kickin' it | femina bellator

81 | the grandmaster

"I can't believe Kim is finally moving back home from Japan," Milton said, "Did Rudy get the 'Welcome Home' banner yet?"

"Guys," Rudy said while jogging into the dojo, "I found the perfect banner in the clearance section," he told them proudly before picking up a banner that said 'HAPPY RETIREMENT IRVING' but he had used a black marker to cross over the original text and write 'WELCOME HOME KIM' instead.

"Oh, and I know the perfect place to put it," Jerry said.

"The garbage?" Azalea asked and the next second Jerry snatched the banner from Rudy and crumbled it into a ball before throwing it in the trash. "Good call," told him. "We really shouldn't have trusted you with anything that involved buying."

"I'm surprised you didn't buy a backup banner yourself," Jack told her.

Azalea leaned over the counter and picked up a bag. She took out the banner and threw it to Rudy, "Please, I'm always prepared."

"Your lack of trust in me is hurtful," Rudy told her.

"And it will continue to be hurtful until you prove that you can handle responsibilities," Azalea told him pointedly.

"I've been standing here for ten seconds and no one has noticed me yet." All heads turned to the door where Kim was standing, looking at them pointedly.

"Kim!" Azalea exclaimed before being the first one to hug her best friend, "Oh, I've missed you. You left me outnumbered."

The guys then took their turn hugging the blonde who they hadn't seen for months. "Oh, guys," Kim said when she was done greeting them all, "I brought someone I want you to meet. He is very special to me."

Kim walked outside and returned seconds later with a bald man in his fifties. "I thought you were going to introduce us to a new boyfriend or something," Azalea said, "I really hope that isn't the case now."

"Guys," Kim gave Azalea an unimpressed look, "this is Granmaster Tomo, headmaster at Otai."

"Ah! You must be Sensei Rudy," Grandmaster Tomo said, taking a few steps towards Rudy, "I've come because three of the finest students I have ever seen have trained at this dojo."

"Thank you," Milton said happily.

"We do what we can?" Jerry said smugly.

"I was talking about Kim, Jack and Azalea," Grandmaster Tomo deadpanned.

"When did you see me?" Azalea frowned, not remembering ever seeing him.

"Makes sense," Milton nodded.

"Much better choice," Jerry agreed.

"When you were only twelve years old and had just received your black belt," Grandmaster Tomo explained to her, "It was after that tournament we offered you a spot at the Otai Academy - but you declined."

"Right," Azalea said, an awkward smile on her face, "To my defence I was an awkward twelve year old with like two friends and no social skills - so I kind of didn't want to leave the only family I had. But your school sounds great."

Grandmaster Tomo gave her an appreciative smile before turning back to her brother, "Rudy, we are considering offering you a position as grandmaster at the Otai Academy."

Azalea's eyes widened in shock. She was completely speechless like the others. Milton was the one who broke the silence, "Oh, that'd mean that he'd have to move to Japan."

"Wait, Rudy is leaving us?" Jerry asked, sounding slightly panicked.

"Jerry, relax, that is a really big decision," Jack tried to be reasonable, "Uh, Rudy loves this dojo more than anything. He's gonna wanna take time to weigh in all of the-"