight. She has had this dream many times for years and there was never a time he wasn't there. Maybe it was because of the last time she had this dream.
I never have been attacked by the snakes he talked about. Why did I that night?What was different that day that made it so weird?’ Maya wondered as she realised what it meant and jumped away. She expected to see a snake jump after her but instead the pond that sat in the cove was gone. As a matter of fact, it was a day outside. The cove didn't hold snakes, the sky didn't contain stars. For the first time ever, Maya walked out of the cove and looked around.
The buildings she could barely see were visible for once, the sand that she considered dunes once were actually large pieces of rock with dunes further out. She couldn't believe it, there was so much beauty here. Once out of the cove she looked back to see it jutted into a mountain that held even more buildings.
‘Hiding under the world was horrible, I should come out of my cove more often’ Maya thought as she looked around. She did this until suddenly the water in front of her plopped up. She looked behind her to see if a passer by could throw a rock down but found no one against the railing above. Suddenly another plop shot up from the water as she looked away, Soon more and more appeared. Maya looked down to see what the bubbles meant, the land around was so beautiful that maybe under the surface there was a reef full of colorful coral and creatures. Sitting down on her knees to look closer she hoped to find this as reality.
Instead she found her nose being ripped off of her skull. The action happened so fast the first indication it happened was the blood that flooded her nasal cavity. Choking, blood was falling down her nose, covering her lips as she accidentally swallowed quart after quart of blood. To stop the bleeding she laid back against the rock, but the blood still touched out but now covered her eyes. They stung as she used her nails to try and dig out the staining liquid from her retinas. She rolled in pain before her foot was suddenly bitten by the heel. She suddenly shot up, pulling her feet away from the edge of the water as her bloody vision looked down at the bite mark.
Suddenly her other foot felt the same treatment as the rock beneath her cracked in two as she dropped into the water beneath. The freezing water held Maya down, she desperately tried to reach land but found it to go further from her with every lap. Her legs suddenly caught onto something small and sharp, the pain in her leg started growing slowly but surely as other smaller sharp pains erupted from beneath. It wasn't until one of these invisible attackers showed themselves when Maya knew the worst of her situation.
Piranhas. Tens? Hundreds? Heck maybe even thousands of them enveloped under and around Maya all at once. She looked at the few who were brave enough to bite her first swim in and bite again. It was seconds as the legs and arms that kept her floating were dragged into the cold abyss with her as well. The next five seconds was the most painful Maya had ever experienced in a dream though she lost all of the potential pain as fast as she obtained it.
In the first second she found that her nasal cavity stung from the freezing salt water on the open wound. Though it quickly passed as the swarm of piranhas under and around her rushed and took chunks of Maya's skin. Maya's brain tried its hardest to react, having the swiftly sinking body rise above the water. Instead pain enveloped the mind as it instead switched to tightening muscles which made her sink faster.
In the next second came the detaching process of her feet, legs, toes, fingers, and hands as the barrage of piranhas took these appetizers on their speedy travels against her body. All motor functions seized at this point as the ones located behind Maya reached her spine and paralyzed her, vertebrae after vertebrae ripped out until it came out at once, her body failing to move as any hope of escape vanished. With blood finally rising to the top of the water as Maya's pain receptors finally kicked in and distributed the situation to the brain.
Halfway through this pain Maya found herself at the edge of fainting. Her joints were ripped out of each individual socket as piranhas fought each other for individual pieces. Until finally one would find the victor and aggressively break off pieces from the ball and socket with only threads of skin holding it together.
In the forth she tried to follow her brains original response to reach the top of the water, though all she could do was blink and hold her jaw shut as for them to not reach her teeth or jaw. Her ribs broke and bones punctured her lungs, kidneys, and heart. Her chest exploded from within as some piranhas used the opening made via the spine to take the rest of her ribs with them as a welcome gift. Others just swam and danced around her once healthy temple that know laid in ruin. The pain she felt in this second was too much until her mind shorted and she gave up.
And the final second of pain before she awoke she had opened her mouth to scream to no avail. Hoping anyone, anyone at all could hear her scream from the bottom of the lagoon. Her punctured lungs collapsed as blood and water streamed down her open mouth. Her vision of the swarm now clouded from bits of her own flesh, blood, organs and ripped clothing as the final swarm of piranhas went for her hair, like velcro straps ripping at the seems as it finally came apart with her scalp, her skull bashed, scraped and bitten against before the juicy insides came apart and was swiftly devoured by the swarm. Her tongue ripped from her as the last of her pain receivers gave way and her mind went to nirvana.
All feelings gone, and to any visitors of the lagoon.They would be met with a red cloud of liquid smoke dressed in ripped clothing. But there were no visitors, just silence and darkness, no more feeling of pain.
“Just silence, beautiful and mysterious silence. This is perfect, no one to hurt you, no one to abandon us. All you need to do is just listen to my orders, and it'll be yours Maya.” He said.
‘Who said that?’ Maya wondered as she awakened from her nightmare and sat up. Sitting in bed she grabbed all of her limbs and tightened all the muscles she could to see if they were still intact. Forgetting about the words she instead thought of the nightmare and found it out of character.
‘Normally I don't dream this bad’ Maya thought as she put her hands into her still sore eyes from the tears shed before.
‘Why… Why piranhas? Dad always warned me of snakes coming to her but never mentioned piranhas… Maybe I am just going crazy’ Maya thought but refuted immediately as crazy people have more dreams than this.
‘Normally… I don't dream at all… what is happening to me? Is it because I'm growing up?’ Maya wondered as she then thought of the dream again. What confused her was when she rarely did dream it was normally about darkness or the repeated one of her father in the cove.
‘Oh yeah, he wasn't there this time… or wait. Yes he was. Maybe?? I don't know,’ Maya concluded, chalking the whole thing down to an effect of teenage mind growing into an adult size. She then thought of getting a journal, which she again found strange since the idea never seemed like a good one, but again, figured it was just new ideas forming from a bigger brain and continued her day.
That morning there was no teasing of Armor. After the night Aneko had stopped any and all jokes their mother tried to start about Armor. A strange tension held between the two for the week ahead. The week went on swiftly besides that and her visit with the doctor came with it. In it she went to his office and laid down on his red sofa chair before he turned around in his seat to face her, board in hand to take note, the sofa was, as always, comfortable.
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“So, wanna explain why you skipped last week's session? Or is this your rebellious phase finally coming through?” The Doctor asked, looking at Maya in anticipation.
“No, not at all. I just was injured in one of my classes so I didn't come in.” Maya said with no issue, which Maya found strange but never openly questioned, suspecting it's just the power of the doctor that is having her be so open.
“Class? I thought you left school on the fifth of June?" The doctor said which made Maya look up at him in confusion.
“it's in your portfolio I made for you, ahem” The Doctor said in a kinda Coy way, though Maya didn't believe them in all honesty.
“Yeah, it's a karate type class I joined for self defence, My mother was told by my sister and from there I met a boy named Armor” Maya said, though she didn't know why she was so open with him, she just rolled with it cause it felt so right.
“Do you like this class?” The Doctor asked, Maya didn't need to think, she knew what to answer.
“Yes, it's really fun and the teacher is nice. His name is….. Well it's hard to pronounce, I just call him Sensei Onsa.” Maya said she knew he wouldn't know him but felt like answering with every piece of information she had.
“Sensei Onsa, I'll see if I can meet him, he's at the dojo next to the bank on the bridge street correct?” The Doctor questioned Maya.
“Yes Sir” Maya answered Obediently.
“Good, Well return to me with more information on this Dojo and enjoy yourself Maya, Have a great day” The Doctor said before returning facing away from her and she was released from the sofa.
The rest of the week went fine, that next dojo class on week four they learned about some types of kicks and the week after on week five they learned proper punches. Though Maya had trouble on stances Armor was there to help her through it and with it came a new tradition of him walking her home. Although only as far as the turn into there cul de sac because of his presence around Aneko may spark another episode.
‘Spending time at that dojo has made me a lot happier as of late, at least that's what mom told me, though I know the truth, it's Armor’ Maya thought one night while taking a shower before bed which she seldom did because of Rule #1. Every week she would walk home with him, every night they would text once Maya had the time to, though the day she asked to keep her phone in her room weirded out both Aneko and her mother because of Rule #3 and such.
Maya also decided to write a journal and keep up to date information written down in there. She decided it was a good idea a couple hours after her visit with The Doctor. Maybe it was his clip board that influenced her but Maya didn't remember. She dedicated the first page to explaining her personal rules. Which of course she titled as such.
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Rules of the trade
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Rule #1
No physical touch from anything with a weird texture or color
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Rule#2
Always be wary of the things around you, if you don't trust it, don't go near it.
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Rule#3
don't let electric things near or on vital organs, it could cause serious damage.
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Rule#4
Stay away from loud noises, as it makes it hard to think
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Rule#5
…….
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Maya reread and thought of the rules and realised she didn't have a fifth one, when she reached for an eraser to get rid of the words she found she wrote with a pen, so erasing would be next to impossible. She shrugged at this and put her new journal away, she had to find a fifth rule sooner or later, and possibly more. She realised what tomorrow was as she laid down in her bed and grabbed her flip phone. Tomorrow of course was class but as Armor just texted her, it was the sixth week.
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“And what does the sixth week have to do with
class tomorrow dork?”
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Maya texted back to Armor, placing her phone a little away from her waiting for a buzz. When one finally came she jumped towards her phone and hurried to read it.
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“Well Ms Im shy in public but is a goofball
In text message, it's the final day of normal
Kung foo classes, as well as a duel day.
After this, we get to learn about the Wu
In Wu foo”
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Maya read as she told him to shut it and said her goodnights, she then placed her phone on her charger and layed in bed, she was gonna ask about what does the Wu in Wu foo stand for since he was at the class where it explained it and she was of course absent but she didn't wanna stay up another night talking to him. Which she was prone to do by mistake which Maya reminded herself wasn't healthy as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
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Eyes, the ones that would be attracted to an empty bed, the lady behind the desk walked, she barely talked, she wanted to go home but instead she just chalked, under her feet, drawing the boring monotonous line she always did, water for him, a fluff of pillow for her, an emergency at every decision, a yelling from someone who stood on a higher mountain of cash if she did wrong. She walked her line and found a pebble, that pebble grew before her as a rock, that rock was shaped like a man, the man without a gown, the man without a bed was gone. And the lady's desk would have a new name soon.
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That name was all that Maya heard the next morning when she found that Aneko was snooping into her phone while she slept. Aneko and her mother argued about Armor and gave Maya a headache. Aneko doesn't want Maya to see him while their mother stated it was healthy and to let her experience it with herself. Maya wasn't used to family arguments and when they rarely came around she would avoid contact with both sides till it was settled. So she then went to her room and wrote about it in her journal, texting Armor when she had free time about the situation.
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“That sucks buddy, wanna talk about it in class?”
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Maya read and knew she really wanted to but she was still very quiet around him, although she did speak more clearly around him as they've gotten closer.
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“No Thanks, I appreciate it, I just wanna wait this one out, and plus, I don't want you going easy on
me when I kick your butt at the duel today.”
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Armor read this and sighed. He knew she was serious and their past training was proof of that. So were some of his bruises that she gave him when he would misstep and take a punch head on. Once she even offered to kiss his boo boo as she said it and he wanted to say yes but decided against it.
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“Yeah right, you mean when your butt is
Slammed onto the mat and I won the duel?”
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Maya read this with a smirk. She thought being competitive was stupid at one point but with Armor it was different, he was someone she could joke with without worrying he would be hurt. So when she thought of the best comeback ever she quickly typed it before her mother came in and asked if she was ready to go, a smile grew on her face when she saw Maya on her phone so she went.
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“How is your arm feeling by the way? Maybe I'll go
for the other one during our duel, Ya know. To make
it equal”
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Amoureux laughed at this yet still felt pins and needles run his spine. After texting a gif of a cat doing a pose with a caption explaining that their battle will be legendary, he stood up and walked to his dads study, telling him it was time to go to the dojo.
While in the car Armor watched his father think of things and never say them outloud, probably because of the verbal whooping they both received when talking about the actions of weeks ago, he remembered it vividly.
“You can still make jokes, you know, I'm not some Austrian ruler.” Armoureux said to his father, though his face never changed.
“Thats not why im quiet, Im quiet because of you and how you walk Maya home almost every dojo session.” His father responded, turning and going towards the bridge.
“What? Can I not do it today or something, did you plan for me to be somewhere at seven at night father?” He responded though he didn't mean to sound with such authority.
“No no, I just was wondering….. Why cant she ever come over to our house? Like, I know you don't go to hers per se, but like…. It makes me as a parent worry when it doesn't go both ways.. I don't want her to be…En t'utilisant” He said, though his voice and choice of words were both calculated.
“Used? Why would she be using me? Better yet, How? I don't give her money, I don't carry her on horseback, and I'm definitely not old enough for anything else” Armoureux said as they rose the bridge, he used old American westerns to learn most of the English pronunciation growing up.
“No No… it's just, you know how people are, son, and I want you to be safe.” His father concluded, knowing he wasn't going to win with calculated language. They passed the light from the bridge and started to turn into the parking lot.
“I-” Armoureux wanted to say a convoluted explanation about how he was safe but saw that they were in the parking lot, the family van stationary.
“I know.. I love you father” Armoureux said, exiting the vehicle and walking towards the dojo entrance, ready to fight. He hoped he didn't hurt his fathers feelings, since the fight they had about Maya they felt as if they were distant. Which neither would ever admit. Boy rules and such. So before he opened the dojo door to enter, he looked behind and waved to his father, a smile across his face as he did.
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The morning announcements went accordingly. Sensei Onsa being as energetic as he always is and then some at points but after stretching instead of letting us go as he did he told them all to sit.
“Today class, is the last normal class, I had a few of you question what that meant last class and Im here to publicly explain.” Sensei Onsa stated, as he opened his arms.
“We will not be learning stances anymore, We will not be learning jabs, kicks, throws, grows, the yes’s and no’s. We will be learning the Wu. The Wu stands for Unlimited Weapons. it's backwards because… BECAUSE. It sounds cooler.” Sensei Onsa stated with valence, though only for a moment.
“Instead we will be learning how to wield, and use weapons. From household items, to pocket tasers. We will be using, testing, and sometimes building these things in this class.” Sensei Onsa stated, making Maya remember the strange day when those nun chucks were in the class.
“For those who only wanted to learn Kung foo,they will leave after today, but besides that. These will be your brothers, sisters, cousins, and mothers. These will be your team for the upcoming tournament in nine weeks.” Sensei Onsa announced, making some of the class cheer him on. Though Maya only heard of the tournament in passing it still seemed strange. She never was one for competitions although her father was very into them when she was younger. She missed when he would yell at the tv because of some team doing something, Maya would always join him though she didn't know the reason they were mad. It always cheered up her father. She hasn't thought of him in a moment, she realised and became a little sad because of it. Trying to distract herself she thought of the fight she had to endure as Sensei Onsa spoke.
“The Prize for working with your family? A PIZZA PARTY!!!!!” He then did a pose, lifting up both his arms and crunching one of his legs into himself before lifting himself by his heel, though his pose was incredible, his purpose wasn't. He then sighed and stood properly, muttering about the amount of ginyu force he put into that pose. Whatever that meant.
“Also, the first place winner of the entire tournament will get a ten thousand dollar prize for them and their actual family…” He said with not much enthusiasm which took a second for everyone to register what he said, suddenly everyone cheered, causing Maya to duck and cover her ears because of Rule 4. Seeing this Armor rushed over and helped move her away from the crowd. Though he worried about her, glee ran all across his face. When the class finally stopped cheering so loud Armor signaled Maya and she reluctantly uncupped her ears.
“Did you hear that? Ten thousand dollars, imagine what I could do with that if I won” Armor said, probably imagining getting something manly like a sports car or smth though Maya knew that it would take a lot more than that. Maya thought of the ten thousand as well.
‘If I won it could help mothers out a lot, we wouldn't have to worry about money so much. We'll all be happy for whatever time ten thousand dollars worth of happiness got us. It would be nice’ Maya thought then understood the reality that she wouldn't be able to win that money which caused her to frown but accept the reality of the situation.
“What's up? Doubting yourself or smth? I could see you winning that money, you know.” Armor said, making Maya blush in return, so much confidence was nice but all of it directed at Maya made her shy.
“I-I doubt it, but thanks anyway, I know what I am good at and know that the mathematical chances are slim to none that anyone here would win, including me.” Maya said trying to sound uplifting but instead she found Armor’s happy demeanor turn sour and frown.
“E-Except you of course, As your sparring partner I can see you winning in a heartbeat” Maya panicked, though she knew she was making a fool of herself like normal, the spikes under her skin felt twice as painful when she did it to Armor.
“It's ok buddy, I gotcha, but that doesn't mean ima stop working hard and try to win that ten thousand” Armor said, chuckling as he did. This made Maya's spikes all disappear as a clapping sound directed attention back to Sensei Onsa.
“As I was saying, this sparring session will be a little different since I will be losing a majority of the class.” Sensei Onsa stated before shedding a fake tear and catching his breath.
“You all will still be allowed to use anything you learned these past weeks on your opponent, the first to step out of the predetermined boundaries, or call defeat from the other will win. However, this time you will only have one round with your sparring partner, then you will find another winner and spar with them, until there are only two winners left and then, they will face off for the apprentice band, If it is a future Wu foo master who wins, they will get a twenty five dollar gift card instead of the band. If it is a Kung foo Master who wins, they will get the band and the giftcard.” Sensei Onsa said, holding a Wisa gift card in his hand. He then stood and pointed to the class, slamming his legs into the ground and doing a Shiko pose and then slapping his legs.
“NOW COMMENCE THE SPARRING” He said in a loud and proud voice. Of course they did as they were told, Maya going to her mat with Armor, they both first bowed and stanced. Ready to fight. When Armor moved first Maya raised her arms like she was taught but no punch was ever raised, just Armor’s ego.
“Just don't hurt the face darling, it's my prettiest attribute” He said, in a sarcastic tone as he oversold a rich french man's voice which made her chuckle for a moment, loosening her stance. He took this to swiftly fall towards her and thrust a punch towards her stomach, with little time to dodge Maya instead chose to tighten her muscle and take the hit. When connected instead of staggering back or clenching in pain she smelled blood. From there her whole body filled with pain, her arms tingled like they would when she felt spikes but instead of making her cower they powered her forward and she became fast.
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“We will call it, powering up” Armor said to Maya on week five, she panted as she tried to answer.
“Wh-What?” Maya questioned, though Armor thought for sure she knew what he meant.
“When you get all angry and move super fast, let's call it powering up, doesn't that sound cool?” Armor praised, though her reaction didn't feed it the same.
“it's not a power, it was just a one time thing and…. it's not that cool.” Maya said, her newly taught punches coming towards Armor after stating.
“Oh come on, it's super cool Maya, it's honestly like I'm best friends with a super hero or something.” Armor said dodging some of the punches.
“All we have to do is just figure out what triggers it” He said, before grabbing one of her punches and thinking of an idea.
“Oh I know” He said before punching Maya in the stomach which caused her to lose her breath. She went down for a second, grabbing the attention of the others though Amoureux was sure this would work so he didn't let others help her up. At a sudden notice Maya stood up, her teeth gritted and her movements swift, she then looked towards him as a sudden fist connected with his arm, staggering him before he remembered to dodge and counter. Though many weren't successful he was able to tire her out, which impressed on lookers, until she finally collapsed and laid on her back.
“Hmmm… Seems *breath* it's stamina that is your weakness Mana Maya.” Armoureux said, collapsing next to her before bringing her a bottle of water. She drank it as if it were the best thing she ever had, then sat up, avoiding eye contact with him.
“I'm sorry Maya, but you have to admit it is a lot like a power up.” Armoureux tried to lighten the mood but received a sucker punch to the nose instead.
“And to think I was gonna ask to have you walk me home again today” Maya said before her sweaty face turned red.
“I-I mean uh… if you want of course.” Maya said, her shy figure returning once again. Grabbing his nose Amoureux stopped blood from coming out and laughed.
“Of course I would, it'll be like a tradition” he said before running towards the front desk for a tissue.
‘Americans show their kindness in a strange way’ Amoureux thought, smiling under all the blood, snot and tissues, because he would walk her home again.
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Once she reappeared she found herself being hovered by Sensei Onsa who handed her a bottle of water and helped her up.
“Did you use all your energy again Mana Maya?” He said in an accusatory manner. Maya shrunk at this before looking towards Armor who had an icepack on his arm and clenched his stomach while laughing with others.
“I… I think I did.. Sorry sir.” Maya said, though she didn't remember doing it.
“it's ok, just… it's gotta be somewhat unhealthy, just rest and ill find you someone last.” Sensei Onsa said. Though she didn't entirely hear him till she registered what he said.
“Wait. What do you mean?” Maya said, standing and grabbing Sensei Onsa's gi.
“Oh, you won your match, After the beating you gave Armo.. Arm…. He stepped out and fell on the floor panting for air. Then you did the same. So rest and you'll be picked last for your next round.” Sensei Onsa ordered before walking towards the students and commencing their battle. Maya was a little surprised she won but found it was because of out of bounds. She never won when it was them with no rules. He would always overpower her and then dodge until she passed out. When she walked towards Armor to tell him the news of her winning the others who talked to him all quickly paced away which made Maya shy.
“Th-There not scared of me are they?” Maya asked an injured Armor who still wore his adorable smile.
“Of course they are, but that's a good thing bud, they won't mess with you if they're scared of you.” Armor said, though she didn't want them to be scared of her. She wore a frown on her face as she breathed and sat next to him.
“Hey, it's ok, better they are scared of you then them making fun, or being jerks.” Armor said, slowly placing his arm around Maya which she didn't mind. Though once he did his movements staggered and he became quieter. They stayed together in silence until Sensei Onsa walked up to them and smiled.
“No kissing your enemy you two, or else you'll end up emBEARassing yourself in front of the class” Sesei Onsa said in a higher pitched voice, laughing with a puhuhu instead of his normal laugh. He then pointed at his tattoo of a bear with a wide smile on his face, it's face half white and black, though Maya understood the pun she didn't find it funny. She then stood up and walked towards the boy who she had to face, when looking around to the other women in the class they were all chatting or sparing, so she was teamed with a boy again. She was a little worried however as she didn't know this boys moves, or really what he will and wont do to her. She stared at him when walking onto the mat wondering to herself.
‘He doesn't look too big, he may be a year or two older than me and he's at least a few inches taller, but up close he doesn't look that bad. He is grabbing his arm so I would assume he uses his fist more than his legs, his legs may be his weakness.’ Maya thought about finally stancing before she said she was ready. The boy however bowed to Maya instead and walked off the mat. When Sensei Onsa spoke to him Maya overheard him stating he would never hurt a girl and that as a gentleman he will forfeit the fight.
“Well, what if someone tries to rob you and it's a woman? Will you not fight then?” Sensei Onsa questioned before he whispered something to him and then nodded.
“I understand that, but sometimes you have to face your fears in order to become stronger. So go out there and have fun, don't worry, Mana Maya may have the main character's energy but don't let her power level fool you, she is weakened from her last fight so you have a better chance.” With that the boy nodded, murmuring something to himself and doing a stance from the other side of the mat. When Sensei Onsa initiated the fight he swiftly went for a right hook which Maya barely dodged. Though she wasn't prepared to be punished, she got out of the way. All of a sudden however a knee came up and caught her in the stomach mid dodge. This made Maya clench and fall over, the boy took the opportunity to try and push Maya out of the mat but that's not what happened at all.
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“I swear, you only are able to dodge all my attacks because you're used to them,” Amoureux said after they learned how to properly use kicks in the fourth week.
“Or maybe you're just so predictable that I can guess your next move.” Maya said, smirking in that cute way she always did. Though Amoureux would never admit it, he hoped to walk her home this week.
“Oh yeah? Then lets go again” Amoureux said stancing and planning on using one of the kicks they learned today.
“Alrighty then, but don't expect me to move any differently.” Maya said, though she looked tired as she stanced. So they battled again, dodging, pushing and moving past each other's punches. Though mid tussle Amoureux had a plan to use a kick instead of a punch. When he tried to do the maneuver he found Maya dodged in the way of his kick and was kneaded in the stomach instead. When she went down he didn't expect her to get back up afterwards. Instead she stood up and her face looked pale, like she saw a ghost but she didn't frown or smile, just stared blankly. Feeling the guilt of his actions caused Amoureux to break out of stance.
“I'm sorry Maya, I was trying to use one of the kicks from today and and and… uh.. You ok?” Amoureux asked, watching Maya's facial expression change in an instant from calm to full on rage. Her body crouched down like some type of primeape then she suddenly raised her fist. Amoureux knew he was in for it.
She came at him like an animal in one of his video games, her movements were so quick that he barely dodged each of them by the skin of his teeth, just like last week when she grabbed his arms via that grab, her stamina never showed until suddenly one of per punches took her down and she passed out on the ground.
Amoureux soon joined her both exhausted and quickly surrounded by onlookers, who all were muttering how fast Maya was moving and how well Amoureux dodged them all. He was helped up by some of the boys who cheered him on as the person who could dodge Mana Maya. Apparently Maya earned the name when she did that arm stunt last week. He took that credit with pride and brushed it off.
She rested for most of the class as he sat with her. When she awoke she asked him if he could walk her home again which made him overjoyed. Amoureux couldn't wait to walk home with her again, talk about class and such. He wanted to ask her about what made her so fast but thought it would be best to leave it to the next class. Though he beat himself up on the inside when he entered into his dads car about a block away from her home. He just thought of a name for when she got mad like that. He called it Powering up.
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Just as swiftly as it started, Maya found herself standing over the boy who stated that he was ‘too much like a gentle mannnnnn’ to fight a girl. Was down on the ground groaning and grabbing his chest. She wasn't as tired but her limbs started to ache as Sensei Onsa called the match over and awarded them both with a water bottle. When Maya reached down to the boy to help him up he flinched at first. Then took the hand and was brought up, almost pulling Maya down in truth. He congratulated her on the fight and told her that he was scared to fight her but that he was happy he did. Maya felt bad about this, after all she didn't wanna be feared, she wanted to be liked by the others, the handshake the boy forced her to take wasn't helping the spikes either. Rule #1. She then sat down and watched the people around her do their matches, she was told she could miss the third round because the class all agreed to not fight her and to have her be the contestant of the final. The winner of this? As a man, he stood tall though to Maya he looked to be in his mid forties.
When Maya stood she was surprised by how her body felt. It was like she just awoke from a nap, all hanging low and not wanting to move. The more she looked at this man she felt more drowsy, when she fell to her knees she imagined him in many different places, as if she were remembering everything he did but not. She then passed out and reappeared later, finding out she lost the fight wasn't the worst thing. It was just strange but Maya just blew it off as he kinda resembled her father in a way. So maybe her mind just let herself lose as a sort of retribution. Though when she started to walk home with Armor she didn't realise that she didn't see the winner for the rest of the day.
When returning home Maya had learned the tragic truth that she was only going to be a part of the Kung Fu teachings of Wu Foo. This angered her to learn about when her mother spoke about it being her ‘last day’ and decided she wanted to learn more no matter what. So she decided to talk about it during dinner with her mother and sister and for once she wouldn't wuss down, she would talk with strength like Armor does.
Dinner was steak, cauliflower, and mashed potatoes for dinner which Maya always worried they couldn't afford to eat but never spoke up because of its taste.
“Is everything ok honey? You haven't even touched your mashed potatoes” Maya's mother said after grace. This caught Anekos attention as Maya's love for mashed potatoes was something everyone of their family knew of.
“No….. um.” Maya said, her way of the tiger being thrown out the window the second she had eyes crawl on her.
“Oh don't tell me you're all depressed again sis, you were doing so good since you joined that karate class, since it's done are you going back to your cowbell wearing self again?” Aneko made fun of them, which rewarded her with some glares from their mother.
“N-no… it's.” Maya whispered before breathing and clearing her throat.
“Why can't I learn the other part of my Karate class?” Maya said authoritatively which surprised both her mother and Aneko. As they have never heard her speak so loud unless mad or sad. They both then looked to each other for answers before her mother spoke first.
“Well honey….” Her mother said it felt weird to be on this side of the awkward talks Maya admits.
“it's just….” She tried to speak again though Aneko was visibly annoyed at the trial and error of it.
“It's dangerous Maya, too dangerous for anyone, we basically just got you really cheap Kung foo lessons so that's why you went at all.” Aneko said in an annoyed tone, the word cheap echoing Maya's mind as she tried to catch her breath to speak out again.
“H-How much was it?” Maya said, knowing it would be extra if she did the rest, she felt utter defeat.
“Per student it was thirty dollars honey” Maya's mother said as Aneko took a bite out of her food.
“Oh…… H-how much for the other half?” Maya asked, her tone decreasing as she asked.
“That was free honey” Maya's mother said before her face turned to stone and Anekos full of anger.
“Oh god, why did you tell her that?”Aneko fired quickly.
“I-I didn't mean to” Mother retaliated back. Back and forth shots for shots. Until Maya was able to break in, she realised why they were bickering and it made her smile.
“So…. You're wasting money?” Maya said her mother mumbled for an answer but found nothing.
“No… Not exactly” Maya's mother said, a sigh of defeat.
“If something is thirty dollars you use it for thirty dollars worth of its use, if something is twenty dollars and only has ten dollars of use, don't pay for it” Maya stated word for word, it always annoyed them both. It was something her father always drilled into her mind when younger, when he always commented on their mothers spending habits and made jokes against others in the super market for buying plastic junk such as toys which Maya never owned but her sister Aneko did. When growing older she never saw the point of it but respected it all the same, it was what her father would've wanted.
In a defeated way her mother was close to giving up, she knew Maya wouldn't step down or tolerate her wasting money because she knew it reminded her of her father and always made her sad. But when she was about to admit defeat it was Aneko who took charge.
“It doesn't matter Maya, as adults we can do with money as we want and it's not up to children like yourself what we do with it, plus it's too dangerous, especially for you and your depressive ways, what if you… no… I mean uh…” Aneko said, causing shock to Maya and her mother both equally. Death at the dinner table was always something to avoid, every one of them weak to the word. But the talk of… something like that was unheard of, death to one's self. Suicide. Maya never thought of it, she wanted to go to classes for Armor not… not for that.
“I…. I…” Maya said, tears in her eyes as she rushed out of the dining room and up the stairs. Her mother sat there and breathed. Though when that didn't work she argued and yelled at Aneko, for accusing her sister of something such as that. Both bickering back and forth about how Maya needed a therapist and how she only needed it for their fathers passing. When Maya opened her phone she overheard the last of the arguing.
“YEAH?? Well wait till she learns he's actually still Ali-” SMACK was all that rang out, silence enveloping the house for the rest of the night as they all silently went to their rooms and slept. Yet Maya couldn't after hearing the last of their words before being taken from the soundless beyond. They were speaking of him and an ally. That, at the very least, was what Maya heard a few seconds before the deafening clap.
Adding a he and ally made Maya realise something she never once considered. The idea, surprisingly shook her to the bone as she looked towards her hands that were filled with tears.
‘I… I assumed at some point it would happen… but now??? Why would she be dating someone else now??? Why did she tell Aneko and not me????, who is he???? Have I met him???” Maya's mind was a tub of fear, forever filling as her breathing became too heavy, she coughed as she laid on her back, everything hurting too much to move. It was before long that she finally fell back and passed out from exhaustion. Her face was still covered in tears.
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They stop stinging when she awoke in the cove once again. She turned around and still there was no father. Outside there was sunlight like before, inside the cove was a little pond that still held no snakes. The outer rings of the dunes didn't plop with life which meant no Piranhas.
But still, Maya was on her toes, fearing what the situation was this time. Though she then thought of Armor, as she did she overheard something fall on the rockface above the cove. Though she was wary she went to investigate, promising herself to not go near any bodies of water as she did. Even the slight condensation from the moist ocean air she avoided, though she wouldn't avoid it for long as she found above the cove was a fishing rod.
Grabbing it Maya thought of what she could even fish with this thing. Though realising it would most likely be something with a bunch of teeth she decided to find out by fishing from above the cove into the water below. If she were to fall she would just land on the rocks, she would have to jump in order to fall into water. For better stability she even sat down, laying the rod under her as she got comfortable.
She thought of her father and how he never taught her to fish since he was gone. Though she could guess how to from shows as she took her reel and launched it out, forgetting the hook as it swung and stabbed into her cheek. Scratching it. Thinking the worse Maya's body stayed completely still as in a panic she tested all her bodily functions. She felt the ground beneath her feet. She heard the waves crash, she saw the always sunny afternoon. The final thing she needed to test was her voice.
So she screamed. She screamed so loud she felt as if she was standing. Though she wasn't, she was being lifted, though she could feel the warmth of a person beneath her and the strain from picking her up, her body refused to move.
“Hey!!!! Who's doing this??? Stop!!! Please!!! You don't know what you're doing!!!” Maya pleaded as she was lifted above the cove as a whirlpool appeared in the water below. She wasn't able to fight the attacker, body being used like a mannequin as the person threw her down into the piranha infested water.
“STOP PLEASE I BEG YOU PLEASE!!!!” Maya begged before being tossed as she screamed the whole way down. Not that she actually felt fear of being tortured again, but for fear of someone else being here. When she was thrown she looked up and saw nothing there but an eye, an eye sitting on a red chair.
As she fell she braced her body for impact, closing her eyes and clenching all her muscles to somehow negate pain. Though it never came, instead when she reappeared she was back on the top of the cliff, instead of the sun she saw it turned night. When she stood she looked off to the side and saw no plops in the water, the rock below illuminated with the moon's reflection, though she could swear it didn't look so large before.
She suddenly was pushed off the edge of said cove top onto the rock below, scraping her legs and landing on her chest, losing all her oxygen she gasped for air.
“Need a hand?” Someone said grabbing hers and helping her up. Maya slowly caught her breath as her chest bruised.
“Yeah, thank you so much for asking….” Maya started before finding herself alone. The hand she held suddenly disappeared as she blinked. Suddenly she looked around herself and found something strange. She wasn't outside the cove anymore, she wasn't inside of it either. No instead she was stuck, her legs shackled into the ground with belts as they tightened around her thighs. They started to burn and eventually dug into her skin. Causing Maya to groan and eventually scream in pain. Once she did the pain stopped but something else came with it. The surroundings changed, this time. There were eyes.
People stood around her, shadows with faces, all smiling with twisted jaws, all with long pointy limbs that extruded in unnatural ways. Some twitched, some just moved around her. There was no sound, except for the ones who moved, who made the sound of flies.
These things did many things, one even walked up to Maya and supposedly sniffed her. One walked by and tore off their arm. Others went about their day, some holding hands, some reading with their legs in the water. Every one of them doing something different everytime Maya relooked towards them. The only thing that stayed consistent was their head.
They all stared towards Maya, not a word said. The sound of buzzing flies becoming louder and louder, more of them appeared, all suddenly moving as Maya watched. All suddenly standing and walking towards Maya. One below her grabbed her ankle and seemingly climbed up her body, weightless as air the one climbed on top of her head. When she looked up it twisted its neck to only face her. Not a word said, just eyes. Eyes everywhere. All staring towards her.
As they got closer and closer the sound of flies dissipated. One after the other their eyes widened, their jaws opened. Suddenly someone sneezed nearby. On the other side of the rock was a shadow of a girl, she had pigtails and wore a policeman's badge. She looked at all the things looking towards her and physically quivered back.
“I'm sorry, please forgive me… Please PLEASE, I SAID IM SORRY. PLEASE, PLEASE I BEG YOU IM SORRY, FORGIVE ME FATHER, FORGIVE ....” Was what the little girl said, she suddenly panicked and screamed, she clawed at her eyes and touched it multiple times before clawing again. Her screams seemed to stun the monsters around them. Maya just watched in horror, trying to make sense of it all.
‘Sound attracts them, but so does no sound..’ Maya figured, the one from her head suddenly made a creaking sound. Without noticing its jaw fell to the floor, never breaking skin as it's jaw hovered over her head. Its eyes looked bloodshot and angry. It shook violently as it looked down to Maya. Suddenly it pointed to the little girl.
All the others looked away from Maya for that slight moment and eyed the little girl. All at once they rushed the little girl. She screamed which stopped most in their tracks, they grabbed where their ears should've been at this moment and just watched her. Maya was given a birds eye view of what was happening as they surrounded the girl. One by one they gathered around her.
One slapping her, the other pulling her, one grabbing her just to let go. All did different actions until in unison they grabbed her arms and legs. They all pulled her, having her form a t shape with her body before her screams became laughter.
She then was thrown into the air where she clapped, they caught her and she clapped again. This happened again and again, a joyous amount of music playing as they did before the one atop Maya's head jumped from Mayas and joined her. The others launched it too.
Dancing with these monsters in the sky as they did. It was until the little girl held the monster's hand did it sink in. They both fell and she was caught. The monster then grabbed the police badge and seemed to study it. That was before he took it, raised it, placed it into his mouth, and from his hand. A revolver.
One Maya's father always took with him. Suddenly, a shot rang out, the little girl grabbed her stomach as she giggled and laughed, blood dripped from her bullet wound as she did. The monster with the gun for an appendage grabbed his face in anger at this and grabbed the girl by the head. The little girl's laughter followed. The monster used her head as a handle, slamming the rest of the body into the pavement below. Over and over, the little girl laughed, and laughed and laughed. That was until the monster finally grabbed her head and squeezed it between his hands. An explosion of blood, and the little girl's body fell to the floor. Silence filled the room. The monsters all looked to Maya. All watched and observed, all with a new coat of blood on their face. Some puked it, some cried it, all of them showed blood. They then watched and looked up to her. Maya realised where she was and looked down, a few of them lifted her while dancing with the girl. They all vibrated angrily, Maya couldn't take it anymore. Her head ached from what she witnessed, her stomach squeezed from being lifted and thrown. Everything about Maya felt fine but her insides not so much. As if on command of this she burped, her body trying its hardest to get rid of this overfilled fluid in her system.
All at once Maya was lifted higher and slammed into the ground. Her breath was taken from her as she was slammed down into the ground over and over, her spine crunched and broke after multiple slams, her stomach purged, she started to vomit with every slam, her eyes stung, her throat sore from vomiting. Though she did feel this all she did was smile. She grabbed her face to feel if maybe she was imagining it but no, she smiled. It was like she was someone else. Like she was the camera on someone else's story, but surely she felt it. She was smiling, she was smiling while her body was twisted and mangled, and yet her body felt cool. Her bones that protruded from her body felt like pillows, her collapsed lungs made her smell the sweet smell of cotton candy. Her bloody and somewhat torn tongue tasted of ice cream. She enjoyed it, she loved it, she was smiling on purpose. It felt great, she then realised it wouldn't last as she saw the monster with the revolver walk closer to her she felt fear.
“Please, No I'm sorry, I don't wanna go I don't wanna” Was all she could say. The monster with the revolver grabbed her tongue and ripped it out. It was like the first drink of a cold soda on a hot day. It was perfect. Maya still begged to stay, she loved this feeling, she didn't wanna go. But as her eyes jerked and started to tear up she was staring down the barrel of a revolver, a loud bang sounded, and then she woke up.
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Maya awoke from the nightmare gasping for air. She found her face was like leather, her throat a desert. She gasped and gasped for air. Reaching beside her for water that wasn't there. Realising what it meant she swiftly stood up and started to swallow her saliva.
‘I must've passed out last night, my face hurts so bad, I must've passed out crying. I need water, water sounds so good right now. But I would have to go downstairs. Maybe no one' s awake’ Maya thought as she stood up in her pajamas and quietly sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen. She practically was drowning herself with how much she drank, coughing up water as she drank too fast and entered her wind pipe.
Once she quenched her seemingly unending thirst and her coughing fit subsided she walked towards the couch and collapsed. Looking up above the tv to read that the wall clock showed it was five in the morning. Maya was tired, in pain, and wanted nothing more but to fall back asleep but once she's awake she can't return to sleep. So instead she thought of the nightmare she had, not having one this strange since the one with her father and the piranhas.
‘
‘But this time, eyes, faces, monsters, flys. What did they mean??, Why did I dream it, why did it feel so real, why did it feel… good?’ Maya wondered as she thought of the dream over and over. A strange beast, all doing normal things, and they killed a girl. And yet Maya didn't react, she had free reign too but she didn't. Why didn't she? The world enveloped around and centered to her. She had a chance to leave, or to help that little girl.
‘But why didn't I? The second they looked away, why didn't I run? Why didn't I stop?’ Maya, freaked out from the dream, grabbed her head. She then thought of something and tried. Punching herself in the stomach but found her body wouldn't allow her to hurt herself. So pain being good was a dream, it's not real. They're not real.’ Maya figured as she closed her eyes and tried to take a quick nap.
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Though once she was finished analyzing her brain she realised the clock read it was five forty five and her mother would awaken soon enough. If she went to sleep now she would be swiftly awakened. Instead she just sighed and turned on the tv, they had a free service app and she was in the mood for cartoons.
About ten minutes later her mother entered the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. Starting breakfast before looking to the living room and jumping back from Maya's presence.
“Maya…. What are you doing both awake and what seems like sleeping on the couch?” Her mother asked, a tired drawl followed every word. Maya just looked towards her, her sleep deprived brain fogged trying to figure out what to say next. Instead Maya just did what her body instinctually wanted and for whatever reason it was the macarena. Her mother just smiled at this and walked away.
After about an hour the clock read seven which prompted Maya to get up and at the very least brush her teeth. Though she was surprisingly greeted in the bathroom by Aneko who was doing her makeup. Though she occasionally cradled her cheek which Maya assumed was the place of impact from yesterday. Once noting Maya she wished her a hello and once exiting stared blankly at their mother.
‘Here's to another week of awkward silence between them’ Maya thought, raising the toothpaste and pretending to drink it. She finished brushing her teeth and walked to breakfast still in her jammies as she sat at the table. The average eggs and sausage with bacon. Her mother brought them both fixed plates and orange juice as they all sat and said blessings before eating.
Normally the breakfast table was loud with each family member's plan for the day however today it was silent. Each of them being burned by the fire of situations only . Burning with the lit embers of last night's debacle. It was almost carried throughout the entire breakfast before Aneko placed her orange juice down on the table strongly. Gaining the attention of both Maya and her mother.
She realised her action and coughed, apologizing before looking up and apologizing again.
“I truly am sorry, but seriously…. All this silence.. All this tension… and from just an argument about Maya and her wanting to go to the rest of that class…. it's stupid.” Aneko said aloud, her voice cowered after every statement. Maya knew she forced herself to speak to her mother in such a way and in her mind she thanked Aneko. Her mother looked at them both and pondered, she was silent for a moment before sighing and realising the situation at hand.
“You're right… I'm sorry too…. For yelling at you… for being this way” Her mother said, grabbing her head as she lowered it down to the table. She must be thinking of her boyfriend Maya.
“it's just… when one of my babies says the other will do such a…. Action… As a mother I get defensive. I shouldn't have towards you Aneko. And for that I'm sorry.” Her mother said, sniffling as she did.
“I'm sorry mother…. I'm sorry Maya, I just had a bad day at work that day.. And hearing you want to join the dangerous part of that class, on top of worrying about money… I…” Aneko started before choking back tears.
“ I hated hearing how grown up you sounded. I don't wanna see you grow up… I just want a kid sister always and for that I'm sorry Maya.” Maya heard this and smiled, she loved her sister and in a weird way Aneko loved her, she just showed it in teasing and yelling is all. Though Maya knew it wasn't proper she also admitted no one was. So she smiled and held her sister's hand as well as her mothers.
“it's….. ok…. Lets just… forget about last night and…. Be friends” Maya was able to articulate as they all smiled to one another. It was her mother who broke the circle suddenly.
“No… I am afraid we can't honey, it's part of being grown up…” Her mother said, looking to Aneko for support.
“Yeah.. You'll learn soon enough, you cant just let things go sis. Speaking of.. We should finish the conversation last night.” Aneko said, looking towards her mother who was shocked to hear this.
“Really? Well what's there to discuss?..” Her mother swiftly said in a swayed frantic way.
“No… not that, that's later. I mean the class.” Aneko saying, her smile faltering back to normal. Maya knew she meant the secret boyfriend their mother was dating but didn't wanna admit it yet.
“Well… I still think it's too dangerous… And I know you agree with me as well Aneko… but. We need her to decide.” As Aneko was about to speak her mother raised her hand.
“It's not her money for sure but.. it's her decision. Lets call it her first as an adult huh?” Her mother said, stopping Aneko from interrupting abruptly. She then sighed and looked at Maya as did her mother and though they both frowned the question was asked. And Maya said yes.
After about an hour of promises to be safe and to not overwork herself they finally let her go to her room and put on proper clothes. Forgetting her phone in the bedroom she found she missed a good morning text from Armor and told him the good news. They were going to the tournament after all.
The Next weeks went by fast with the first and second being introduced to Wu food which is all about weapons and how to make them.
In the first week Maya and Armor learned about the rules of such power being used. The rules of Wu foo compared to Kung foo were so similar in fact that the whole class only took half of the time to remember it. Even Maya who was stuck in Armor's charm and vice versa got it down pat.
“Don't use it as a first option, only use it as self defence, and we will never ever use sharp objects with the things we learn about in this course, am I right?” Maya asked, though she forgot about the pointy part of the last rule she still was able to pass without doing twenty push ups. Though she still did them with Armor because Armor made some comment about letting a girl go easy and he was told to do twenty even though he stated the phrase correctly. Seeing herself do twenty with no issue made Maya reminisce on where she came from of the class's past. Maya also didn't go to therapy for that week after the argument that pursued, she didn't need him as much as she thought. A wonder of her mind was why she went in the first place but remembered her father.
The second week they learned of the crafting part of Wuu foo, also that they will not be using Wu football in the tournament which everyone agreed made the most sense.
“Wu Foo in all honesty is for self defence, like what if you're all alone on point, you wanna be prepared to stop some spy from stabbing you in the back and taking your clothes.” Sensei Onsa said that week. Which was strange but somehow made sense to the class. Speaking of, the class of once thirty or so students has dwindled down to ten. Maya, Armor, some girls and only two other guys. When it came to girls vs boys class tournaments when training about how to counter said weapons they were making, the boys always were outmatched.
The third week was one of difference however as Maya decided to return to her therapist to tell him she didn't require his services anymore and that she wanted to move on. So when she entered she sat on the red sofa but never laid, the Doctor never turned around. When she did lay however she placed her arms under her head and the sofa didn't feel like the one she laid on weeks prior.
“You know, the tenseness of the arms makes your breathing less…. Regular, if you would put them by your sides I assure you it would be easier to speak with me today” The doctor said, never turning around but then how did he know of her arms. He didn't speak after that until she lowered her arms and his chair seemed to turn on command.
“Ive never had a problem putting you into the sofa. What's the matter Maya?” The Doctor said, grabbing his board as he did. Maya suddenly felt mellow and calm, her mind at piece which she will miss.
“I was just here to return my journal you gave me, sir, because I may not be needing your services anymore.” Maya said, As if she was saying something mean to a family member her body repulsed at each and every word spoken.
“Oh? Well, that's a surprise, what made you change your mind Maya?” The Doctor was puzzled, she didn't want him to know the real truth.
“Well, Kung foo has helped me… me a lot mentally andddddddd…… I met a cute boy named Armor who makes me happy” Maya strained to say, her mouth betrayed her mind as did her body when trying to stop herself from speaking.
“Oh…. And tell me about this boy” The doctor said, seemingly writing a new section of his notebook.
“Well he's.”
‘Cute, dreamy, super sweet, a real charmer, he makes the happiest girl in the world and I wanna be with him forever and ever’ Maya thought, stopping herself from speaking aloud.
“Forever and ever huh?” The doctor said,
“Y-Yeah. He is truly just that good” Maya said, her mind numb to question.
“Hmm. Well then, is that all the reason you don't require my services anymore and why you want to move on?” The doctor seemed to repeat.
“Well… not the only reason you see” Maya started before telling the doctor about her days away from her, showing him evidence with the journal and sometimes even displaying what she meant physically, though she never left that red sofa. She ended it by speaking about the dinner discussion that seemed to happen long ago.
“Well, I understand and hey, it's your right to say goodbye to me, it's the way we therapists know that we did a good job. So I have an idea. You can quit for the next couple weeks, and the day before the tournament, right after your class. Come on by and visit me and we will see if you really wanna quit or not.” The Doctor suggested, though his voice sounded sinister when he said it aloud.
“Well…. Hmmmm.” Maya thought for a moment, she didn't wanna see him anymore but the discussion they just had made her think twice. Then as she layed down and started to breathe it's like her lips had a mind of their own.
“Deal, and I will continue to write in my journal like you have ordered,” Maya said involuntarily. She then went home for the night and wrote in her journal, she checked the last time she did and found she hadn't for a while, she beat herself up in her mind for it.
‘It's not what the doctor would want, do what he wants next time, dummy,’ And that's what Maya did.
After this the fourth week came and went, she decided to make it official and not to go into therapy once a week. Though her mother and Aneko found it strange that he would prescribe that at all but went with it. Maya still remembered the promise she gave to the Doctor to visit him on the final week of her class before the big Tournament. In this fourth week they refined their craft and Armor actually didn't walk her home that day. Maya didn't know why he would say no and she walked home alone that night. Armor later texted that night explaining that his father was in the hospital. Though Maya found a ‘nvm’ text from him when being too distracted by her journal. She felt terrible and responded as such. Maya wrote down later it was their first ever fight.
In week five Maya and Armor feared they would be acting differently. Though when she entered she found everything to be fine. A small tension rose a bit and when it came to walking home they did the same. In class that day they talked about the use of the weapons they created in class before, they also requested that students purchase their own protective weapons such as a taser. Though most made excuses, Maya found it to be a good idea. Armor didn't.
“But I do need one, after all I joined this class for self protection.” Maya argued with Armor who was still skeptical about it.
“Maya… you are a built machine. You don't need some weapon to know that, plus. What if you hurt yourself.” Armor said, though he knew she wouldn't.
“Hurt myself?” Maya retorted before standing.
‘Does he seriously think I would hurt myself?’ Maya wondered. Though she was more annoyed at the idea than not, out of all people he should've been the one to trust her the most.
“That's… you know what I mean.” Armor scrambled for words, Maya didn't find it as cute as she did before.
“No. I don't.” Maya spoke out, though she didn't know why she was getting mad in the first place. Silence broke between the two there. The statement lingering as it flushed the rest of the day away, they did walk together but not much was said. Maya felt horrible about it when she entered her home, she didn't know why her actions were like this but she stood by them. She just hoped it would somehow resolve itself by next week. She then shook her own idea aside, she has to be the bigger person and so she started typing a message explaining how sorry she was about her attitude but before she could send it, she was told that they were going to the hospital for a recheck up on Maya's head. Maya groaned at this and after realising how close she had her phone, threw it onto the bed and ran out the door. If anyone was gonna get the shotgun seat, it was gonna be her.
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Amoureux exited his silent car drive home and entered his room, laid on his bed and checked his phone. No messages. He cursed under his breath seeing this. She always messaged him after class, so he must've done something wrong. He then grabbed his phone and decided to be the bigger person and apologize.
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“Hey bud, I'm sorry for whatever I did, I could
Tell from our walk today that you were upset
At me for something and hope you can forgive
Me for whatever I did.”
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When Arouruex sent it, an icon reading ‘seen’ appeared underneath. This is what Amoureux hoped was for good reason. So he decided to wait for her to respond. He waited ten minutes and checked. Nothing. Then another twenty, thirty, hour and three hours passed with no response. The time ticking away got to Amoureux, every minute he felt his stomach drop lower and lower. Every hour, his eyes fail to hide his true emotions. Only when he went downstairs for dinner did he truly try and hide his true feelings. When he exited dinner he came to his room and abruptly started to breath fast. His mind started to fill with thoughts he never had before.
‘Why am I feeling this way? I mean after all she's just a friend, but…. Is that all I want with her? She's super cool, and strong, it's like being friends with a super hero. At times she's scary but it's somewhat charming at points… and that awesome, beautiful, and strong girl is mad at me. What have I done…’ Amoureux screamed at himself, before his emotions started to flair again. His stomach sunk lower and lower, his head held down into his pillow so no tears would escape. He imagined himself like a puppy who peed on the rug, he didn't feel like his joyous lucky self anymore. His emotions then carried his arm to his phone, he had to make things right. So he grabbed his phone once again and decided to send a shorter message but one that he sent without thinking.
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“I'm sorry, will you forgive me?
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He sent, though it didn't show she had seen it, his heart and mind still fluttered with fear. The sinking feeling stayed with him for the rest of the night. Till it ruptured again, the fear now turned to panic.
‘What if she never wants to speak to you again you moron, she is ignoring you like she will for the rest of your life. You fool, you gotta get her back, if not now then she will forever forget you. She has to understand how you feel, now get her, go!!!’ Amoureux thought as he couldn't bear to wait anymore, grabbing his phone and typing as swiftly as he could.
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“Look Idk what I did but this amount of silent
Is treatment really the answer?”
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‘Why did I type that, idiot idiot..’ He panicked as he regretted what he just typed.
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“Not that Im mad, im just a little sad is all”
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‘These stupid fingers of mine’ He panicked again, his head feeling light as all his blood rushed to his nose.
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“It's not your fault I swear, it's just.”
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"Great , now we're lying to her?’ He panicked again, the blood rushing to his head before he got his thoughts across.
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“I love you, ok?”
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She did get that shotgun seat and for the rest of the day held it as the queen of the seat. But that seat wasn't the day's plan. In fact they came back to the hospital for a check up after Maya's fainting scandal a few weeks before. She was done with the check up in about forty minutes and the doctor was finalising the paperwork as Maya, Aneko, and their mother waited in the doctor's office while he was out getting paper work. Aneko was on her phone which made Maya realise her crucial mistake of leaving hers on her bed. So when she wanted to see if Armor texted she looked up to Aneko.
“Can I borrow your phone?” Maya asked, reaching out her hand. Both her mother and Aneko looked at Maya in shock. It was as if she bit the head off a chicken in front of them and laughed as it ran around. Aneko out of the both being the most as she handed over her phone willingly and watched Maya with a strange intensity. Maya looked at the phone given to her and went to the contacts, besides the many names she didn't recognize she couldn't find Armors. She then realized her foolishness again and smiled.
“Oh my gosh, I'm so dumb, I was looking for a contact on my phone on yours, I'm such a clutz” Maya admitted laughing as she did. This again froze the two sitting across her as they looked at each other, jaws agape.
“Who are you and what did you do with my sister?” Aneko asked, smiling after the shock.
“Seriously.. Are you ok honey” Her mother imitated Anekos reaction. Maya looked at the two and realised the feeling they have.
‘I understand their confusion, I normally wouldn't talk so openly, or maybe it's the smile. Do I not smile enough? Nah, It should be fine. What is making me so open and smiling all of a sudden? Maybe it's the therapy sessions? Nah I have been having them my whole life. Though I did just recently get that new therapist. Or maybe it's the dojo? Or… yeah it's definitely because of Armor.. I hope he isn't freaking out without an answer.’ Maya thought before answering up to her mother and sister.
“Yeah, I'm fine.. I think… I think I'm just, opening up is all. I talk like this normally in the dojo and I guess it just slipped, sorry if you think it's weird.” Maya apologized, her brain making fun of her for speaking out which she thinks shouldn't be allowed to.
“No No No No! Honey, we love that you're finally opening up, it's just ....” Her mother started waving her hands in front of Maya, though her tone held during the end.
“We're not used to it Maya, usually you're very shy is all.. We like it” Aneko finished, her mother nodding in agreement.
“We love it honey, and are so proud of you” Her mother stated looking through the door to see if the steps outside were her doctors.
‘I'm happy there, happy, Oh yeah, in class we spoke about the personal defence weapon.. I understand Armors worry but I should still get one just in case, I wont use it outside of class so It would be fine if I asked now right?’ Maya realized with them being in a good mood maybe she could use it to her advantage.
“Hey uhh.. I have a strange… question? Request? I don't know what to call it.” Maya stated they both looked at her.
“Sure honey, anything you like, we will jot it down as a welcoming of your voice gift” Her mother said smiling at the idea.
“Oh really? Great! Uh, Can I get a taser?” Maya asked joyful as well. Though once the question hit the air the room went silent, and her mother and sisters deposition changed.
“What!?! Why would you need a taser?? First this class and now….” Aneko started before her mother grabbed her by the shoulder and looked in her eyes.
“Aneko, You promised you wouldn't bring up the secondary classes.” Her mother stated.
“Yeah I know, But-” Aneko started.
“But nothing,” their mother finished. Before turning back around and looking at Maya, her face shrunk with the sudden loud noises. Rule #4. Her mother looked down on Maya after breathing and stinging her face.
“Why do you want a taser sweetie?” Her mother asked in a calm tone, her face read anger however which made Maya return to her ways.
“Umm…. uh… I… need…. I would like it…. For…. defence” Maya said not calculating what she said.
“Wait…. I mean..”
“Defence? Is someone attacking you too much in that dojo? Who's hurting you so much that you need a taser?? I'll beat them into a pulp” Her mother said in a sudden rage.
“Do you need to ask? We both know who it is.” Aneko started gaining her mothers attention as they both ignored Maya's pleas for the focus to return to her but they weren't heard.
“Aneko!!! You know I haven't met that boy, you can't just blame him for not liking him” Her mother yelled towards Aneko which caused a back and forth between the two. Once they start they can never stop, Maya watched as they bickered about past occurrences and finally snapped.
“CAN I PLEASE SAY WHAT I WANNA SAY?!?!?!” In a war of more value gaining more attention, Maya won. The others went silent and looked towards Maya in fear, no rebuttal or clever comeback. Just silence.
“Thank you” Maya said, regaining her breath.
“I know you both worry about me, and no, I'm not being beaten up, it's just something the teacher asked us to get for class, I promise I won't use it outside of class or traveling back to class. And I'll have a pouch in the front of the house for the taser as well. I know you're both just worried about me. And I love you both for it, but I'll be fine.” Maya told the two who were both still silent and watching. Maya realised what Aneko said and looked in her direction, happy to finally counter something she said for once.
“Oh and Aneko” Maya said, gaining Aneko's sole attention.
“You aren't the only person who cares about me, remember that night? I promised you I would be careful, and Armor agrees with you, he doesn't want me getting one either ok?” Maya stated with a new found authority. Aneko just frowned at this and jokingly brushed off her tongue like an old cartoon.
“Ewww I cant have the same opinion as him, Sure you can have that taser” Aneko said before laughing. She then became quiet and looked to their mother.
“Im joking mom, I know I cant make that decision even if I wasn-”
“Yes…” Her mother interrupted looking at the two.
“Yes, I guess we did have you join that class so you can be protected, But you can only have it in the house. And, If your father was here, I bet he would be overjoyed for you to use his badge pouch to hold it as well honey.” Her mother said, gaining Maya's overjoyed smile. She jumped up and hugged her mother, thanking her a hundred times before the doctor returned and they got the results.
Once they found she was alright with no setbacks they exited the Hospital and went on their way home. Though together when they overheard a patient escape Maya and Aneko made their first out loud joke about a man in a robe getting a burger with no money. And they laughed about it, all the way home.
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‘NO don't SEND NO’ Amoureux freaked out after typing it, sending it to her by mistake. All that blood stored into his head came right back down, crashing even deeper than before. He turned off his phone to sulk, scared of what he just did.
‘If she reads that then she will never wanna talk to me again. First the taser argument and now confessing love? Real move there Amoureux, really, a lady killer. Oh man she's gonna hate me for sure, she's gonna ask for a new partner and never wanna speak to me again. If only there was a way to unsend that text’ Amoureux thought, falling back on his bed grabbing his head as he groaned. He then thought of what Maya would say when she looked at her flip phone. Then he shot up and realised something/
‘ Maybe I could still save it, do flip phones keep old saved messages if I delete them? Maybe… but also Maybe not’ He decided, after turning back on his phone he knew it was a slim chance but it was a chance at all. He then opened up his contacts list switching to the text chat made of fear. His Calmness only standing for a moment, the message he just sent, had the indicator underneath reading ‘seen.’
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When Maya came home she rushed up the stairs. She was so used to not having her phone before she forgot all about it when they went to their check up. It was only about an hour into sitting in the waiting room, reading a magazine when she realised what she did. For the rest of the time there she worried about Armor, and how she never sent that text.
‘Maybe throw it on the bed and press the send button?’ Maya hoped, but that wasn't the case. When she turned on her phone she read that she missed five messages from him. Her heart sank, feeling ashamed of what she must've done to him. When she opened up and started to read the first message she wanted to respond then and there. But decided to read on. It was one after another. The first and second message had a couple hours between but the rest were done only minutes apart. He just typed his last message five minutes ago. She felt bad for him at that moment and wanted to think before she sent a message but saw a bubble on his corner of the screen. He was typing something at that moment. When it sent through, Maya's face flushed red, she couldn't believe what was on the screen.
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“I love you, ok?”
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As soon as the indicator showed up he grabbed the message bubble he just sent and swiftly chose the option to delete it. Amoureux’s heart beat a mile a minute, fear and other such emotions drove through him as it read that. Though he tossed his phone away from him, hoping what he just typed was a nightmare, he held on to hope. I hope that maybe she was busy reading the other messages and that one just got deleted at the nick of time. He held onto this hope and started to believe this false reality but was broken out of it when his phone's notification went off. The room fell silent after that, Amoureux’s heart grew still as he crawled to his now cracked phone and looked towards the notifications. It was a message from Maya. He then pressed the icon and put in his password. What was read wasn't what he expected at all.
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“Sorry!!!!! I was at the hospital to do
A check up on my head and totally
Forgot my phone, I was gonna send
A apology message to but I got
Distracted hope you can forgive me
‘Sad face emoji’”
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Amoureux’s heart turned back to normal, he did a celebratory fist bump at this moment. After all that and his horrible mistakes he somehow got away scott free. And that awesome girl still wants to speak with him. Or that's what he thought before the next message came through.
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“Wow, sorry, didn't mean to panic
you so much, Honestly I just havent
been feeling the Same since I wont
be seeing my therapist anymore.”
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‘Of course she read your messages, but hey who cares about that, she seemed upset, put away your sad dumb emotions and help your lady out’ Amoureux stated, though he still pouted as he allowed himself to get emotional, and in front of a girl he likes no less. So they messaged back and forth about her leaving the therapist, and speaking that their last meeting will be next week and how Armoureux will be there for her in the meantime, apologizing for sounding so romantic.
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“No No I get what you mean lol”
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She typed, Amoureux really needed to work on his way with words, he realised.
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“Hey, one more thing before I got to
Sleep, What was that sixth message
You sent before? You deleted it before I
Could read it properly”
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Seeing this made Amoureux’s stomach drop though only a moment, he could get out of this one. So he typed some lame excuse and wished her a goodnight, he rested that night with clearness in his mind, she didn't know the truth, she still wanted to be friends with him and all is back to normal.
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“Oh, that was just a typo, even when
Freaking out I gotta have proper
Grammar, Im to cool not to after all lol
Anyways, I ll be here for you buddy,
Goodnight, chat with you in the morning”
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Armor typed, the entire time Maya had butterflies in her stomach.
‘Of course he would respond so koi, he didn't know I read what he said. He loves me after all, the cute, stuttering, boy loves me’ Maya thought giggling as her chest filled with butterflies and her smile glued to her face. She was all sorts of happy from what she had learned. She barely could contain her smile when she went for dinner late that night. Maya not even commenting on the brussel sprouts which she didn't much like. After dinner and a few stares from her mother and Aneko she rushed up to bed and fell asleep.
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The rest of the week went by fairly fast, though Armor didn't enjoy seeing the brand new taser the following week he trusted her and spoke on his point of view. The only time she didn't have her phone on was when she was with her family or it was charging. Though her smile still remained big, she couldn't wait to see him again, though she still felt bad that they wouldn't be able to walk because she had to go to therapy one last time before the big tournament. He would still make fun of her for apologizing so much and that his ‘legs needed a break anyway’ as he put it.
It was the day before the second to final class, she had read that morning that Armor and his father were going to shop and they wouldn't be back for a while. Maya imagined Armor and his father in there, how it… life could just end so fast. It was the pressure of the day that made her think such a foul thought, but the idea continued to return over and over, her best friend. The one who loves her, gone like that. It was too much for Maya.
Maya had her first spike in a while, she didn't miss it. This one was different though instead of just breathing to calm herself, it felt like her heart was straining against her chest. Though she kept quiet about it she wrote it down in her journal, once it was over she looked at what she wrote. She couldn't believe it, it was as if someone else wrote it down. It didn't even look like her hand writing, though after rereading it all she couldn't remember writing it either. Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother calling for her to come downstairs for class. So she decided to explore why later and went downstairs. Knowing she would forget.
When she arrived at class she had a sigh of relief that their red minivan showed up. She ran over to Armor as he exited his fathers vehicle and hugged him tight. Though she realised she wasn't imagining it and swiftly turned the hug into a tackle roll. He then stood on his own two feet and flipped Maya, catching her before she cracked her skull on the pavement. The two laughed and walked inside.
“For a second there I thought you actually cared about me” Armor said, though she cared for him deeply. His tone wasn't normal however, a little lower and less…. Him. Maya thought of the fight they had weeks previously being the cause and brushed it off to overthinking.
‘Of course I do, I love you too’ Is what Maya wanted to say but instead thought as she looked into his eyes. He saw this and swiftly ran into the building, shielding his eyes.
“She's trying to steal my soul!!!!!!” He screamed as he ran away from Maya. She laughed at this and ran to him. They went into the building bickering as they did and found they weren't the only ones. Sensei Onsa was in the middle of the class with students training each other. The whiteboard behind them read, Top 5 Contenders of Wu Foo. Numbers ranging from one to five listed beneath without any names to clothe them.
“Whats happening?” Armor asked Sensei Onsa as the fight concluded.
“Oh.. well, I kinda forgot a small detail about the tournament and now it's making today a uh….. popquiz.”Sensei Onsa sheepishly admitted, he seemed rather upset about it.
“Why? The big tournament is tomorrow and…” Armor looked towards the white board.
“You're only allowed to bring five of us aren't you?” Armor asked, a little disappointed.
“Well……. Yes, But don't worry, only the bottom four will have to win tournaments. The top spot will go to whoever is voted by the class.
Maya looked towards Armor in sadness at this news, she knew that meant one of them wouldn't be able to attend the tournament. But simple cheerful Armor didn't, his face still full of cheers and life as always. When he turned to Maya in his enthusiastic way she wondered if he would forfeit for her. After all, it was something he would do and if he didn't Maya would be disqualified. She wasn't the most popular, in fact most if not all of the class but Armor feared her in some way or another so the popularity vote would surely go to someone else.
"Ok so hear the plan Maya, ill make a complaint about being on your team, then we'll be put on separate fighting brackets, then.. and only then we will be one of the top four and the other three will have to wait for us." Armor said doing a silly pose at the end, something that Sensei Onsa had done many times before.
"And when we're put to fight each other later down the bracket because everyone's too scared to fight me?" Maya threw out, as she stood there doing a sassy stance she saw some lady do in a tv show about cops. Maya put Armor into a stance when she stated this and he scratched his chin before coming up with a new idea.
"Ok, Ok, You're not gonna like this plan but!!!!" Armor started.
"You're gonna let yourself be beaten by me and somehow go into the tournament?" Maya interrupted, she admitted it felt nice to be the interruption for once.
"Well.... yeah. You know me too well, so what do you think of my pla-" Armor countered.
"It's stupid, I can't fight out there on my own, like, what if you're not able to be out there with me... I can't do it without you.." Maya suddenly said, her emotions came out full force when she thought about being away from Armor.
'Yeah, like a stupid girl could do it on my own, let's face it,I can't last a couple of minutes, heck, a couple of seconds without him by my side. I need him to be there, without him Im... im nothing im useless, Im going to lose.'Maya thought to herself, her eyes started to water before she looked up to Armor wearing a worried expression on his face. She swiftly covered her eyes and began to breathe, thinking it would be a normal spike but again her heart beat out of her chest and she collapsed to the floor.
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It was sudden but Maya mid argument fell into Amoureux's arms.
"Hey!! No fair I know what you're trying to.." Amoureux stated before his arms caught her and he felt something off. Her heart was beating at a higher rate of speed. He then picked her up and ran for Mr Seonsaengnim, he was in the middle of watching a fight before he ran over to Amoureux who was carrying Maya in his arms.
"Did she pass out from your brawl against Amoureux?" Mr Seonsaengnim asked, Amoureux was perplexed how he figured out how to pronounce his name all of a sudden.
"I uh.. I don't know, She just suddenly fell down and.. her heart is beating very very fast. Is she... having a heart attack." Amoureux asked, his eyes filled with tears as he did. Mr Seonsaengnim looked down to Amoureux and put his fingers to his chin, he muttered the word heart and attack over and over, though Amoureux didn't find whatever pun he was about to say amusing and told himself not to punch Mr Seonsaengnim when he would inevitably say it.
"Nope, she just needs to rest and drink some water, don't worry about her alright Amoureux."Mr Seonsaengnim said, shocking Amoureux of what he meant.
"But... you didn't even feel her heartbeat, how would you-" Amoureux started.
"Well I know she'll be fine, now lay her over by the entrance and I'll see to it that she gets better alright?" Mr Seonsaengnim said, patting Amoureux's head with a smile. This wasn't something he ever did before so it perplexed Amoureux for only a moment before he returned back to reality.
He had a girl, the one he had a crush on in his hands, and she needed help. He wondered what she would say to him and realized Mr Seonsaengnim was one of the only other people Maya spoke openly to. So she would probably be mad if he disobeyed him. Though he did slightly when he laid Maya down towards the back of the class instead of near the entrance. If he knew Maya he knew that she hated being the center of attention, so being put against glass walls would be the worst thing he could do. So he walked towards the back and placed her down. He then reminded himself to check on her every opportunity he had. And went on with the rest of the class, continuously looking towards her direction to see if she was alright.
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Her chest felt as if something was trying to claw its way out. The world went dark as all her muscles at once started to tighten and squeeze. Her ears ringed as she was surrounded by voices, ones that spoke of failure and more. Though her muscles tightened, her blood ran, her head ached in pain. Her skin never punctured, it felt as if she was laying on the softest sofa in the world. Her skin felt cool and calm while everything else was tortured from within. When she awakened she found Armor standing above her his face drained of all the blood and his hand shakily holding a bottle of water. The other was under Maya's head holding it up as he raised the bottle to her mouth. Her heart suddenly cooled as the water went down her throat. The sounds of the classroom returning as a water bottle was soon put to her lips and she drank, it was the best water she ever had.
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"Are you alright? What the heck was that?? You almost missed the whole tournament!!! I.... I thought you had a heart attack and..." Armor said he knew he must look pale but he didn't care, his best friend was hurt.
"What are you talking about? Im allright, it's just... something girls have to go through sometimes.." Maya admitted thinking that Amoureux was a fool. His temper grew and he knew she was just tryna play it off to him but what happened there wasn't normal.
"I'm not stupid Maya.... I...." Amoureux started and thought for a second.
'I don't wanna be lied to... What was that?' Is what he wanted to say, but the way she looked up at him. Her cute face filled with a mixture of fear and pain. He didn't wanna push it.
"Ok... but still, you missed most of the tournament." he said, though he knew his voice was still hoarse from crying so much. He then looked up towards the entrance when the front entrance bell suddenly rang. There he saw a man in a white coat, he smiled as he entered and seemed to hold something behind his back. When he looked down next to the entrance his face turned to one of confusion. Though it swiftly disappeared as did the man, who swiftly got back into his van and drove off. He did this after seeing Mr Seonsaengnim, who then walked towards the door and watched the man in the van drive off and flee. He seemed to walk out towards the street, Amoureux assumed to get the weirdos license plate before he returned in a sort of sick daze as he entered the dojo once again. Maya shook her head and looked towards the door.
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"Who was that?" Maya questioned. Her vision is still blurry because of the events that transpired and didn't get a good glimpse.
"Im not sure, some guy with a trench coat." Armor said, confusion lining his tone as he did. Maya thought for a moment of who could that be and came to one answer, though she shoved it off as she never gave him the address to the dojo, or did she? She couldn't remember much about the Doctor, the only thing she did remember was that she needed to see him that afternoon. But everything else was vacant, she couldn't even remember what he looked like. Though she just thought it was because of what had just transpired and nothing more.
Once Maya was explained the situation of class she found that only eight of the fifteen students were left in the brackets. One of them being her she found out because none of the students wanted to admit victory over Maya's body. So it was solo duels all around and when it came to her turn the worst case scenario happened. It was her versus Armor and she knew how it would end. Still, she stanced at her line, bowed towards Armor and held her arms out. She saw a new stance he never tried before with her and realized what this meant.
'His hands are in his pocket, oh no he's going to go for mostly leg moves, he knows I am great at deflecting those and is ready to lose for me. Wait, he's crouching his legs, maybe he's trying to do a straight tackle, I must shift with him so I'm not knocked out or worse, he pushes himself out. This will have to be a race between me winning fairly and making sure he doesn't lose on purpose.' Maya thought, shifting her legs and arms with Armors which he just smiled at, lunging his leg back for what would be an obvious kick before his leg swiftly flew towards Maya. Maya, not seeing such a simple attack, put both her arms up to block the kick, though when she didn't feel the blow she slowly and carefully looked out of her block. There she saw that same leg in the air, but never moving further. In fact, it was fully pulled out, just sitting there in the wind. When she looked towards Armor he smiled wide and winked, before falling down on his back and out of the ring. Despite Maya's best efforts, she still won.
"Well.... that's the end of this round.. ahem.. MAKING MAYA OUR FORTH CONTENDER FOR THE TOURNAMENT!!!" Sensei Onsa said, rolling his arms in tandan. Before striking them into a pose above his head, which he bent at a forty-five degree angle while doing a lunge. This man was super strange, Maya admitted. Before realizing what had just transpired and fell to the ground as well as Armor.
"Well, you beat me good j-" Armor said, before Maya crawled up to him looking in his eyes with tears. She then started to punch him in the chest over and over before her strength gave in and she started crying again.
"Hey Hey.. it's ok, You'll do great and I'll still be there for your fight, just not beside you is all" Armor said though Maya didn't care, she just cried and cried. Wishing he didn't do that, or that whatever brought this to reality didn't make it so. She didn't care if she looked selfish or a baby, she didn't care if the eyes were put on her. She wanted Armor to be there fighting alongside her, because if she were to win, it would be for him, it would be for her father, It would never be for herself. So when Maya went on her third wave of crying she had trouble catching her breath, her heart started to beat fast again and she knew she was on the verge of passing out again. But that was cut short with Sensei Onsa's loud announcement.
"AND THAT'S THE END OF THE VOTE, unsurprisingly, THE WINNER IS MR ARMO.... ARM OUR..... THAT GUY OVER THERE!!!!" He said, despite messing up his name Maya knew what she heard. Whipping tears away and looking down. Armor just laid there in amazement of what he just heard. He then stood up and wiped the tears off his face onto his shirt and walked towards the chalkboard, the only name on there was his and it had a total of thirteen checks next to it. He had won the popular vote. Maya, had her friend to fight alongside her.
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Maya rested for the remainder of class, though Amoureux stayed awake for it as they were voting on a name for their team. There were a multitude of good names, though it was exposed to be a student-voted name system, Mr Seonsaengnim added some of his own.
The names listed by the students were simplistic and somewhat harsh like The Weiners, the Winners, The butt kickers, the head smashers etc. With Mr Seonsaengnim's names being overly obvious though he wouldn't admit it. Such as The Attacksuki, The Hurter association, and Dojo Slayer guild standing out like skyscrapers in a farm field.
Of course no one voted for them except for the few who somehow understood what they meant. In the end it came down to the weiners and buttkickers but when the votes came through The Dojo Slayer guild won, though it was voted out in the first place.
Then when it happened all the students either laughed or chased down Mr Seonsaengnim around the room, threatening him with beating and more.
“You all should call me Koro-Sensei for how mad you are at your poor poor teacher” He laughed as he skillfully dodged, threw, and even flipped the students who used his training against him. Amoureux seeing this wanted to join in for fun but decided to return to Maya so she wasn't alone while she rested.
‘At least Mr Seonsaengnim is back to normal…’ Amoureux thought as he returned back to Maya's side, they watched as the other students chased their teacher around the classroom throwing things as he ran away and laughed. The rest of the day was filled with joy, obscure references and laughter before it ended.
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When Maya had to leave Armor knew it was for her final therapy session. Though Armor knew this before hand, going into his van without walking her home still felt awful to do. He had a very stressful day with her and wanted to make sure she would be ok, though he knew he would see her tomorrow at the Tournament, he still worried. Though when she left he still was able to talk to the other boys of the tournament and learned it wasn't by Mayas crying, though it did help. It was because he threw the fight which earned him a few jabs in the arms, as well as being the only person with the guts to fight Mana Maya.
Amoureux didn't like the nickname as much as he admitted but kept with it. When he arrived home he looked to his phone and saw no new text messages. This made sense as Maya was at her therapy session and he knew he would get one later in the day. So for the rest of today he would relax and not worry. It's what Maya would want after all.
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Maya arrived and went to The Doctors room. Inside she found that he wasn't at his chair with his clipboard in hand. In fact, he wasn't in the room at all.
'Maybe he took a bathroom break' Maya thought, though still laying down on the red sofa as if he was in attendance. The sofa didn't feel the same though, she didn't seem to meet in the sofa this time around and it felt as if she were laying on a bed of rocks instead of... whatever sofas were made out of. Suddenly the room door opened and he entered, his coat being unorganized and sweat protruding from his brow. He then caught his throat and sat down on his seat. It suddenly flew towards Maya's direction as the Doctor grabbed the sides like it was a roller coaster. The sofa suddenly felt soft at this moment. Maya didn't think much of it as the doctor gathered his thoughts as he cleaned his suddenly messy hair.
"S-. AHEM So, how was your second to final day Maya?" The Doctor asked, a twinge of exhaustion still running his lips.
"It was weird sir, like you said, I do have a different kind of thing and... I don't know what to do" Maya admitted, she tried to stop herself but it was as if she was controlled.
"Well... I see..." The Doctor stated before writing into his board.
"Did you bring your journal like requested?" The Doctor asked. It was if she were a robot in a factory how fast she gave him her journal, forgetting to write of what happened during class. So instead she told him of what happened, leaving out the whole passing out part of it as she feared he would use some sort of therapy magic to keep her there for another week or so.
"And when you awoken from this... Heart incident, It was that boy Amoureux who helped you correct?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes, he gave me a bottle of water and even gave up when we dueled, so I got into the tournament and he didn't, until he was voted in by the rest of the class." Maya retold. Smiling towards the bright lights in the ceiling as she did. The lights blinded her of what happened around her, it's brightness reminded her of her father in a way as she blabbled on about the day she dad, the day before, and a lot of details that she may not needed to share but it didn't matter. Most about her love for Armor and how she couldn't figure out what to do. But the brightness was taken from her when The Doctor spoke up again.
"I don't want you entering that Tournament Maya, It is nothing but a bunch of sweaty, ugly, horrible people just fighting each other for fun. it's full of germs and eyes, everyone will watch you Maya, everyone will Judge you Maya. And hearing of this boy you speak so fondly of, he probably wont even show up. Now, turn in your journal, and leave my office. I expect to see you next week, and if I don't. I understand, Just realise this, That tournament will be to much for you and these heart problems will be your downfall." The Doctor seemed to yell, the softness of the sofa ended as did the session as he turned in his chair. Maya wanted that brightness back, maybe she would get it if she returned next week. Yeah she would, but all that he said about the tournament... for once his words didn't make sense, so before exiting she placed the journal down onto the table nearby and walked out of the office, never entering it again.
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When She returned home she rushed up the stairs and grabbed her phone, looking to see if she got any messages. She got one about fifteen minutes ago, it was about the time she would normally return home for one of her therapy sessions anyway, and she couldn't contain the smile she had everytime he would remember that specific time.
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"So, how was your therapy session
Maya?"
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When Maya read this her face always flushed, he thought of her in the silliest of moments. Though when she grabbed her phone to text a response she couldn't remember how the session went. Did she go through with quitting therapy? There was one way to find out and it was to check her journal, though after about twenty minutes of searching and questioning her mother and Aneko she found they both didn't know where it was. Her search was interrupted however by Armors becking call.
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"Wow, ok just ignore me then,
Forever alone is me"
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He would respond, Maya realized she left him on read and knew how much he didn't like that.
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"Sorry Mr impatient, But I don't know how
the session went"
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She typed, sending a gif of a cat sticking his tounge out towards the camera.
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"How can you not remember? You
were just there were you not?"
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Though Maya agreed, she couldn't figure out what to say.
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"Oh yeah well.. At least I can remember
When my birthday is!!"
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"Thats because you never told
me when it was before. In
fact, all we normally talk
about is training and the
tournament so how should
I know???"
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Maya read, which she had to admit after scrolling though there past text did seem to be the main conversation starter.
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"Speaking off"
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"You nervous of the tournament
tomorrow?"
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Maya read this and a sudden distant memory came to form. Her heart seemed to pinch it'self as she read the message, the Doctors voice entered her mind about how it would hurt her. She decided not to tell Armor about this because it would upset the Doctor.
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"A little, yeah."
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"Thats ok Maya, Ill be there
to support you, you know
that right?"
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Maya read the message in her head and thought to herself for a moment. Did she? Could she truly put all her confidence into him, what if the doctor is right and he will just not show up.
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"Sure.. You are going to show up tomorrow
Right?"
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"WOAH!!! Where did that
come from? Of course Im
going, sheesh"
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He sent, with a emoji thats eyes looked up in annoyance. Maya read this and immediately felt bad, her heart pinched in pain again as she typed the next message. As if her body tried to stop her.
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"Im sorry, it's just.... Alot going through my
Mind”
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“The tournament is tomorrow and I wanna
win"
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Maya typed at first before her heart started to hurt more and more, she took the pain as motivation to tell the truth as she typed a new message.
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"I wanna win for my family, I know I don't
talk about them much but we can really use this money, were not poor, but it's at least its
something, it's not me sitting around being
useless!!"
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Maya then fell face first onto her bed, trying her best to figure out how to delete the message. Though with a old flip phone the feature wasn't implemented yet. So she saw her message get read, be put on seen and then his message suddenly appear.
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"You??? Useless?? Haha good
one Maya, whats next? you
gonna say your not a super awesome
fighting machine next?"
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Maya read this in confusion, her heart started to tighten more, it hurt to read this though she didn't know why, The Doctors words that continuously seeped into her mind suddenly stopped but for a moment. Then after started to slow down.
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"Maya, I know you pretty well in the
Combat department, and I can say this
Your not useless, noone near it, your
Amazing and awesome, beautiful and
Sweet. Sure your shy on the outside
And a real goofball within but your still
You. You just need to come out of your
Shell a little is all. And if it's something
Your parents are saying then there
Wrong, dead wrong.”
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Maya read this next section, tears spilling down her face and her heart pace quickening for another reason. Love, she doesn't understand why but it is like if she were taking off a backpack of burden that has fallen from her and seemingly vanished. She smiled and looked at the text, rereading it over and over, not noticing the small bubbles that appeared at the bottom of the messages, signifying he was messaging back.
“My bad, I didn't say anything wrong did I?
I was trying to be nice and-”
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Blah blah blah Armor panicked and started explaining his actions, somewhat slipping his feelings throughout but refuting them every time as a bad way with words. Reading his panicked messages made Maya smile again, she always did find his panicking cute so she just laughed.
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“it's ok Armor, I aint mad, I was just
processing what to say next is all”
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“Thank you, that made me feel a lot better than you can ever know, I just get like this sometimes and sometimes cant get out of them.”
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Maya messaged, but didn't wanna keep this trend of upsetting messages to continue so she decided to divert the conversation back onto the rails.
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“I did remember a part of therapy today, I just thought you wouldn't care lol”
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Maya knew he did dearly but she needed something to take his mind off of what had just happened.
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“My therapist said that I shouldn't go into the tournament, I think thats whats been messing with my head as well today. Though Im fine I promise, just thinking is
all.”
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Maya typed, saving herself mid message, thinking it would subvert his mind a little further. Though Maya never thought of herself as someone who could mess with peoples minds and decided to read up on it later. After a couple hours her phone popped again and a message read on her phone just before she went to bed. She promised herself to read it then off to bed. Tomorrow was the big tournament after all.
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“First, sorry for the late message, I
had to go to dinner and dad made
it a point not to bring my phone,
parents and there silly rules lol”
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“Second, I always worry about you
Your one of my best friends. And my
Sparring partners so lol”
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“Third, no offence since you're dropping
him but who cares what some failed
Doctor says? He’s not always right!!! Heck I bet he never even done
This much physical activity in his life and
On top of that, it's your choice not his
Hes there to help you not to command you”
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Maya read these messages and realised he was right. Though some part of her mind in the very core wanted to defend the Doctor her love wouldn't let her. She just smiled and typed before laying down and resting.
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“You know, your right. Who needs him when I got myself, and yeah, it's not his choice but mine. I guess I gotta get out of my shell and stop letting others control me, or is this just you using mind control on me to” Eyes emoji.
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“All jokes aside, thank you, youve been more help than you think Armor, Ill see you tomorrow for sure!! Goodnight.”
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After getting a goodnight message back from Armor she laid down in her bed and tried to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a awesome day.
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On the floor of a cave full of water Maya returned once again. She hadn't had this dream in a while she admitted, or really hasn't dreamed much these past weeks. She looked up expecting to see her father again. She knew this story wouldn't end well so she braced herself for the snakes, piranhas or something. But they never came. Instead there was something new. Outside of the cave was Armor, he sat there on his phone just relaxing. Maya was confused but knew this meant he was going to get hurt somehow in her dream. So she weighed her options. She could look away and whatever happens to him will be without Maya or she can walk over and try and save him.
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“Just stay in the cave Maya.” A voice said from behind her. When she turned around she found the pond inside of the cave was gone and replaced with a red sofa, she recognized it but from where?? She thought of it as she heard thunder from outside of the cave.
“Who…. cares…. Doctor’s…. Right” She heard from behind once again, she looked out to see what she heard was true. It was Armors voice, and the outside was in fact storming. Armor didn't seem to mind this as he looked up towards Maya and smiled.
Maya found this strange but was distracted by the stranger weather. Maya was used to listening to waves outside and a little wind through the opening of the cave but the weather never changed this drastically. There still was Armor, unfazed by the lightning that picked up as he just sat there, never reacting. He suddenly started to laugh at something on his phone and used his hand to beckon Maya closer. As she did she heard the thunder outside and backed away from the sudden explosion of light in the sky. She decided to warn Armor and tried to scream, to yell for him, but her voice never reached him. It didn't even reach outside of her mouth. It was as if she never had a voice at all.
“I don't know why you try to speak with him. It will end up with him hating you, then he will break your heart as did everyone else.” The voice announced behind her again. Instinctually she looked behind her and still the sofa was the only thing that stood. The more she looked at the sofa the less it looked familiar.
‘it's always been here.. It has to have’ Maya thought one moment before she realised she couldn't believe herself. She knew it was a dream but talking sofas? This is crazy. Maya somewhat missed the whole getting herself brutally torn apart at this point.
She then realised that with whatever was there before the sofa being gone there's only one person who could get torn into pieces tonight but who…
“Care… doctor….. always right” Armor’s voice came clearer as she turned around and saw him again. His voice seemed muffled from the storm, she tried to scream for him to repeat himself but instead he just stared at Maya, confusion running his face. He couldn't hear her either.
She swiftly looked out and tried to call for him again. Getting to the edge of the cave entrance as the storm seemed to pour harder and lighting seemed to happen closer and closer to him. In a blink of a lightning strike he moved. This time he was staring down at the water and pointing, Maya feared this, he was about to be torn to shreds unless she did something. She didn't want this to happen to him, she then realised what she had to do. Who cares how bad the storm was she had to rush out and save him from whatever was in the waves. But she couldn't move. it was as if her legs wouldn't allow her to move.
“Let that fool hurt himself. Just stay inside and you will be safe from the storm.”The voice said in an annoyed tone. As Maya heard, she looked behind and saw the sofa. Her head ringed as she looked at the chair, the rest of the world dissolved as she looked towards it.
‘What was I worried about? it's just a sofa.. It cant move or hurt me.’ Maya thought as her gaze was glued onto it. It was a red sofa, a soft, comfortable looking red sofa. it's always been here, she always laid on it before talking.
‘It’s what I did every week, every day? Oh My gosh I should lay on this sofa every day shouldn't I? I should lay on it every day. It'll clear my mind. I would be happier if I did. Ooh that sounds nice, a quick nap in a dream couldn't hurt right? Where would I go? A super dream haha’ Maya thought, laughing at her own joke as she paced towards the sofa. A sudden light highlighted the already perfect sofa.
‘failed…… Doctor…. Not…… right” A voice from behind her said, the voice became clearer again. It was Armor, strange for him to be there in her dream. He is sitting on the edge of the outer cliff dunes. Feet dangling in the water. Maya suddenly realised what could happen and ran for the cave exit. It suddenly started to close as something came out of the water and hovered above Armor. Maya tried to shout for him to move or get out of the way as clouds appeared, with it thunder and lightning, it returned. She remember it returned, he moved closer. Why did he do that? She had to save him!!! What did it mean, what doctor wasn't right? Who is the Doctor? She ran until her body paused mid run. Armor saw this and stood, looking towards her, his arms outstretched for a hug as the thing behind him got ever closer and closer.
“Maya….. I have a deal for you…. Forget him… let him fail…. Come to the sofa… the comfy sofa….. Fall on it.. And you'll never have this dream… again.” A voice from behind her offered. She looked towards Armor when hearing this, promising that she would save him after she yelled at this voice for such a stupid idea.
‘Never having this dream again? Never being torn apart by snakes… or piranhas… never being judged or seen again.. I… I want this… I want this so bad… I wanna be alone… and all I have to do is lay on this sofa? I love this sofa!! This is a free win for me’ Maya agreed with her mind as she walked towards the sofa. She had to do something else but she realised she could do it after taking a break.
“Self love is important” Her mind thought.
‘Or was it the sofa? Nah, talking sofas is insane. And funny’ Maya thought, she laughed at this as she arrived to the sofa. She looked down as she sat on it, tapping the perfectly cool cushions as she kidded herself. Of course they were cool, it was perfect, never warming up. Just sleeping bliss.
‘That's right, Perfection, your body will sweat, it will hurt, itll ache itll pain, but on this sofa itll bliss, all those feelings, this place, everywhere you been, will be forgotten and will be gone, just lay down and they will all disappear.’ The sofa said, Maya guessed a talking sofa wasn't so crazy after all. After all it was her dream, a strong enough dream that can create new voices but a dream at all. And she had to admit although it was funny and unnatural it was right. It did sound nice. She then started to lower her head. Before this she instinctually looked behind her.
Looking outside one last time as she saw Armor, he wasn't looking towards the water he was looking towards Maya. Tears ran down his face as he mouthed the word don't before suddenly disappearing in the blink of an eye. Maya saw this as she was about to lay down on the sofa, the world seemed to slowly close around her as she got closer. Bliss filled her body, the softness of the cushions as the world around her quieted down. Though her mind refused. The word Armor mouthed repeating in her mind before his voice suddenly burst from the darkness. It screamed with a thousand suns that awoken Maya in a panic of the situation at hand.
“Who cares what some failed Doctor says? He’s not always right!!!” Finally echoed in her mind, clear as day. Before she could calm her mind she realised these words. They didn't belong to herself, or even the sofa. They belonged to Armor, from before she fell asleep. He wasn't gone, he wouldn't abandon her. He would always be there with her. She then realised something else.The sofa that seemed to be so familiar was the one from the Doctors office. She then suddenly stopped herself, she dodged the sofa as if she were in the dojo with Armor.
She then used her returned motor functions to bolt towards the entrance. She had to go out and save him. No matter if she would return the next, she couldn't just leave him like that. After all the training and such they went through, she just couldn't do that to him. She couldn't do that to someone who she loved.
Though the cave entrance didn't agree, as it seemed to run from her. The cave exit continuously expanded, the storm outside reappeared as did the rest of the cave as she ran. The world around her was getting more and more violent the further it did. As she continued to run she saw holes appear in the walls, snakes, piranhas, eyes, all appearing as she ran towards the exit.
They seemed to appear more and more throughout the walls as she ran towards the exit. The sofas warnings were correct, they would reappear but she didn't care, she needed to save Armor!!! snakes, piranhas, eyes, Snakes, Piranhas, Eyes, SNAKES, PIRANHAS, EYES.
Slashing, stabbing, biting, through her skin and out her eyes as she ran. Though her body was in shambles she still ran, still moved, still did everything she could to get to Armor and save him. She did the best she could. She tried and failed. It wasn't long until Maya was nothing more than a feast for snakes, a toy for piranhas, and a tragedy on TV. But she did it. She did it all for Armor.
Suddenly she awoken, her heart pounding deeply, her eyes seemed to pulse from her skull. Her body strained and felt like it would explode. She gasped for air as her body returned to her, all her muscles tightening before she was able to sit up. Every movement a pain filled sway before she could grab her knees and cry. The pain slowly dissipating as the night went on. First her muscles, then her chest, finally ending with her body. All pain suddenly stopped at once as she sat up. Having trouble catching her breath as her eyes stung caused by crying from the hour or so of her chest hurting.
Once she regained composure she grabbed her green stuffed dog and cried some more. The pain all going away but her throat stinging from the hours of crying. She then grabbed her face as if to block the tears and went under the covers. Returning to a cotton domain she hadn't been under in weeks. She realised what the dream was. It was a decision, maybe it was a premonition. Or a sight into the future. How far will Maya truly go for Armor she wondered. She then stopped herself and realised that she had to figure out what to do, and quick. She breathed for a moment and didn't count. She just kept her mind clear and concise. It swiftly went away as a new question came into her mind. Who should she listen to? Who could she truly trust? Her mind ran rapidly again as she thought this.
‘But where should she truly put her trust in?’ Maya questioned as she woke up from the strange dream. She thought towards the tournament tomorrow and of what Armor said, though the doctors statement could also be true and it may be to much. She felt spikes under her skin again and started to breath, her heart starting to beat harder slowly. She didn't know right know who’s path to take, but she knew that she needed to be well rested to take any one. So once she calmed down she snuggled up to her bear, and fell asleep.
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The path wasn't one of joy, his feet stung and became wet, he had to descend once again, shrapnel from the blast gouging the plantar surface of his waking movements, but she had to go through worse. A sudden horn gave the few lighthouses a chance to reveal themself, all built bending above the braided river, with currents that never clashed but came together 1/366th of the time ,A rapid stream of carps and hummers blocked his path, standing, waiting, wanting the man to take the leap, yet he knew when he did, he would be done,He was almost there, his journey was soon to be over, all he needed, was to wait.
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She awoke to no problems, just a breakfast, full of meat and compliments. Mayas smile ran with her as she needed all the support she could get. The tournament was apon her, and she was going to win it.
She thought throughout the night unable to sleep until she had a decision made, in the end, she thought and would later thank the doctor for helping but this isn't the same Maya from four months ago, this was a new, confidant and smiling Maya who can take any challenges head on. This new sense of purpose given from her peers and following her rules of the trade. as well as Armors attendance to the Tournament as well, she couldn't wait to see him again.
When she went downstairs she found the breakfast was surprisingly meaty today. A plate of waffles and bacon crowded Aneko and her mothers plate but hers held a unknown feast. On it was a plate of bacon, sausage, two sunny side up eggs, and a waffle with peanut butter and butter. The syrup on the peanut butter was to look like a frown Maya assumed but most of it sogged.
“Sorry for the unnatural breakfast honey, but I want you packed full of nutrients for the tournament tonight!!” Mother said looking down to her and her very strange breakfast. Maya wasn't one to gouge herself or eat more than she could chew but this time around she realised she will need it. As she ate the other two left for there respective duties. No discussion of daily plans to cloud Mayas mind as she looked down at her flip phone. On it was a crude image of something which Maya had seen previously on Armors phone but barely could now.
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“Hey Armor, remember that number I sent you just in case I would faint randomly?”
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Maya sent to Armor, not expecting to get a message back super soon as he would normally sleep in.
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“Yeah?”
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“Why is everything ok?”
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Armor responded so fast that Maya flipped and dropped her fork on the floor in shock. Her mother then came and told her that she would bring a new one which Maya refused, picking it up and using it anyways. She then looked to her mother and smiled.
“Could I borrow your phone real quick mom?” Maya asked which her mother agreed handing her phone to Maya.
“Whatcha need it for?” Her mother asked after the fact. Maya knew she asked for it.
“If I get in trouble, and bad guys fill the scene, who do you call??” Maya sang, dancing in her chair as she did.
“Woo-op woop, I shall call-a da police” They sang in unison before laughing.
“No seriously, I cant get pictures on my flip phone so im using yours to look at something” Maya said, looking back to her flip phone.
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“Im ok, just send them the Tournament
pamphlet please!!!”
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“it's my moms number if your wondering”
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“Ok one second”
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Mayas mothers phone got a notification which made her mother swiftly look. She then handed it back to Maya before her phone made a noise as well.
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“WHAT!!!!!”
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“MAYA!!!! Ur family doesn't like me remember???
Why would you have me text your mom”
Crying emojis lined after the messages
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Maya laughed at this and looked back to her mothers phone as bubbles appeared in the text message.
“Whos number is that?. Is that teacher of yours isn't it! Mr… I don't remember honestly” Mayas mother laughed before she read the panicked messages in there chat box.
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“Hello there Mayas Mother, Im Amoureux,
Mayas friend from the dojo, I promise I am
only sending this as a favor to Maya, you
can ask her if she isn't there
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“I Swear Im not being a creep by sending
this, she gave me this Number just in case
she got hurt.”
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“Not that she gets hurt or anything, I promise
I keep her safe.”
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“Not that I protect her like that but you
understand right?”
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“Sorry for all the messages”
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“Sorry for these two as well, have a nice day!!”
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Armor sent to Maya's mother's phone. Mayas face flushed as she read all this, the image file was above all of this meaning Maya couldn't hide this in time.
‘Oh hes such a idiot, but hes my idiot, my cute idiot.’ Maya thought as her mother laughed aloud, startling Maya as she didn't notice her mother hovering her reading the messages as well.
“Oh so this is the infamous Armor I heard so much about.” Her mother announced before laughing again.
“I don't know Aneko's problem with this boy, he seems adorable.” Her mother said, taking Mayas words right out of her head.
“Mom!!!! don't be flirting with my friends” Maya said aloud.
‘Go for boys your own age like the one your secretly dating’ Maya continued in her head.
“Im kidding Maya, noones in my league since your father died anyways” Mayas mother said before returning to the kitchen, making Mayas mind wonder for a second but returning back on track. She grabbed her mothers phone and clicked on the image.
The tournament pamphlet was blue with weights, bands, and what seemed to be sweat beads outline the center text. The top held a title that it is a Dojo competition of the current year and the winner would get ten thousand dollars. The smaller text read the address as well as a list of brackets with different teams. Reading the other names they were very professional. Mostly representing there cities that the dojo originate. With The Dojo Slayer guild being the black sheep of the bunch which Maya chuckled at.
Looking at the bracket showed that if her team won Maya would have to only fight a total of five times with the fifth being against whichever team was on the other bracket. Maya sighed at the possibility of this, finding out from Armor that the final fight will be a one versus one from both teams respective best fighter. Armor joked about her being picked but she hoped he would be wrong.
Once done analysing the pamphlet she returned the phone back to her mother. Accidentally pressing onto the image to long which made options appear underneath. As her mother reached for the phone Maya snatched it to read what the options were. It read that she could, copy, forward, edit, or map. Maya was confused at this and her mother looked to her.
“What? Did Armor say something stupid?” Her mother asked.
“No no… I held onto the image to long and this stuff appeared” Maya stated showing her mother.
“What do these mean?” She asked. Mayas mother was confused for a moment then realised.
“Ohhhh yeah, you don't have this tuff in a flip phone do you? Well, copy will copy the image. Forward will-”
“Why? Why would you wanna copy a picture?” Maya interrupted then realised what she did.
“Sorry”
“it's ok honey, you would wanna copy a image if you wanted to save it in a photo gallery thats also in the phone.” Her mother said. Maya looked in disbelieve that this phone could just easily get this image from a message. Maya would have to take the same picture as anyone else on her flip phone.
“Alright, well forwarding will allow you to send this message to other phone numbers faster than just copying. Edit will let you mess with the image however you like. Watch!” Her mother said, taking the phone and choosing the option. She then pressed a series of buttons before dragging her finger across the image and a pink line followed her finger before she outlined a smiley face.
“Then, you just press send copy here, and you send it back to the user” Mayas mother showed, sending a new photo with a pink smiley face to Armor.
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“What? What does that mean”
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“Did you get it all situated with Maya?”
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“Is this just Maya playing a prank on me?”
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“Not that we play pranks or anything with
Her on a normal basis!!”
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“Im sorry”
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“Did it send ok? don't just send a smiley face
I don't know what that means” crying emojis
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He then responded back which made her and her mother laugh. Then there was the last option which Maya wanted to know about.
“What about Map?” She asked.
“Oh! Well thats not normally there unless theres a address in the photo, itll just take you into a digital map and give you directions to the address attached.” Her mother asked, bewildering Maya.
“WHAT!!! So your saying, the phone, like this” Maya exclaimed pointing at the phone.
“Reads it, and then will give you directions?” She asked , in a shock anticipation while waiting for the answer. Her mother laughed at this and nodded, making Maya kick her feet and look at the phone in amazement.
“See? I told you electricity and phones were pretty cool!, Can I finally suggest you to get rid of that flip phone and upgrade it?” Her mother asked looking down at Maya who didn't want her to spend the extra money on her.
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“Oh… Uhhhh. It'll be a gift forr…… Aneko is good at making these excuses for me… Uhhh A present for going to the tournament? Sure why not” Mayas mother laughed at the idea and looked down to Maya still amazed at the technology.
‘Maybe I have been wrong about this…. Sorry dad, if you were here you would be mad at me for this.’ Maya thought looking up to her mother.
“Ok… Fine you win… But I want the same number.” Maya bargained as her mother did a victorious fistbump.
“Yess!!! Welcome to the current century honey.” Maya's mother said jokingly as she also showed Maya what a gif was, making her laugh when she sent one to Armor with a cat falling over. For the rest of the day they went on her laptop searching for the type of phone Maya would get after the tournament.
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“Well now I know im being messed with
I cant tell if this is you or your mother, but
your both big meanies”
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“Just in case your her mother, Im sorry, your
not a meanie”
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Amoureux texted after Mayas mothers number texted her a gif of a cat falling over. Amoureux just sighed at this and looked to the day ahead. After about twenty minutes of being messed with he to was worried about the tournament. He wanted to just leave and get it over with but knew it isn't that easy, about two hours before they were to arrive and another till it properly started after the fact.
Which meant he had two hours home and one there to prepare for the tournament, he knew he would be eating food in a few minutes. In a hour he will probably do push ups and go on a run but what to do when hes there. He knew about his class but not the competition, so Amoureux knew what he needed to bring, grabbing a notebook and pencil as he walked down the stairs. He needed to think of things to lookout for when they arrived.
The day of the tournament was upon Maya. The travel to the place was long and somewhat tiring but it was fine. The name of it was Energy city, Maya assumed it got the name from the amount of electricity and energy needed to run it. From flashing billboards that displayed ad placements for products, to the buildings that surround the roads. All requiring a lot of electricity that Maya didn't even wanna comprehend the cost.
After what felt like a eternity of traveling through a land of buildings that touched the clouds they finally arrived to a somewhat smaller facility in the hustle and bustle around them. The front hung gigantic letters above that read ‘Energy City Stadium.’ Below was a banner that read across as the ‘home of the Max Amperes, 5 year win streak!!’ which Maya just found the name silly and the team terrifying.
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When Armor and his father finally entered the parking of the stadium he exited the van and looked around. City buildings never really amused him much as he had seen many in paris before hand, though americas skyscrapers that almost seemed to hold above the clouds was bewildering at first when he moved there. Though he didn't pay much attention to that now, grabbing his notebook and pencil as well as his Gi.
When he entered the stadium he wasn't much amazed at the sights, the popcorn booths, the electric ticket needed to enter, It was just normal technology stuff in Amoureux's mind. Though his father didn't agree with his simplicity on the matter, marveling at everything he saw.
“How can you not be amazed by everything around us Amoureux???” His father asked, shaking his son around as he did.
“Mon Dieu!” His father said before running towards an electrical sign that showed the fights taking place that day. Armoureux placed his notebook down beside him as he sat down on a bench and laughed at his fathers childlike wonder.
His father wasn't a stickler or anything, he's just rarely happy. Also, he didn't take the American classes that Armoureux had to take when he got his passport, choosing to ‘ save money’ which made his already rare excitement that much more enjoyable. So when Armoureux saw his father in his state he couldn't help but laugh and join him. As he ran around the place, forgetting to take notes, Armoureux followed his father and in some ways started to marvel at the surroundings as well.
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Maya met up with Armor when they entered the center of the arena. There was a bunch of security guards through it and in the center was a basketball court with banners placed on the outside with different images or names of teams. Walking down the steps and into the center they were allowed in though Mayas Mother and Aneko weren't. Same as Armors father who Maya noticed was more jealous than anything that Armor was able to go on the court. Before turning away and focusing her mind on the task at hand she did notice that her mother and sister were in active conversation with Armors father.
“So. Were finally here huh?” Armor started as they walked to there designated team area and sat down. Sensei Onsa was there looking around to his students and waved to Maya and Armor when they arrived and jotted something down onto his clipboard. The sight of the clipboard made Mayas stomach queasy for some reason.
“Yeah. I guess we are” Maya responded, looking around to the other teams and seeing a multitude just sparring with each other as people in the crowd start to enter. At this Maya saw her mother and sister chatting with Armors father which Maya found funny.
“Hey.. don't worry, I have a plan” Armor said, grabbing Mayas attention away from what must be a awkward conversation between parents.
“Oh really? What may that be Mr I have a plan all of a sudden?” Maya asked looking at Armor as he reached into his bag that held his Gi.
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“Well…. It…. Is….in……” Amoureux said, searching his bag for his notebook, he spent all day studying the teams in past tournaments instead of working out like he wanted to. When he couldn't find the notebook he cursed under his breath and grabbed his head. A annoyed dizziness came with it.
“It is…. What? In your imagination? Invisible? Inside your bag? Insanity taking ahold of you” Maya joked, when Amoureux looked up a smile ran across her face.
“Gone…” Amoureux admitted as Mayas expression changed to one with confusion.
“Gone? What do you mean” Maya requested.
“Well, it's silly I know but I spent all morning doing preparation for the tournament and wrote down all the teams we would be facing and possible weaknesses just in case” Amoureux admitted searching his bag again for the last time before finding nothing.
“Dang it… I don't know where it went” Amoureux stated, remembering how he took it out of the car with him when they arrived but not much afterwords.
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“Did you bring it with you?” Maya asked inquisitively, to embarrassed to admit that before the tournament she just watched Tv and read a book.
“Yes, I brought it out of the car and had it with me while my dad dragged me around to stands” Armor stated outloud, as his face turned even more to one of frustration. He then slapped his hand into his head and groaned.
“Dang it, I know where it is. it's in the outside ring of the stadium.” Armor stated, making Maya remember a crucial fact about the tournament rules. It was Aneko who explained them on the car ride over. One of the rules for the contestants is that Once you enter the center of the stadium you arnt allowed to leave until the tournament was over. When she restated it aloud to Armor his reaction wasn't the best.
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“You actually read those rules?” Amoureux asked Maya, perplexed on what to do now that he wasn't allowed out of the stadium. He looked to see if maybe his father would be nearby then realised it maybe would be against the rules as well.
“What about getting my father to get it for me? Would it be against the rules as well Ms Knowledgeable Ruler.” Amoureux stated with a smirk on his face she repaid him with a eye roll.
“Well…” Maya thought for a moment, closing her eyes and putting a fist to her chin like a cartoon.
“No… it wouldn't be breaking the rules I guess, But I doubt he will find it and we will be able to study it in that amount of time.” Maya pointed to the jumbotron above which held a gigantic tv screen in the center of the stadium. It read that the competition will be starting in twenty eight minutes and fourteen seconds. WIth the time clicking down Amoureux panicked, verbally and mentally.
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Maya watched her sparring partner rack his brain as he audibly filled the sound around him with audible no’s and nahs, he scratched his head until he calmed down. His face was red with anger and his body was crouched and defeated for one moment. In the next he sprang to life, grabbing Maya on the shoulder and pointing out.
“Ok buddy, I know this wont help us much cause I don't have the best memory but.. But… BUT… I will try my best to remember and explain what I know about the different teams in the way I see them. Ok uhhh first uhh.” Armor scanned the room around him, his eyes delt into different people.
“There” Armor put his head besides Mayas which made her blush a little as he pointed to a group of people, sitting there and tapping each others limbs. They all wore dark colors, almost gothic Maya realised as they seemed to do some weird ritual to each other.
“That is the goths, though there team name is something like kneebands. Anyways, there specialty is pressure points” Armor stated. Maya then realised the places they poked each other must've been pressure points, Maya remembered when her father would press on one in her hand that apparently got rid of headaches. Though Maya found the idea foolish and somewhat impossible it always did seem to somehow work. She deemed the group in her mind the Chameleons.
“My advice is to stay away from them and focus more on kicks than anything else.. as well as to-” Armor started before looking up at the time. He then shook his head.
“Sorry don't have time… uhh ok look over there” Armor pointed and twisted her neck, there sat a group of girls who seemed to be the polar opposite of the others. They all wore flashy gi’s with glitter and neon colors flushing throughout. They all were blond and on there phone chatting about things. They were also the loudest team with there teacher constantly having to shush them before returning to her phone. Maya nicknamed these the Blondies.
“Not much is known about them besides the fact there loud annoying and tricky, they have a tendency to… well.. Force guys to make themselves out because of them being girls. Though that trick wont work on us so we will be fine.” Amoureux stated, Mayas stomach suddenly held a pit at the idea of Armor talking let alone fighting these girls though she didn't know why. She assumed it was weakness.
“Ok so now we have those guys which may be a issue” Amoureux pointed in between the two prior groups to a man eating a sandwich. He looked overweight and wore a grey Gi, the whole team being ones of sized proportions.
“They may look big and slow but thats there power. They are sumo wrestlers, they use body weight to push people out of the ring. This is kinda there bread and butter. Use there weight against them” Armor stated, Maya couldn't think of a kind nickname to give them and decided porky would be best.
“Ok so were almost halfway with the teams and..” Armor looked up the clock and found they only had minutes left, Maya didn't know how he could explain much else.
“Oh Yeah how could I forget the arenas team? From what I remember there is the Max Ampere’s who…” Amoureux looked around, though he couldn't find them from the crowds of teams. Maya looked at him with confusion before grabbing her and looking her in the eye.
“There all fast, strong, and there team leader is a adult. Watch for her, shes got height and experience on her belt. I nicknamed her the Outlet because of-”
“Goood afternoon Everyone. I am your announcer for this evenings event. If I could have everyone of the teams, team captains, and teachers be seated in there respected rows so this can truly begin that would be fantastic.” The Announcer of the event unintentionally interrupted Amoureux as he walked over to his seat and sat down, Maya sitting next to him and Sensei Onsa next to her.
“Great!!!, Now.. Let me explain some of the rules of tonights event for those who didn't read the pamphlet given by there kids. I know I sure didn't” He said, getting some chuckles from the crowd.
“The way to tell a player is out is by two things. First, it's if they are pushed out of the designated circles that are on the matts in the ring.” Maya then looked over and saw some teenagers placing down matts with circles on them, then putting thumbs up as he ran from it.
“Second, if there are knocked out for longer then ten seconds. This rule was added because last year we had a series of knockouts from our home team the Max Ampere’s and made the event close early.” He said, making Maya and Armor look towards each other in some parts of fear.
“Now for the actual rules. Since this is a mixed bracket of heights, weight, and age there will be no picking people up for extended periods of time. For example slams, and counters, and but no throws, launches, or simple picking them up and out of the circle. The action of such being disqualification and loss of the round.” He announced, causing some of the teams to look around and others to stay completely still.
“The final rule is simple and doesn't need explaining but I do understand there are some weapon professionals in the faciliity at this time. The rule is… NO WEAPONS. Only hands, feet, punches, kicks, etc” He announced, Maya and Armor knew he was speaking of there team and remained still as other teams panicked and looked around. Some of them whispering and pointing to there team.
“Now.. Lets get this game started, and for the announcements for the finally we have a very special guest joining us. So stayed tune. NOW for the first teams it is.” The announcer started, explaining who would be fighting who in the first round of fights. The Tournament, has truly begun.
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Maya fights a decent fighter, he is a portly gentlemen, he tries sumo technique and tries to use his body to push frail maya out of the ring but she uses her stances to pick up the man (which is illegal, and throw him out. But she uses the mans weight and flips him out instead) (portly)
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For the first round Maya watched the team before them fight. It was the blondies fighting a group of teenagers with skulls colored onto there Gi’s. The fight went as expected as the men in the team refused to fight a female except one who apologized and was mercioulusly beaten by the blond girl. Who kicked him over and over until he rolled out of the ring himself. Though the fight was swift it still gave Maya some notes to remember. No mercy when fighting them. Armor was busy looking around the other teams and feeling bad for not remembering information about them.
“it's ok Armor, you just don't know and thats ok” Maya tried to assure him but to no avail. Maya was then called up to fight in the first round after a few of her team backed out of the fight for fear of size. Maya then realised that the reason why was because there first fight was against the porkys. Maya then tried to push the fight away to someone else but found she was the final person in the choice. She sighed under her breath and walked towards her fight. Armor giving her luck on the sidelines.
“Alright contestants, this battle will be one thatll make me on the edge of my feet. it's the Dojo Slayer guild versus the Cibus’s. Now!!! Let this match begin.” At that the sound of a bell rang, shaking Maya at it's sudden noise as this mammoth of a man walked towards her. She could see that he was much bigger face to face and moving around him would be difficult. Despite all this she thought of Armors words and bowed. He then rushed towards her and striked with his large palm. Maya barely dodged this and grabbed the arm above, realising she couldn't simply lift the man she dodged around him.
“Nice try, but we sumo wrestlers cant be moved so easily girly” The man stated, slowly turning towards Maya which she noted was a obvious weakness. As he turned she observed the ring and started on a plan. The man interrupted this however as he pushed a swift palm out and then another, catching Maya off guard as she was pushed. She barely caught herself at the edge of the ring, falling face first into the matt ahead. The pressure from the blow was enough to knock the breath from her lungs and knock her down.
“OH?? Is that The Dojo Slayer guild’s Mana Maya down!?!?!, lets count her out everybody!!” The count started with the Announcer somehow learning of her nickname. Knowing Sensei Onsa he splurged it out. The count went to five before she stood again, as she laid she realised being in front of this man was stupid, or maybe thats what hes trying to make her think. She then realised the wisdom in Armors words and stood up ready to dodge.
“Wow your able to stand? Im impressed” The portly gentleman admitted, he then winded his arm back and straightened his palm. Another strike was about to be blowed. Maya swiftly found her footing, walking the outer ring line as her opponent did a flurry of attacks, his breath then became heavy as he grabbed his knees, giving Maya the perfect opportunity to get behind him and kick his back. She landed a flurry of blows to his back, marks, and bruises being left behind in the wake. It wasn't long until he couldn't take it anymore and he fell to the ground. The crowd cheered seeing this.
“I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!! She was able to stand up after a blow like that and then knock him down!!!!, This may be it folks” The Announcer spoke, counting up from one as Maya caught her breath. Maya didn't think he would stand up but after the seven count was able to stand once again. Three more seconds, three more blows and she would've won. Instead the bear of a man launched up and dove towards Maya, she barely dodged and swears she stepped out of the ring. But with no buzzer she continued. The man was relentless, turning and slapping, Maya knew her plan was working as everytime she was behind him she would kick him. In a instant the man stood still and took the beatings. That was before he jumped and spun around, he pulled back a strike and with the force of the turn aimed it exactly where Maya wanted him to.
“A SWIFT TURN AROUND AND A FASTER BLOW WILL SHE BE ABLE TO DODGE.” The Announcer spoke and yes, yes she could. Maya grabbed this mans arm, knowing he put his whole body with it and recited one of Sensei Onsas lessons onto him. Move with your opponent so there easier to move, never against them. And with it, the man fell towards Maya, she was able to pull him out of the ring and remained inside.
“OH MY GOODNESS, SOMEHOW IN THE MIST OF IT ALL MANA MAYA WON!!!!!” The announcer cheered, the crowd did the same which made Maya bow in response. She then ran up to the portly man and lowered her hand. The man looked up and smiled, taking Mayas hand and pulling himself up. Maya didn't mean to be so koi with the competitors but it's what she did with Armor so why not with others. A fist bump later and walking him back to his team Maya returned back to hers where Armors jaw never dropped.
“Your gonna end up eating flys if you do that you know.” Was all Maya said to him as he shut his jaw and looked around, his skin seemed to shiver with excitement of what he just witnessed.
“That was so amazing Maya, you were like bam bam bam and he couldn't turn around and suddenly he got up and and and and and” Armor cheered, bouncing his cheers and praises around Maya like a puppy with peanut butter.
“Ok ok stop, it wasn't that impressive, plus you were the one who told me what to do.” Maya admitted.
“No I didn't, I just told you what I could remember,” Armor stated.
“Well, you told me he uses sumo, and in sumo at least in tv they always are overweight and move slow. So I used what I knew and knocked him down, then I used his new found anger to being knocked down to make him flail his moves wildly then I did what Sensei Onsa taught us and used his movements against him.” Maya said, eyes closed to envision her plan in her head so she wouldn't mess up explaining it. Reopening them found Armors jaw once again ajar. It wasn't long before it closed and more praise was given to Maya and before long the next fight in the Dojo Slayer guild commenced.
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“ALRIGHT FOLKS, The next fight should get the crowd up and going as itll be the Dojo Slayer guild fighting the Noncebranums!!!!!” The announcer shouted to everyone in the arena. The crowd shouted and cheered, with names being thrown out and some familys even holding signs to support there childrens teams. Maya caught wind of what he said but couldn't put a finger of who the Noncebranums were so she just watched the screen above.
“With one team kicking the competition out of the ring… LITERALLY and the other using there weight against them, these teams are both skilled in movement tactics, which begs the question of who will win between the two? WERE ABOUT TO FIND OUT IN FIVE MINUTES SO STAY TUNED” The Anouncer shouted which made the crowd cheer once again. Maya popped her ears after the cheering seized and tried to think of which fight had a series of kicks like she observed. Her heart seemed to drop when she realised what fight it was, the exact one before hers of course.
So when she realised the people Armor and his team would be fighting she found the feelings she felt before wasn't weakness but jealousy. The next fight that the Dojo Slayer guild had to face was Armor and his team of three other boys fighting against the blond girls. The ones who made those gothic guys fall over for them, and Maya knew Armor wasn't one to hit a girl.
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‘Whats worrying her so much? Does she think I am gonna lose or something?’ Amoureux thought, looking back to Maya who was wearing a fearful expression that she didn't have before the announcer spoke. Amoureux was confused at this and waved to Maya who looked to him and a crooked smile ran across her face as she returned the wave with her own.
When Armoureux returned to the match at hand the group he was with all gulped at the team they would be fighting against. The team decision came down and in twisted fate it was another one versus one. With the girls agreeing to the terms once again they sent out the blond woman with a stunning heart out as well. Though when it came to guys they all spoke there excuses. The five minute prep timer ran with the girl in the ring checking her nails at the final minute. It wasn't until Armoureux stepped into the ring, annoyed with there blabbering did they stop.
“FOR THE MATCH THAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!! The Dojo Slayer guild has finally picked there fighter to battle the Noncebranums. With there reaction being similar to when the Calvarias fought the Noncebranums previously, will it go the same???” The announcer questioned, making Armoureux laugh at the idea.
“We will find out in!” The Announcer started.
“THREE TWO ONE!!!!” The crowed and announcer counted down as A loud ding from a nearby bell sounded. Armoureux's fight has finally begun.
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The woman across from her was a twig in size compared to him. When he looked her up and down he admitted she was beautiful in the conventional sense, but it didn't deter him. Though maybe showing some generosity may be in his favor. So the next thing Armor did was swift but calm. He stood up straight and bowed, a simple gesture that Sensei Onsa taught his students to do before every duel and training exercise.
Unlike those times however it wasn't respected back, in fact it was tarnished when he commenced the bow the woman across from him leapt towards him, kicks landing on his stomach. Luckily only a few kicks landed as he dodged towards the opponent and landed a sweeping kick under her. A wave of gasp came from the sudden movements. If Armoureux's didn't dodge in that moment he would've been kicked out of the ring, so the later bruises on his stomach were worth this battle.
The Lady across from her groaned loudly, standing up and then puffing her hair as she went into a stance that made her legs shaky. It looked inexperienced and lazy in Amoureux’s eyes. He realised what made this group so tricky being there speed and there looks winning them fights. When there fellow fighters choked and tired to hard is when they would fight back. In this Amoureux unstiffined his body, and then fell to the ground sitting with his legs crossed and grabbing his stomach.
“OH NO FOLKS. Is that Armour… Armeer…. What” The announcer was whispered by Mr Seonisigram in this moment.
“Is that Armor down by only one hit????? Is that it for the the Dojo Slayer guild??” The Announcer questioned which made Amoureux remember the rules as he raised his hand and wagged his finger.
“Is… Is he saying No???, Movement from the ground is technically still movement, so no count is directed unless he stops” The announcer figured, the fight went on with the girl across from Amoureux getting frustrated. She then rushed towards him with a series of cartwheels and flips but stopped to stand above Amoureux and kick him. Though when she ended the pirouette Amoureux moved to the side of her, landing a swift punch to her side. FInally this blow caused her to use her voice.
“What the heck is wrong with you??? You one of them women abusers or something? Or maybe Im not your type?” The Blond woman asked subtly doing a pose after questioning. Her mood went from angry to sassy in seconds.
“Not at all, your a beautiful woman. But between you and me.” Amoureux stopped, doing a jokingly sassier pose while pointing at Maya, a spotlight followed his pointing which he didn't expect.
“My type of woman is the shy silent types, and you? Your loud and overused” Amoureux admitted, before distancing up and punching her in the stomach. Not letting her rebuttal what he said he landed blow after blow. Every blow he landed launched glitter all around the ring. Making Amoureux’s lungs fill with glitter and hairspray as he lost his footing from all the fumes that irradiated from every blow landed. She took advantage of this and returned the favor with a flurry of kicks. He caught one of her legs and threw her away. Almost out of the ring before she reached her hand out. By mistake Amoureux caught her then realised what he did but it was to late. His lessons of being a gentleman costing him his arm feeling ok as she jumped forward and pulled his arm. Locking it between her legs.
“Oh my gosh ladies and gentleman, Armors arm is in a sleeper hold!!!! If he doesn't tap out she may snap his arm in two!!!” The announcer screamed, causing the crowed to cheer. Amoureux’s arm braced and buckled. All his muscles ached as his joints twisted in ways they weren't exposed to. He knew pulling would just make the breaking process easier, as well as pushing or even rolling towards her. Rolling away would find him in worse situation as he stood above her. He realised he couldn't lift her or else it would be disqualified but then realised what else it meant.
“Awww poor boy? Im not your type?? I can be your silent little tsundere and beat up any girls who try and take you from me?? Hows that sound sweety” The blondie suggested, tightening her grip more making Amoureux's plan that much more necessary to work. He then rolled away, but stood. Lifting her from the ground. He then fell towards the woman strapped to his arm. Slamming both him and the woman into the matt below. With his free hand he raised it to tap, but never lowered it.
“Im taking this surrender as a yes sweetie, we can consider this our first date, you can get my number from my teacher later.” The blond woman stated happily. Letting go of the grip and placing her feet on the matt below. She stood and blew kisses to the crowd who cheered around her.
“In another amazing show of Dojo Slayer guild THEY WIN THE ROUND.” The announcer squealed, the blond woman standing looked around in confusion as the crowd cheered around her. She then looked down and found herself stepping out of the ring and Amoureux was still inside. Making the tap out null in void.
“WHAT!!!! THATS UNFAIR HE… HE LAUNCHED ME HE!!!!!” The blond woman cried kicking Amoureux in the ribs which he didn't expect. A loud whistle then blowed with the crowed gasping once again.
“Woah, with such hostility after the match that not only makes Dojo Slayer guild the winners of the round but disqualifies the Noncebranums from remaining in the tournament grounds for the rest of this competition. Please leave to the south east exit.” The announcer shouted. Which Amoureux heard while grabbing his now bruised rib and stomach before someone rushed over and helped him up. That person was Maya with a water bottle and when they sat down he was also given a icepack for his bruises. For this round it was the Dojo Slayer guild’s victory. Though Amoureux felt otherwise.
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In the third fights Armor and Maya were able to sit back and watch there team fight again. Amoureux held a icepack close to him as the pain started to stop and the icepack did it's magic. Though where the impacts landed still felt like leather to the touch. When choosing who would fight the third team Maya wanted to try, but sensei Onsa stated that it would be unfair to have them fight every battle. Instead they spoke with Armor questioning Mayas expression before the fight which Maya lied about, saying that she didn't like there chances of winning. Armor took this as a chance to flex and make some snarky quote about never losing which Maya found cute.
They spoke more which leaned towards about the possible upcoming teams they both may need to face but once the bell rang they looked and found it was there team who was victorious. Giving them a shot to the semi finals. Which meant up next was Maya.
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“What do you mean no?” Maya questioned. Looking at Amoureux with confusion and a little anger.
“I mean no, you are much stronger than I am Maya, and we need that strength in the finals, not the semi finals.” Amoureux stated, afraid of the wisdom he spoke. He didn't wanna make her mad but he knew he did.
“What??? That doesn't make any sense. Plus your hurt!! What if that will impair your battle and… and… hurt you more?” Maya asked, her eyes started to tear up. Amoureux saw this and wanted to hug her and just let her battle but knew he couldn't. He didn't wanna admit to her that she would lose this next battle. He wanted to protect her in this moment.
“Just trust me Maya, I will be fine. I promise” Amoureux stated before standing and walking towards the battle ahead. He observed the fight before there team and it was the team he knew while making that notes would be the most challenging to Maya. Amoureux stepped into the ring unexpectedly, the other boys in the group just didn't question it as he stepped in and waited for his competitor.
“Before the five minutes could even start The Dojo Slayer guild has selected The Body Armor as there fighter.” The announcer shouted, which made Amoureux question why anyone would need body armor and or why that was the nickname he was given. He then turned around and saw Mr Seonionsigram smiling and doing thumbs up which even in this tense moment made him laugh.
“Wow, this may be the fastest fight prep this arena has ever seen as the next fighter has… appeared in the ring as well.” The Announcer said. This made Amoureux turn around and look back into the ring. The person in front of him was another girl with long black hair, white face, a black gi, and a strange stance. Standing on the balm of her feet and gaining a increase of a few inches in height.
“Ok While everyone from the previous fight gets seated lets announce these fighters. On the one side is the The Dojo Slayer guild!!!!, who all night has used unpresented abilities and strategies to take down there enemies. Though they may have met there match as any and all physical blow is what the Zhǐ yā fǎ’s specalise in. All there competitors tonight only lasting a short while before each suddenly collapsing resulting in a knock out!!!” The Announcer restated the events which made the crowd cheer once again. Amoureux realised that he really was in for it now as he stood looking at the gothic woman across from him in a sense of fear and wonder of how he would win.
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‘Thats why he didn't want me to fight. it's the team who does pressure points right? Yeah, it is I can tell by the gothic attire. Well if he doesn't expect me to win how will he? He cant carry them, I know he will outright refuse to use the womans long hair to his advantage. That adorable stupid gentleman that he is. So how will he win?’ Maya wondered, worried and still a little frustrated from the fight they were in previously. If Maya was in there she knew what to do. Then she realised she didn't. She honestly looked at every outcome she could think of.
Grabbing the girls hair and tossing her would be disqualification. Swiftly attacking the girl or even slowly attacking her would end up with pressure points being pushed and her down for the count. Any and all blows Maya could think of from kicks, throws, punches, slaps. Or even if they were allowed weapons jabs wouldn't work. Maya realised that he was right, she wouldn't have won, and with the countdown and the bell going off. She couldn't figure how Armor would either.
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When the bell went off Amoureux knew what he would have to do. He knew that this opponent wasn't one of speed so he bowed like he did before. Though this time his enemy didn't move, didn't bow with him. She just stared at him and didn't move. This intimidated Amoureux as he was more a master of countering than he was at being aggressive.
‘Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Maya could've fought this battle.’ He pondered before the woman in front of him moved to the left slightly which caught Amoureux off guard and into a stance. He looked down to his stance and realised he almost stepped out of the ring by mistake. He then straightened his stance so he wouldn't step out and looked to his opponent. Still unmoving as ever.
He knew what he had to do, as if they both let the clock run they would be at a stalemate and unable to continue on. All of the opponents of Zhǐ yā fǎ knew this and Amoureux redid there mistake, rushing for the long hair girl ready to face the battle ahead. As he was about to reach her she raised both her hands, in Amoureux's eyes to seem bigger than she was. Then before everything went dark swiped in front of her where Amoureux would've been. That is if he didn't stop from the lights of the arena suddenly shutting off.
From the speakers came a thunderstrike then multiple at once, a bass guitar blasted as another joined in to create a backdrop melody. Drums joined as the song screamed thunder. The invisible crowd joined in shouting the word. Joining this strange symphony as flashing lights filled the stadium, simulating lighting as a spotlight landed onto the south east exit and in came in a new team. The one leading the pack being a adult with a bunch of fit teenagers behind her. Amoureux recognized the signature black Gi with yellow and red stripes stitched in.
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“Being fashionably late but still looking cool doing it. Ladys and gentlemen Energy Citys very own. THE MAX AMPERE’S!!!!”The Announcer shouted over the music played overhead. They all did a series of flips and kicks in unison, before all coming together and saluting. Maya watched them as thunderstruck by AC/DC concluded. Her eyes blurry from the sudden flashing lights. Regaining her site she looked in disbelief of the team.
‘Not only late but here to watch with that entrance? What a bunch of weirdos, they must have been disqualified by now, this is the match for the finals for goodness sake. So why show off so much? Why be like this? Especially in the midde of a fight?’ Maya thought then realised the fight was still underway and looked towards Armor who was swiped at before the lights went dim. Hoping he was ok, or at least not to hurt when the lights came back on.
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Amoureux looked around the floor he stood on. Surprised that he wasn't caught or hurt from the gothic lady in front of her. He distinckly remembered her movements when he got close and that he telegraphed her movements though that couldve been his imagination. When he looked at her again her hands were in her hair.
“Are you ok miss?” Amoureux asked the gothic woman. Realising the sudden lights may have affected her Amoureux forgot where he was as he reached his hand towards her. She suddenly leaned back and her arm grew visibly tense as she swiped her hand towards Amoureux's neck. If it wasn't for the ladys muscle visibly twitching he would've been hit. He then realised what it ment. Though to find if it's true he had to play a very dangerous game of wack the pressure point.
“Im just trying to check on you ya know? And for the record I am trained in pressure points to.” Amoureux boasted, lying through his teeth as he watched this girl just stand there. Her one hand that remained in her hair was pulled out as she stood there once again unperturbed by what he just said. Armourex then tried the best he could to stand on the balm of his feet and made his hands bend like a flamingos neck. He did a few joking jabs outwards with his fingers trying to imitate the moves he observed them do before. This got a rise out of the lady in front who started to jump from foot to foot and then launch towards Amoureux.
“Oh now you are aggressive, once I know your little secrets?” Amoureux taunted then fell face first into the ground on purpose. He then rolled towards the lady and grabbed her leg, shocking her as he was able to sweep her leg and make her fall. While doing this he realised he was correct on her weakness. Her skin was so pale that her muscles were visible when tensing before moving, her own body being her weakness. If she knew that or not Amoureux didn't know as the lady swiped towards him and tried to grab him but missed.
“You need to go outside more lady, your skins so pale” Amoureux taunted again, if he could see under her skin, maybe he could get under it to. The fight lasted the longest of the two he fought, the bell sounding that they had five minutes left of the match. This made the lady across from him stand perfectly straight as she looked to Amoureux silently.
‘Knowing what her weakness was all good but how to use it would be tricky, any grab or kick would result in failure, she didn't look very strong so maybe a few swift jabs. But her face being covered like that doesn't help the whole predicting where she will strike, only when. So what to do?’ Amoureux pondered to himself. She then did something he never would've expected and rushed him again.
He barely dodged though when she finally grabbed him she just prodded his skin before letting go. When he felt his arms he didn't feel much different besides a strange feeling in his elbow, but he carried on. It looked as if she was trying to grab his hand.
‘A possible weakness there’ he noted trying to figure out why she is fighting so fast all of a sudden. He didn't have as much time to think before she rushed him again and mid roll grabbed his hand. She then dug her thumb into the beginning of his thumb which made a sudden burst of pain rush through him. In seconds it was if millions of fires erupted in his left hand and ran down his arm. He then fell to the ground with so much pain and realised in that moment he lost.
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Maya watched the fight unfold in front of her. For some reason she wanted nothing more than to stand up and stop the fight, like a mother to her son. Or a girlfriend to her hubby, in this case. Maya then washed the thought away trying to think if there way anything she could do to help or even stop the fight without getting disqualified.
‘Watch her hand folks!!!!, the Zhǐ yā fǎ’s team leader is now demonstrating her stunning blow!!! LITERALLY!!” The announcer shouted, as she watched the gothic girl raise her hand and slam it down next to his neck. One loud and audible slap was heard as the whole arena went silent.
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‘This is it, I failed us, and that final hoo rah wont do anything, it was just a place to put my frustrations, I will have to apologize to her for punching her in the back of the thigh, thats not gentleman material at all.’ Amoureux thought as the woman lowered her arm but stopped short, barely tapping his collar bone. Suddenly the gothic lady fell over, Amoureux's hand was released and he was once again able to stand. When he stood he swiftly jumped back and away from the lady below him. Though she didn't move, she just layed there and for the next ten seconds didn't move.
“I…. I…. I know I have said this a lot tonight but…. I CANT BELIEVE IT… IN A TURN AROUND NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN THIS ARENA, THE DOJO SLAYER GUILD WINS AGAIN BY KNOCKOUT!!!” The announcer screamed, the whole crowd cheered netting them the shot to the finals. Amoureux confused of what had just happened raised his hands and cheered with them, though his teammates didn't join him this time as his face probably read of confusion and not victory.
Suddenly he felt his leg touched beneath him. It was the lady, who wasn't in fact knocked out but was down for longer than ten seconds without moving. Amoureux then grabbed her hand and helped her up, the crowd jeered and said a aww to this which he blushed at. The long haired woman then looked to Armoureux and her hair enveloped half of his face suddenly.
“The Sciatic Nerve?” Is what she said in a low voice.
“Wh-What?” Amoureux responded.
“You hit my Sciatic Nerve and thats how you won.. I thought you lied” She said, her voice monotone and with the slight glimpse, her eyes beautiful. She then backed away and walked back to her team, they all in sync then just started to meditate. No words to be spoken, they lost. And The Dojo Slayer guild won, the finally was set in stone and the fighter would be Maya.
The final fight was different than the others as it hadn't been explained on any brochure or paperwork they were given. Maya was nervous of what it could mean.
‘A rule change? A stadium change? A potential new fighter? Oh what could it be What could it be.’ Maya panicked as she held her head against her knees. Suddenly someone patted her on the back panicking Maya as she then looked to see it was Armor, and he looked worried.
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“Whats up with you buddy?, you have been looking worried about something ever since my fight with the Noncebranums.” Amoureux said, the name of the blond girls team made Mayas body twitch slightly. Maya looked up from her current state and smiled, though Amoureux could see right through it.
“Oh… it's nothing really im just… worried is all” Maya said in a shushed tone, Amoureux looked to the timer above after hearing this. The announcer went on a bathroom break before the final battle so there was a ten minute timer. Amoureux then took Mayas hand and walked her into the open hallway to the south east exit. Nearby were the bathrooms with dependent locker rooms attached to them. The outer area held a few benches and a vending machine, Amoureux crouched and sat on the ground next to the vending machine with Maya joining him though she looked confused.
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“Ok.. were alone now, so whats up buddy?” Amor questioned Maya, though her expression didn't change at all. Honestly this whole situation just made her stomach fill with butterflies, though she wouldn't admit that, or what was really eating her up so easily.
“Like I said, nothing” Maya stated once again, she would be able to talk to him about what was eating her up after this was over.
‘If I told him what the matter was right now I would just end up making him worry and then I would worry and then we would lose this tournament, I hate this. I hate lieing to him, I hate how much I care for him. I hate him.’ Maya thought as she started to stand and wanted to walk away. Before she could Armor grabbed her arm and looked at Maya. Mayas armor seemed to fall apart at this as he looked into her eyes. His big beautiful and somewhat endless eyes and frowned.
“Please?, I wont judge I promise.” Armor asked gently. There was no mumbling or even jokes but Maya found it cute all the same. Maybe to cute as Maya looked to him and started to tear up from everything her mind held in.
So when she finally collapsed she hugged him tight and started to cry she couldn't hold herself together anymore. She told him about how much she worried about him during the fights, how jealous she felt when he spoke to the blond girl, the confusion when the spotlight hit her at that moment. Everything, how much she enjoyed there nightly texts, how much she enjoyed classes with him, and the fear of after today there wouldn't be anymore of that. Like everything they did after this wouldn't be the same, just that it would end and they would drift apart.
Armor didn't say anything however and just listened, listened and apologized and held her. The time went by and it was about eight minutes before Maya stopped and finally looked to Armor. Expecting to see a face of disgust or maybe anger of her doing such a thing to him but instead she saw he smiled. Maya looked at his goofy smile and wondered what he was thinking. If only Maya could see in his mind, but instead she could look in his beautiful eyes, maybe if she got closer she could see what his real thoughts were. Closer yet closer. If she could just stare into his eyes for a while and then she will be ok.
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‘WHAT IS SHE DOING!!!, IS SHE TRYING TO KISS ME???, don't panic Amoureux, plenty of people kiss, it's nasty and easy to laugh at, but why does she wanna kiss me, wait she stopped moving, does she want me to kiss her? As the man I should take initiative, ok. Ok ok OK.. I guess I know what I have to do.’ Amoureux thought as his thoughts of how cute she was faded and filled with this panic.
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‘One two three, beautiful blue eyes, an oceans calm march that envelopes his eyes, a sunny day and a bright future. Four five six, his adorable brown hair and his silly way of putting it to the side when he does it. Seven eight nine, his cute button nose that is coming closer. And closer.’ Maya daydreamed while looking at Armor, suddenly however any and all day dreams vanished as he got to close and kissed Maya on the lips for only a second. Mayas calm mind suddenly went into hyper drive as her body burned up. She then stood up swiftly and ran to the rest of the team. Leaving Armor by himself as she bumped into the announcer who was starting to make his return from the bathroom.
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“I have returned ladys and gentlemen and with a minute thirty to spare, I just got off the phone with our special guest who will be running a little late this evening. He will make his grand appearance at the end of the tournament tonight so please keep your hands together for that. Now Return to your seats as the finally will commence in just ONE MINUTE!!” The announcer screamed as the music in the arena pumped up once again and the crowed cheered again. But not everyone was happy or excited as Amoureux sat there after she ran away, the match was about to begin and he kissed her.
‘What Am I doing, what did I do? Of course she was just looking around, it's what she does, I guess I was so stuck in my selfish mind that I even considered she was looking at me… of course she wasn't, And I have to kiss her after she finally opens up to me? Im a idiot. A gigantic idiot who she will never wanna talk to again.’ Amoureux thought as he cried into his elbows. Though he did this he still thought of her and what she was thinking. Probably of the match ahead and how she would beat him after this. How she may never speak to him after this.
“Alright folks the fight will begin in thirty seconds, fighters make your way into the center ring and begin to battle” The Announcer requested, prompting Amoureux to stand but he just sta next to the vending machine again. His self hatred was so bad in fact that she sat there even as the match started, thinking to himself of his actions. Not returning out into the main arena until the bell rung for the match to finally begin.
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“TWENTY SECONDS LEFT FOLKS!!!! The fight everyone has been waiting for is fast approaching. it's the Dojo Slayer Guild versus the Max Ampers!!! Which team captain will win? And who will go home the loser? it's all coming down to this!!!” The announcer shouted as music accompanied his upbeat tone. Before the bell rung Maya looked behind her hoping to see Armor sitting there and cheering her on. Though he wasn't there and was probably back at the vending machines.
‘Wait… I left him there, and never told him thank you… Oh no no NO! He thinks I didn't like the kiss didn't he? Oh dang it’ Maya thought as she realized what she had done. Wanting nothing more than to leave the ring she realised she wouldn't be able to. She then looked at the challenge ahead and faced it, first she would have to beat this girl and then apologize to Armor so she would have to make this match fast.
“ALRIGHT FOLKS ARE YOU READY???” The announcer questioned, the crowed cheered in unison as the announcer stood and brought his microphone with him.
“ALRIGHT!!!! ONE MORE TIME EVERYBODY!!!” The Anoouncer started for the last time.
“THREE TWO ONE!!!!!” The bell run as they all screamed the counter and the battle truly begun. Maya sized her opponent before the fight began. This person was tall, cocky, arrogant, and had a sly smile on her face. She was the team leader of the team who has won five years in a row so not someone to be messed with.
But she didn't stance like everyone else she just stood there and smiled to Maya. When Maya knew this meant business she ran towards her adversary and delivered a swift kick. When she did she realised what this persons nickname would be as Maya felt one of the worse pains she had in a while. Her nick name was. Catchy.
“Ive been watching since you fought that chubby guy Mana Maya, I know your every move, and I assumed you would have trouble if your opponent were to catch your attacks. It seems I was right” Catchy said, holding Maya by her foot before flipping Maya onto her stomach. With the foot still in Catchys hand she started to walk up Mayas body and bend her leg in a unnatural way. Her leg not wanting to bend that far started to burn with the sensation of a thousand fires. In one swift move Maya should've been defeated but Catchy let go and let Maya stand up once again. Walking to the other side of the ring as she did. Maya notted in her mind that Catchy liked to well.. Catch her and use her moves against her.
Still worrying about Armor she rushed to the lady again, swiping her leg under to put her focus on that and delivering a swift punch. Though the punch connected Maya never expected Catchy to jump and stomp on Mayas leg. She then grabbed her leg and remembered to continue moving as to not be disqualified. She rolled to achieve this and realised she was to close to the edge of the ring. She then stood on her now damaged and hurt leg and tried to stance once again.
“Whats wrong Mana Maya? Or should I say, Mini Maya, you seemed so focus on that first fight? Waste all your energy on the big man??? I should probably use this to my advantage” Catchy said as she once again dodged Mayas attack and pushed her away.
Though her mind was to fogged thinking of Armor at this time and didn't notice Catchy run up to her and kick her in the shin. The worst of it was it was in the leg that wasn't hurt from being stomped on. Causing Mayas stance to falter even more Maya was able to dodge a few of the oncoming attacks that Catchy tried to deliver. Though every one landed her closer and closer to the edge.
‘I wonder is Armor is sitting there behind me’ Maya thought as Catchy ran up to Maya and opened her arms and lifted her leg.
“Well I should use this to my advantage, thanks for the free win Mini Maya” Catchy screamed as she ran towards Maya. Though Mayas mind was somewhere else in that time and didn't notice her obvious movement.
‘No no, he wouldn't be, he probably found a way to leave and never wanna speak to me aga-’ Mayas thoughts were interrupted by Catchy seemingly grabbing Maya by the head and then clapping her hands with Mayas ears. A loud ringing came of this, blocking all thought from her mind as she started to become dizzy. The clap stunned Maya who then was punched in the stomach and then kicked in the legs where she fell. She then grabbed her stomach in instinct as Catchy above her kicked her over and over again. It wasn't until Maya stopped grabbing her stomach that she stopped and walked away. Maya laid on the floor, a useless puddle as the world around her still ringed and her body ached in pain.
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“In a quick succession folks Mana Maya is down!!!! Lets start a ten count to see if she will stay this way for good!!!!” The announcer shouted before standing up once again and holding his hand up and counting with his fingers. The ten second timer started as the crowed counted with the announcer, Amoureux wasn't with the crowds favor.
“COME ON MAYA YOU GOTTA STAND BACK UP!!!!, YOU GOT THIS!!!!” Amoureux screamed as the crowd joined in his energy. Mr Seonsaengnim suddenly stood up and raised his arms to the sun as the ten count started.
“EVERYONE!!! GIVE HER YOUR ENERGY, CHEER FOR MANA MAYA TO STAND AGAIN!!!” Mr Seonsaengnim screamed as he chanted Mana Maya over and over again. The crowd suddenly joined and Amoureux couldn't be more surprised. It was them versus the home town and we had the bigger cheering squad. Armoureux cheered with the squad, although he knew she would get back up and not for the reason of the cheering, she wasn't a crowd pleaser, she was just super strong.
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‘Armor? Was that Armor? Maybe I wasn't hallucinating, yes… in the crowd of screams of my name I hear him, Armor!!! The cute boy, the boy who I care for, the boy I like, The boy who kissed me, he wants me to keep fighting. To keep going, I just feel bad I cant, Im sorry Armor.’ Maya thought as she layed on the matt. The count of the referee reached eight as she closed her eyes and lost the fight. Aneko was right, in the end it would be a stupid boy who would get her to lose. And she passed out knowing that it would be the same stupid boy that she will joke about it with after the tournament was over.
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With the count landing on nine suddenly Maya stood up again, her body was straight as she restood, she looked around and found the woman across from her looked confused. She then smiled and stood her ground, ready to attack Maya in a fury once again as she ran towards Maya ready to land another thunder clap on her ears. Though that wasn't what transpired. With a quick dodge Maya was instantly on the other girl and rapidly attacking. Catchy tried her best to dodge or even land a counter blow but Mayas sudden stamina gave her unbounded speed that didn't give her a opening to.
It wasn't long until Catchy and Maya were at the edge of the ring, one decent blow and Maya would win this but Catchy wasn't letting it happen, dodging grabbing and even landing some returning blows to the onslaught she was getting from Maya. Amoureux and his team just watched in shock of the battle in front of them. It wasn't until the taller lady pushed Maya away that she was able to step forward again.
She then stood and rushed Maya faster than she ever did before, landing equal amounts of blows as Mayas small and frail body started to give out. Amoureux knew if the taller lady didn't give in Maya would soon be out for the count. This super power had a time limit after all. So Amoureux needed to do something and fast, he knew what had to be done so when he stood he cupped his hands and shouted above the crowd.
“COME ON MAYA, YOUR ALMOST THERE, JUST IMAGINE it's SOMEONE YOU HATE THE MOST IN THIS WORLD, JUST IMAGINE!!!! IF YOU WIN THIS EVERY DAY WILL BE A AWSOME DAY, YOULL DO THIS FOR YOUR FAMILY, YOULL DO THIS FOR ALL OF US.” Amoureux screamed hoping the message would be conveyed to her. All at once Amoureux looked around and saw his team follow suit, sending compliments her way. With some calling her pretty and others glamouring over how strong she was. Even Mr Seonsaengnim commenting how scary she was. This all was conveyed to the top of there lungs could handle. Maya just stood there however, enduring all the blows back to back as she stood there but never fell.
“THIS ENDS NOW GIRL!!!” Catchy screamed so loud that even Amoureux could hear as she stood back and rushed Maya, her arms open to do one more thunder clap. When the clap sounded Amoureux covered his eyes not wanting to see his friend be knocked down again.
Eyes closed he heard the crowd gasp after the clap sounded and then there was silence. When Amoureux reopened his eyes to assess the damage he saw that Maya was there. Standing on her feet, he fist in the air as Catchy flew a few feet in front of her. It was like slow motion, Catchy falling back and then out of the ring, and Maya falling onto her knees and onto the matt below. When they both landed they were both technically out, with Maya being knocked out and Catchy being flung out of the ring. But what Amoureux didn't know was, who was the winner?
Once Maya awoken she saw Sensei Onsa, her mother, Aneko, and Armor hovering above her. She was moved into where she sat with Armor before, the opening between the chairs that went into an underground tunnel. The place where he kissed her she realised and swiftly blushed after seeing him again. Covering her face as she kicked her feet, a flurry of giggles escaping her by mistake.
When Sensei Onsa realized she was awake he stood with a smile on his face and ran off somewhere Maya didn't see. A roar of cheers then erupted when a judge at the table screamed that Maniac Maya was awake. When Maya finally grew the strength to stand she looked to Aneko.
“Help me up sis” Maya requested, after grabbing her shoulder and being hoisted up.
‘I know that I didn't win first place and hey thats ok. Second or maybe third in the long run, though the money would've been nice’ she thought looking to her mother and nodding solemnly.
“I didn't hear you all the first time so lets try it again. MANIAC MAYA IS UP ONCE AGAIN!!!!” The Announcer shouted, making the crowd roar again with more volume, though Maya was to weak to cover her ears this time and just let it happen. Though she found the pain of the loudness didn't compare to her soar muscles so she let it happen. Maya's feet dragged as she looked around and saw the other teams look towards her in mixtures of joy or worry of Maya's proportions in that moment. Her mother, sister, and Armor finally walked her to there teams area, Armor appearing suddenly from behind her which Maya didn't even notice. Once she was sat down and checked by some nurses she closed her eyes and breathed, not seeing the conversation in front of her.
“I trust you can hold her up when your teams placement and ribbons are given?” Mayas mother asked Armor whos bruised and somewhat beat up face filled with worry.
“Y-Yes mam, Madam??? Ms Maya??” Armor stated panicking which made her mother laugh as she walked away. Aneko's silence told Maya that she still didn't like the boy. Silence then came for a few moments as the announcer requested that people go to there teams as the judges finalize their decision for the placements.
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“Hey bud… you ok?” Amoureux asked, placing a hand onto Maya's shoulder. She then reopened her eyes and looked at his hand with confusion causing him to pull it away. Maya’s body then moved towards him and in a second he caught her with his body, she leaned on him while looking up to him. Her face one of no expression as she hugged his shoulder with her cheek and looked at him.
‘If I move I die, if I don't move I may also die, Im so happy she isn't on my other shoulder or else that would really hurt. Is she thinking about the kiss? Oh she has to be, shes so gonna beat me up and never wanna talk to me ever again’ Amoureux thought as she closed her eyes. Amoureux knew she closed her eyes to think so he didn't move, he didn't flinch, he just didn't wanna die.
“ALRIGHT FOLKS. The ballots have came in and here are our results!!!” The Main announcer said before he gave the microphone to a portly gentlemen. The whole crowd cheered for this man, apparently he is some kind of big deal which Amoureux didn't understand.
“Hello there folks, to those who don't know me, I am the Mayor of Energy City, Mayor Gigawat, Harvey James Gigawat to my friends. And I am here to announce two things” Mayor Gigawat announced holding two fingers up in the air, as commanded the crowd cheered and screamed.
‘People must like this Gigawat guy’ Amoureux thought. Looking to the crowed before looking down onto Maya, her eyes open and looking with anticipation.
“Now, May I have three teams come up for there prizes, though this doesn't mean you won first place, it just means your the top of the league.” Mayor Gigawat said, grabbing the list and reading it aloud.
“Team ehh… The Dojo Slayer guild, Team Niemand’s, and finally in our home town!!! The Max Amperes!!!!” The Mayor announced with more enthusiasm than the last. The whole crowd cheered as he announced this, he also joined, clapping and laughing while whispering something to the man next to him.
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Maya was lifted from her sweaty, uncomfortable, and handsome mattress and was walked into the edge of the ring, a giant camera was in front of her as well as some lights as she looked around. All her teammates surrounded her in one big group while two separate teams stood either side of them.
‘Wow, we got this far and now there gonna surround us and ambush us on live television?’ Maya thought as she looked around some more before being poked by Armour. She looked beside her where she was given water. She took it and gulped it down hastily before realising she probably just did in front of hundreds on there TV and swiftly stood herself up and tried to be at attention.
“Wow, one second dead in my arms and the next, standing in salute like a soldier in bootcamp” Armor stated, looking at Maya who wanted nothing more than to punch him in his adorable mouth. But kept her composure for the camera before looking away from it for a moment.
“Shut up pretty boy” Maya stated without thinking, looking back towards the camera so he couldn't see her embarrassment to the name.
“Pretty boy?? Oh Maya your so funny” Armor said which made Mayas heart skip a beat as her smile grew wildly.
“Alrighty then, NOW!!! For the moment you've been waiting for. Can I have the teams chosen fighters of The Dojo Slayer guild and The Max Amperes please step forward!!!” Mayor Gigawat yelled as everyone cheered, Maya realised a little to late that meant it was her, still day dreaming about Armour. He then pushed her gently causing her knees to buckle and her to catch herself before she came back to the world. Armor then grabbed her arm and walked her up, leaving her for the team seconds later.
“Alright you two, you both fought strongly, bravely, and in my opinion. Terrifyingly. If thats even a word. BUT only one of you won. NOW!!!! For this years winner of the Kung foo Event is!!!!!” The Anouncer screamed, grabbing the attention of the crowd, the tension that was in the air choked Maya. The next few words felt like a eternity to move, a snails pace in time and she knew it would be the other team who won it all.
“The Dojo Slayer Guild!!!!!!!!” The announcer screamed, making the crowed cheer for the new winners of the arena, Maya was in shock of this, she somehow won, for the team, for everything, It was her who won it all. She was suddenly surrounded, not by piranhas, or eyes, or snakes, or even wolves in the bushes that she thought. But by friends, her family, her reason to smile. Maya did it, and couldn't have without them.
“This is the first time in five years that anyone has dethroned The Max Amperes, and it was truly a close fight but in the end it was Maniac Maya who won it all!!!” The Announcer shouted, catching the attention of Maya.
‘Maniac Maya?? I thought I was Mana Maya not Maniac, is that what they think of me…. Oh screw it it's just a name’ Maya thought stopping herself from overthinking it all. Armor finally came up to her and hugged her, though Maya expected another kiss, her mother and Anekos presence showed why this wasn't the case.
“You did it sweetie” Her mother cheered jumping with her.
“I knew you could do it sis” Aneko celebrated along side her. Maya then was grabbed out of nowhere and pulled from her adoring crowd, it was Sensei Onsa who walked her up to a camera and held her with a arm wrapped around her.
“Hello there you two, is there anything that you would like to say about the fights tonight” The Mayor asked, handing the microphone to Maya who in her hubris froze up. Her face suddenly pale as she tried to think of what to say. Sensei Onsa swiftly took the microphone, saving her from embarrassment.
“Well Mayor Gigawatt I would like to congratulate my team once again for there amazing work out there today.” Sensei Onsa stated which was projected to the speakers above, bewildering Maya as she heard him all around him. Technology was truly amazing.
“it's been amazing to work with them and I know it's been annoying to work with me, they could tell you cause I cant be serious for a moment” Sensei Onsa overexplained laughing at a joke only his students understood.
“What I would like to say about my team is that truly tonight, especially Maya” He then shook Maya which made her smile.
“That they all took risk tonight, on not only a mental way but a phsyical way to, a great pirate once said that if you don't take risks, you can’t create a future. In this regard I believe hes right, because these amazing students of mine will all have amazing and safe futures to look forward to.” Sensei Onsa announced grabbing a invisible hat from his head and running it's rim.
“I know this because of the hard work they put in as well, after all hard work is worthless for those that don’t believe in themselves, or at least thats what a ninja once said.” Sensei Onsa stated again and played with his fingers while smiling wide.
“But thats my team who won today, I have pride that they will win again but thats not to discourage the other teams, they should push through the pain. Giving up hurts more. That is my final words of the night, from a prince.” Sensei Onsa concluded, handing the microphone to Mayor Gigawat who was confused on his words. Sensei Onsa then grabbed Maya and walked towards the crowd, Maya laughed at the Mayors reaction to the strange subculture references she and her team grew to love. It was the end of the day, end of the tournament. And they had won.
The final ballots for the player placements came next with Maya being first, the lady with the nickname Outlet, and in third, Armour. Which he found surprising but was explained it was because he won the fight that let them go to finals, faster than the other teams bracket.
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“I… I made the top three can u believe that???” Amoureux cheered, grabbing Maya and jumping with her though Maya didn't join in. Her face fully flushed and a dead stare into his soul was all he got Amoureux’s mind freezing at this.
“Uh… is everything ok bud?” he asked, scared of what she would say next. When Maya finally looked up to him which she had been avoiding she finally breathed and spoke. Everyone else was gone either leaving or looking for there children. Mayas mother and sister left to grab the car, and Amoureux’s father joined learning they both parked at the same area.
“No….. I mean… Yeah.. Im fine but..” Maya started, her voice a murmur of what it was twenty minutes ago when she was cheering with them.
“But??? Is your voice still hurting from celebrating? Do you need water? I can go get so-”
“No.. it's not that…” Maya interrupted, stoping him in his tracks as he covered his mouth and looked to her. Usually it was him who would mytter and mix up his words, when he saw Maya do it, he found it cute.
“Then… whats u-”
“The kiss……” Maya interrupted Amoureux again, causing his skin to burn up and his body to sweat profusely, he knew she would remember but not even he knew why he did it.
“Im sorry Maya, I was just trying to… Boost you up I guess.. NOT to suggest a kiss would do that but it was the only thing I was thinking of.. I MEAN not the only thing, I wasn't thinking of kissing you… NOT that your not kissable, your very kissable. Uh…. um…” Amoureux realised the hole he just dug himself and sighed.
“Im sorry.” Is all he said before he quickly tried to run away. But he was swiftly stopped by Maya, grabbing his shoulder and hugging his neck so he couldn't move without dragging her.
“Wait…..” Maya said, he turned around and looked towards her, her face tear filled now.
“Am… Am I kissable to… to you?” Maya slowly asked, her breathing becoming faster and faster with every moment they hold each other. Amoureux not even realising hes holding her. It was a few moments, looking at her adorable expression, dreamy eyes and beautiful complexion that he gave his answer.
“Yes…. you are” Is what he came up with, she then went up to his face and kissed him on the cheek. A smile ran from her face as tears crossed her lips.
“Th-Thank you Armor.” Maya managed before kissing his cheek again. Armor didn't think this was how his night would end, he knew the moment they had in that moment was beautiful, he knew what this ment, the action he could do now to solidify this moment forever and ever. He then grabbed Mayas face and looked her in the eye surprising Maya as she looked at him.
“Maya….. Would…. You like to be my girlfriend” Armoureux was able to question. His heart and hers beating swiftly as she smiled and laughed, though her tears still streamed with sadness.
“Yes.. Of course I would you big idiot” Maya smiled, hugging his now boyfriend Armour as they hugged and then said there goodbyes for the last day of class. Though they both texted all night and day before they knew it it was twelve in the afternoon the next day, and it was time to celebrate.
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At the park everyone seemed to be somewhere, either the mini golf area, one of many arcades, laser tag, or even a virtual reality experience but Maya wasn't there for that, she just sat down in a booth, eating overly greasy pizza which she realised would've thought was gross once upon a time but now it was fine. She looked towards the other members who all enjoyed themselves some even asking and begging her to join. All at once, she became the center of attention, even everyone shouting and cheering Mana Maya when they won the tournament by ten points. But she didn't need that, she did her best and won because of it, because of Sensei Onsa, and because of the cute boy who walked over and sat across from her.
“Why aren't you playing Maya, everyone is having a blast except the star of the game.” Armour said, looking at her and cupping towards her hand which rest easily on the table.
“Well, let them have there fun, after all, im not the most social butterfly, you should know that by now Amour” Maya said, in a twisted french twang by the last word. Armour just blushed at this and laughed.
“You butcher my peoples language and think I should know about you as well? For shame” Armour said as he rubbed her hand with a thumb. The moment was perfect as his warmth transferred through her body and made her body seem to float with warmth. It was the perfect moment.
“Actually” Armour interrupted which Maya found cute.
“We only ever talked about training and the tournament during class, and we both don't know much about each other ya know” Armour said which surprised Maya, it seems like they knew everything about each other, but he was right, they only knew each others weaknesses and strengths, not actual hobbies or life story.
“So…. whats your family like?” Armour asked looking serious before thinking of a joke.
“Your father isn't romantically dense like mine I hope” He said laughing though when he did Mayas hand pulled away from his grasp. His face switched from one of joy to fear.
“What?? What happened? Did I say something stupid?”Armor asked as he sat back on his seat and looked at Maya. Who in turn looked back at him, she was silently angry at him for a moment before realising again, he didn't know better.
“My father is….. Um…” Maya tried to tell Armor that he was gone but the words hurt to say, she just grabbed the straw in her glass of water and swished the ice cubes around, the sound was soothing.
“Gone?.... I understand that” Armor said, forcing her to look up in a sudden shock.
‘How would you know anything like that? Are you just trying to make me feel better you cute idiot? You don't know what I am feeling you jerk. You will never know’ Mayas mind suddenly flickered with rage as she was about to pronounce it loudly to him.
“My mother is… no more as well” Armour said while extinguishing the flames he just sparked.
“She….” Armour started and he to couldn't say the words. Maya then grabbed his hand like he did for her and cradled it all the same.
“it's ok.. You can tell me.” Maya offered, hoping she would give off the same warmth he did to her.
“She… Died when I was young, like baby young. When I lived in Paris, According to my father, she went out on a carriage ride with her friends the week before we moved to the states in 1990 and the coach lost control and……” He looked pale when admitting this.
‘So he does know how I feel, but worse, he never got to meet her’ Maya thought, feeling bad for the poor boy. Then, she grabbed his hand and kissed it which made his pale face fill with blood and a new flush of makeup.
“Thats payback from the tournament, and plus.. It was the only way I can think of to see your cute face not so…. Sad.” Maya said, cheering up the boy before she told her own side of the story. The story of what she knew and how she never got to see her father much to, how she felt and how she let it control her for most of her life. Until she went to a class and a cut boy punched her and helped her in ways she never could've imagined which got her a bonus punch on the shoulder before he finally convinced her to go from the booth and play some arcade games.
Once the tournament party was completed she hopped into her mothers car, she grabbed her newly acquired smart phone that they picked up on the way home from the tournament and texted Armour about the party as if he wasn't with her every second. She then began to get car sick and while driving away from the park contemplated the past weeks.
She realised the longer she trained in the arts of Wu Foo, the more she stood up for herself. How she’s helping around the house more and able to laugh and joke with her family. The summer came and went, she then realized, with tomorrow being the closing week of her class. She sighed, then realizing that school would start up again and all the fun and freedom she had in this one summer will come to a close. She knew what tomorrow would bring and when she awoke the next day, she walked down the road of the path, bag in toe. She was going to see Mr Seonsegram one last time.
The next day came fast and in an instant she was walking to the dojo, Sensei Onsa decided to have the final day be today instead of the following week. Something about getting the juices flowing or something. Her thoughts stopped short when getting a text from Armour she swiftly opened her phone to see what it said.
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“Hey Maya, I wont be at the final day of class
because from a sudden stomach ache”
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“I have NO idea what caused it Lmao ” Smile face emoji.
“Yeah, sure you don't Mr I can eat an entire pizza
and a gallon of soda in under a minute”
“Thats unrelated babe, Ill see you this
weekend though *kissy face*”
“Yeah Yeah”
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These words always made Mayas heart warm, sometimes even giggling out loud as she read them. After walking the windy path from her home to the dojo she walked up to the parking lot and looked across the street to the drug store. She reminded herself to get something from there after class.
When she entered the dojo she found everyone silent, she expected everyone to be celebrating and dancing with each other, talking about the night before's success and in addition party, but instead it was silence, everyone sitting in there rows and now all looking at Maya.
“Hey theres Mana Maya” One of the boys said as the whole class seemed to cheer and clap for her entrance into the building, she loved this feeling, her family cheering her on as she walked to her seat, some rasing there hands to high five her as she reached her seat and sensei Onsa stood before them.
“Sadly, our fellow third place winner Armoureux couldn't make it because of a sudden stomach ache” Sensei Onsa said as some of the boys laughed at the news, Maya knew them as the boys who bet and lost ten dollars that night.
“But… don't let that detur us as last night WE WON!!!!” Sensei Onsa yelled which got everyone to cheer as well.
“We couldn't have done it without our two placement holders, Body Armor.. And MANIAC MAYA!!!!” The whole room suddenly turned cheering for Maya who was still a little stunned at the sudden cheering but not how the first day. She actually stood and flexed this time around, making some of the boys in her class whistle and make jokes about her which she laughed at. When seated Sensei Onsa spoke about the days plan, which gave Maya time to think.
‘The first day I was in this very building I wouldn't have ever done that, I guess I have him and Armour to thank for that.’ Maya thought, looking to Sensei Onsa as he spoke. Though Maybe Maya was to stuck in her own mind as everyone around her started to cheer and scream suggestions. Coming back to reality found that Sensei Onsa wanted to spend the last day watching anime with his class. And so thats what he did. The full three hour class became five, with all the kids making excuses why they would need to be picked up later. They watched a bunch of different animes. Never finishing an episode and the class was filled with Sensei Onsa showing off his obscure references which now Maya knew what they originated from. It was until his alarm went off that they had to stop though Maya saw in his eyes he didn't want to. His once cheerful expression was now lowered but still a smile remained.
“That… was a lot of fun you guys. This is the worst part of my class you know… having to say goodbye” Sensei Onsa said, tearing up but still managing to keep a smile.
“But… I have one last thing to say… to all of you awesome kids, adults, and preteens who attended my class.” He said, catching his breath before crossing his legs in front of his white board like day one. He looked to the class and observed every one of them for a few seconds.
“I hope… I hope everyone has learned something good from this class. From self defence… To Self worth. You all have changed from the first days of this class, and I know it's hard to say as we lost half of you in between there. But I want you all to know you are like family. And I know I am just a teacher, your sensei. Your Master Roshi and or your Koro Sensei at points. But I want all you to know you guys and girls were my everything. I hope to see you all be successful in your future. I know you all will be, and no matter where you are. You are all my Dojo Slayer guild. My students, my friends, and my family.” Sensei Onsa stated, choking on his words with every sentence stated. Maya and many of the others had tears that started to shed from their respective eyes.
“Awww guys don't cry, we're super cool samurai, ki users, dojo masters, all captains of our own jolly rogers. We don't cry… Well it's ok to. And hey I understand it's hard to let go, but sometimes, change is good, so be a better you and leave with a smile,”As he said this he stood up and started his gentle walk towards the entrance of the dojo.
“So I want everyone to stand right now and grab your things, you leave this class today as a winner, as a hero of the public, and as the best versions of yourself, so Leave, leave and have a fantastic rest of your lives!!!!” Everyone did as they were told, standing, smiling, and some even crying, all waving and saying there goodbyes to the teacher and even each other.
With his final speech of the spring class concluded Sensei Onsa pushed towards the door and wished us the best of luck and to have fun in the summer. All the people around Maya ran out the door and left, all the lessons he taught would be brought into the world, though they were strange. Maya truly thinks she will miss him, he reminded her of her father in a way, always so serious yet joking. As everyone left Maya stayed seated, Sensei Onsa noticing and sitting in front of her.
“Whats up mana Maya? Your training is complete and you can finally go home, your wish from the first day of class is upon you so go and take it.” Maya looked at the man as he smiled and clapped his hand, like a chimp with symbols always did. Though Mayas face didn't replicate it as per usual, instead it was one of sadness.
“Sensei On-...” Maya caught her breath, she tried to invision the words that she wanted to state and closed in on them, something he taught her.
“Mr Seonsaengnim, I just wanted to thank you for… for everything” The use of his name stopped his dancing in his tracks, he sat down and paid attention, his face was hit with a sudden stillness.
“I know you already heard the story of my father, and how I have been affected but…” Tears filled Mayas eyes as she spoke, her voice choking under the emotional hammer.
“This class, this place” Maya pointed around her.
“This…. Fantastic person before me” Maya looked towards Mr Seonsaengnim.
“Has really helped me out, I don't know where I would be without your teachings and, I promise to use them to better the community and better myself.” Maya then stood and for the first time, bowed without complaint.
“it's hard to let go, but sometimes, change is good, so be a better you and leave with a smile, thats what you said and ill take it to heart. Maya said, as she finally found her fifth and final rule. She then stood and bowed again as she walked out the door as quick as she could, not letting him get a word in though he tried. And headed for the drug store to pick up some icecream to celebrate graduation.
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A turn, a pace, waiting then pacing again, the sky's kindness being replaced by dark intentions as the man kept pushing forward, whatever wires held to his skin had ends that were covered in the floors donations, approaching the finish, he spots a twisted road, one made of sunflowers, popcorn flies around and sometimes overhead, giggles from trees with no apples, as they've rolled away to either rot or sprout new life. it's never determined, not even if the man was there. It just happens, The man walked towards the twisted path as the world presented him the present he seeked, the gasoline that filled his vehicle veins. He spotted ahead of him the commander, his mission general, the woman in the brown hair ahead.
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She didn't need to be home by now but didn't want her to make her mother worry more so Maya walked out of the drugstore and tried to take a bite out of her waffle cone as her newly found pride got the better of her. She found that she still didn't like the texture of it. Even after all the change that has happened to her, some things never do and she was ok with it. As she threw the cone into the trashcan she imagined what the old Maya would've done in this situation, ‘probably freaked out and felt a few new spikes’ she chuckled at this as the door slide open in front of her. After throwing the waffle cone away she continued out of the drug store and towards home.
She walked the binding walkway as her hair seemed to stand. It felt as if someone was right behind her. But she just jocked it to paranoia.
‘There isn't someone behind me, thats silly im just being paranoid as per usual.’ Maya then chuckled to herself as she continued to walk ahead. Her phone in her hand as she stopped in her tracks to put in some earbuds. But as she did she thought she heard a sloppy palp behind her. Her hair raised once again as she took out her earbuds and reached for her purse, the sounds of wet feet on the pavement below filling her ears as it got closer and closer. When she was about to follow (dojo man)s distance defence technique and brandish her taser, she felt the things arm, wrap around her and almost drag her to the pavement.
In a fit of panic Maya brandished her blade she just earned and spun around, discombobulating the attacker, then stabbing them in the spleen, but she missed the spleen and hit the heart, she knew it to and dashed back, pulling the blade out of the attackers chest on instinct. She dashed back and grabbed her phone. Prepared to dial for the police until her phone fell from her hand, she fell to her knees as the blood covered knife clattered nearby.
‘How was this possible, what happened, how can this be?, what do I do, what did I just do?’ Her mind in a state of panic, her old habit's beating her once again, her body shuttered, The attackers back against the pavement as blood filled the robe, a calm smile perched his face.
Tears dropped, covering his face in a sheen, the sound of wailing, questions, and plees filled the world around Maya. She looked down, crying against the bloody man, her fathers body, laid dead in front of her, never to move again.
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A hug, remembrance, return of the fifth birthday, intertwined once again, stinging, so close yet so far, Within reach but out of grasp, Almost there but not quite, Whats the proper way of analysing these events, his mission was a bust and his fighting feet fell, moisture, in the canyon of his stomach, on the cheeks of his face, a woman, another woman?, the one with brown hair, upset? What did she do to deserve such sad features, she should be happy, smiling, but instead she cries, for the man's mission is complete, he returns to slumber, this time never to awaken, with the last idea sprayed across his mind was the woman crying for her father.
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