It was 4:15PM. You made it to the third floor of Wakasa and Benkei's gym. The Gojo gym.
"Someone's early," Wakasa comments flatly.
There was a square ring in the middle, the ones seen in boxing matches. On the right side of the room were five sets of punching bags hanging from the top of the ceiling. There was a corner with mats set out for stretching and other exercises. And the shelves around were filled with equipment. Mostly weights, gloves and body guards.
You were surprised to see it was only Wakasa and Benkei around. You were expecting Senju to be warming up or students of theirs working out. "I walked," you told the man, "I expected the walk to be longer, honestly..." Unlike Wakasa, Benkei reacted greatly to your answer.
"You walked from Shibuya?!" The large man's voice boomed. You wondered how the two met and even how they got along. It seemed like they were almost polar opposites to each other. "Should I... Come back then or?" You ask, pointing at the exit.
The two Brahman members look at each other for a moment then look back at you. "Take your shoes off. Come up here," Wakasa tells you as if it was an order. He tilts his head to the side briefly, gesturing to come up on the ring in the middle of the room.
"Pass me the forearm guard." Benkei tosses a padded guard at Wakasa and he catches it. You get in the ring shortly after. The floor was firm. Soft enough to be comfortable but hard enough to keep you balanced.
Wakasa puts the forearm guard on. "I heard from Senju that you fight similarly to Mikey. Do you have a teacher?" He asks. As you were face to face with the man, you were surprised at how short he was. That aside, you answered him. "I had a teacher..." You said honestly, "Mr. Sano."
"Grandpa Mansaku? Not surprised," Wakasa says monotonously, "For how long now?"
"A year and a couple of months,' you responded. "He's become way more frail now though..." Your tone saddened, feeling guilty. "For some months now, I've just been watching old tapes he's left behind," you admit.
Wakasa looks at you blankly, "Why didn't you just find another dojo?" He asks. His expression and voice were seemingly disinterested. You told him you couldn't afford the classes. Which was half true. You didn't at the time, but with Kanto Manji Gang's apology money, you probably could
Wakasa adjusts the forearm guard and raises his arm close to his head. "Since you've been trained by Sano Mansaku, show me a roundhouse," he says, patting the padded guard.
Is he testing me or something?! You say to yourself nervously. Taking your fists out, you shift your right leg back. As you're in a proper stance, you take a deep breath. You twist your body slightly to the left, lifting your right leg up, bending it. You extend your leg and swing it at a 45-degree angle, aiming at the guard on Wakasa's arm. As you kicked the guard, Wakasa's arm stayed in place. You pull your leg back down and back to a starting stance.
You weren't sure what Wakasa was thinking or what his motives were. His bored expression almost makes you feel like he's unimpressed, though it seems like that's just how his face looks when rested. "Show me an axe kick," he tells you, "Aiming for the middle."
You were starting to feel like this really was a test. A test to see if you're a worthy opponent to Senju or a test on how skilled you really were. Either way, you felt slightly pressured. Even almost regretting coming to the gym early.
You raise your leg, extending it all the way up. Your foot, higher than her head. You drop your leg straight down. Wakasa shifts his arm above him as your heel hits the forearm guard.
"Inside."
You go back to your fighting stance. Shifting your right leg back slightly, you lift it, swinging it to the left then dropping your foot down.
"Outside."
You move your right leg in, putting it before your left, leaving space between the two feet. You raise and extend your leg. This time, swinging it to the right and dropping it down.
"Good. Very good," Wakasa praises. His bland expression, not matching. Has he taught you spinning and jumping kicks?" Wakasa asks.
"A few, yes," you answered. "Has he taught you a tornado kick?" He asks again. You told him Gramps has. "Mikey's favourite," Wakasa says. You groan to yourself. You already knew that with how many times Gramps has boasted about Mikey. "Always a show off when it came to spins and jumps," Wakasa continued, "Come on, show me."
You've only ever been perfecting basic kicks and throws. Spin and jump kicks were what the Sano Dojo was known for. It was also the last thing on your mind when training. You didn't care about looking cool or flashy during battle. You thought being able to hit your opponent was the most important thing when fighting.
You take a few steps back. You hadn't practiced a tornado kick since Grandpa Sano was able to train you physically. You gulp, feeling more pressure than before. You feel sweat forming from nervousness rather than exercise.
You exhale. Calming yourself down to focus. You hesitate for a moment before finally turning your body. Taking a step forward as you do. As your back is facing Wakasa, you quickly spin back around and raise your leg up.
"Nope..." You unconfidently mutter as you stop midway. You put your foot down and go back to your original position.
"COME ON!" Benkei yells from the side. Startled, you jump a bit as you turn to face him. You were sure he was disappointed based on his strained facial expression. "YOU ALMOST HAD IT! I BELIEVED IN YOU!"
What's up with these guys?! You think. Benkei continues to yell. "No need to second guess yourself! Just follow through! You can do it!"
His voice and face seem angry but his words are so... Kind?!
You awkwardly smile and give the large man a thumbs up. He does the gesture back to you and quiets down.
You shift your focus back to Wakasa. Going back into your stance, you raise your arms up. Your fists at chin length. With your arms raised in front of you, you use them to gain momentum to turn. You take a step forward at the same time. As you make a full spin around, you get closer to Wakasa's body. Raising your left leg up, you bend your knee. Helping you get more height as you lift your right leg off the floor. You extend your right leg at Wakasa swiftly. The man raises his arm quick enough to block it with the forearm guard. The kick had more power than the last few you performed on him. Your body rotates with your leg after hitting the guard. You land on both feet and turn quickly to take a stance again.
Wakasa claps for you. Benkei claps even louder. "Good job," Wakasa compliments, "It wasn't as weak as your last kicks."
Thank you...? You were surprised you didn't slip or lose balance. You chalked it up as being beginner's luck.
Benkei gets into the ring. His and Wakasa's height difference was very apparent. "I noticed something while you were doing that!" Benkei says. He aggressively points at you, scaring you a bit. "Your fists! They're wrong!" He says.
"Wrong...?" You repeat, looking at your hands. Benkei walks closer, "Show me a simple jab!"
You ball your fists. As you shoot your fist forward, your upper body moves with it, slightly turning. But your feet were still planted on the floor.
"There!" He says. You stop at your position, with your arm still out. "Your thumbs! You're covering them!" Benkei tells you.
You asked how it was wrong. You naturally tucked your thumb in a fist most of the time. Suddenly, Benkei swings his arm at Wakasa. Wakasa quickly blocks his large fist with the forearm guard. You were shocked at the unwarned demonstration.
"Get over here!" Benkei gestures for you to come closer. His fist was still planted onto the padded guard. "Tell me, what part of your fist hits the opponent?" He asked as you approached. "This part?" You ball your hand, pointing at the knuckles and your curled fingers.
"Correct! When those parts are hitting something, it gets pushed," Benkei punches the guard again. His strength was incredible. His raw power forces Wakasa to steady the arm guard with his other hand. "When you have your thumb in there," Benkei continues. He opens his hand and puts his thumb on his palm. He closes it and punches the forearm guard again. "Your thumb will take damage. Not just from wherever you're hitting your opponent, but also your fingers pressing down on it!" He informs, "You're trying to hurt the opponent, not yourself!"
He shifts his arm away from Wakasa and turns to you. He slaps his chest, "Now, give me a proper jab!"
"On you?!"
"I CAN TAKE IT!"
You get yourself positioned. Making sure your thumbs were out, under your fingers instead of inside her fists.
You lunge your left arm at Benkei's chest. Though you had your fist properly and you were the one punching, you were the one who got hurt. As you retreat your hand from the man's pecs, you shake them. Benkei, of course, was unfazed by your attack.
"Your hand's much better! Good job!" He praises, giving you a thumbs up. "Some people like to hold things in their fists to keep their hands more steady," Wakasa chimes in, "Shin used to hold a lighter."
Shin...? Shinichiro?
For a second you forgot these two were the founders of Black Dragons. Along with Shinichiro and Takeomi. You continued to wonder how Shinichiro got these two together, considering they don't to be very similar to each other.
"Let's see your other punches!" Benkei says. You perform a left and right hook. Your arm slightly curved as you punched left and right. You also did a lower-body uppercut on Benkei. You assumed he wasn't using a padded guard because he wanted to see your strength. Whereas Wakasa wanted to see your technique.
Benkei continues to encourage you. Yelling to punch him harder. He was starting to sound like Grandpa Sano for a second. "She's late," Wakasa says, catching both yours and Benkei's attention. He was looking at the clock as he put the forearm guard back on the shelf. It was 5:27PM. You had no idea you stayed in the gym for an hour.
Wakasa starts strapping ankle and wrist weights on him. He gets back in the ring, "Let's kill some time while we wait," he says. You ask him what the weights were for. "What else? To make this easier for you," Wakasa says nonchalantly.
"Make what easier...?" You asked, slightly intimidated. "I want you to try to get me on the floor," he challenges. "I'll be staying in one spot. Your only objective is to get my back to hit the floor."
You raise a brow, "Staying in one spot? Isn't that too easy?" Wakasa tilts his head, "Are you saying you're able to go against me in combat?" You gulp at his question. It was both a boast to himself and an insult to you. You wondered how he can be expressionless when it was clear he was highly confident in himself. You wave your hands, "No, absolutely not," you deny nervously, responding to him.
Benkei puts a hula hoop over Wakasa before exiting the ring. "I'm only allowed to move within this perimeter," Wakasa says, circling the air, pointing down at the hula hoop. "You have now until Senju walks in to get my back to hit the floor," he reminds.
You were starting to feel increasingly anxious about this challenge. You were essentially going up against someone who's considered a living legend in the delinquent world. Even if he was slightly handicapped, you didn't have much of an advantage. You were only able to make Terano South kneel because you sacked him in the balls. Which you definitely didn't want to do to Wakasa. You stand back and observe. Trying to strategize.
If I swipe his feet, it's possible he could land on his hand or butt and get up quickly... If I try to move him forward and flip him, he could probably get out of my grip easily...
You position yourself. You go for an inside axe kick, aiming for his shoulder. You planned to kick him down enough to lose his balance and then turn to do a back kick to get him on his butt. You were sure you wouldn't be able to get him on his back at all, deeming it was too ambitious. You'd feel accomplished to even get him to the floor at all.
As you drop your heel down, Wakasa catches it quickly. You were shocked at how fast he still was. Even though he had weights on, holding back his strength. Barely moving his upper body, you swiftly swipe his leg under. With one of your legs still raised and being held by Wakasa, you easily lost balance. As he let go of your leg, you landed on your butt.
Great... You thought. Feeling embarrassed that you were the one who fell on your rear. At such a simple move too. You rush at him and give him an obvious right hook. He dodges it, leaning back slightly. As your body was turned, you lower slightly. Kicking him in the stomach as your back was turned from him. You quickly turn back to face him again. Raising your leg for a front kick, aiming for his chin.
Wakasa plants his feet firmly on the floor after your first kick and quickly catches your foot mid-air, once again. This time kicking you in the stomach. You drop to your knees and groan. He's literally just standing there and I'm still losing!
You get up and stare at him intently. This time, you go for a left hook. He, predictably, dodges, leaning back. You keep your left arm up, almost in the way of his vision. With your right, you uppercut him in the stomach. As he bends down slightly, you move your right leg forward and drag it back, hitting his right ankle in the process. Wakasa kneels on his left knee. You continued to stare at him. You get yourself in position to kick him in the chest. He catches your foot before it hits him.
You foresaw that already. The second he caught you, you abruptly stomped down. Forcing Wakasa to lean forward. With your free leg, you go to knee his chin. He was quick enough to catch it with his other hand. With the hand you were stepping on, he grabs your foot and pulls back. With one motion only, he was able to get you to land on your back.
Even with my foresight, I can't get him...!
You get up and observe him again. Feeling frustrated. Even when you can predict his moves, you weren't quick enough to get him. He's not even fighting me... He's just blocking and pushing me back. I can't imagine what it's like ACTUALLY going up against him!
You continued to try different combinations. Feeling lucky enough to get him to kneel. You were sure it was the ankle weight giving you that advantage with how heavy it makes his feet. Even with those weights, he was quick to block or catch you. Your stamina lessened yet your frustration grew.
It was one thing to be in a sparring match against someone. Where you're both freely able to move anywhere and everywhere. Wakasa staying in one place taunted you. It felt like you were losing against a tree. Yet it motivated you to keep trying. Despite winning the challenge, for once, you wanted to brag that you could get someone like Imaushi Wakasa to fall. Which was usually unlike you. For once, martial arts didn't feel like a chore you had to do, but an actual sport.
You've been treating your training as something you had to do. In order to get by in the delinquent world, you had to know how to fight in some capacity. The only way you could get to Mikey was to get involved with gangs in some way. Meaning you had to fight, knowing gang members aren't exactly a gentle bunch. You knew that firsthand.
You couldn't care less about fighting. It was fun at first, sparring with your friends. But when that bounty happened a few months ago, it started to feel dull.
But right now, even though it kind of pissed you off that you were losing against a still person, it was fun. As you continued to attempt to take Wakasa down, you were getting more exhausted by the minute. You started to laugh beneath your pants.
You realized you've been so hyperfocused on getting Mikey back, that you forgot how much you've grown since the last time you saw each other. How much you've grown since August 3rd, 2005, hitting random guys with an umbrella. How much you've grown since you met the Tokyo Manji Gang.
For once, you started to feel proud of yourself.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Both you and Wakasa turn to meet Senju, who just arrived. Still in school uniform. Behind her was someone you weren't expecting to see.
"TAKEMICHI?!"
Chapter sixty-seven, end.