Chapter 9: Night
After a few short moments, both Kenichi and Ohma were untied and unstrapped from their respective training positions and were now taking deep breaths as they took some time to regain their strength.
'Really? The safety word was Geronimo!?' Kenichi thought as he breathed. "It's a miracle!"
"Kenichi!" The little girl shouted as she rushed forward and hugged him.
"Honoka?" Kenichi noticed the presence of his sister, but when she wrapped her arms around his body he immediately felt pain and pushed her back. "Aaahh! Don't touch! It hurts too much!"
"Really?" Ohma snickered while groaning. "You didn't look like you were in pain while Miu was pressing against your back."
Kenichi then became sheepish and looked away nervously. "Ah-ha, you noticed that?"
Miu just looked to Akisame. "Akisame, I think I broke Kenichi."
Akisame walked up to him. "He should have listened to me. Oh well, this is what he gets for not taking the whole 16 hours."
"Don't try and shift the blame!" Ohma snapped at him. "He would have been dead in 16 hours."
"Hmm, possibly, but I guess we'll never know now will we?" Akisame asked, as though he didn't really give it much thought. "Anyway, there!"
He kicked Kenichi in the base of his foot which made him cry out in pain again before he suddenly stood up and angrily grabbed Akisame by his collar.
"What'd you do that for?!" Kenichi snapped.
"What? It's not still hurting is it?" Akisame questioned.
Kenichi then stopped and looked over his body as he immediately noticed that all the intense pain and sourness around his body had suddenly vanished as though it was never there, to begin with.
"Don't forget I have a bonesetter's clinic in the back, Kensei has an acupuncture station as well," Akisame explained. "I'm a certified professional when it comes to bonesetting." He then pats Kenichi on the head. "So no matter how many times you both get hurt, I'll just fix you up again." He finished with a laugh.
Kenichi cringed as he thought about it. 'This man can break and fix me like some kind of toy, what have I gotten myself into here?'
"That's all well and good, but I'm pretty sure bonesetting can't fix this!" Ohma pointed out as he showed Akisame his palms that were bleeding from the broken skin.
Akisame put a hand on his chin. "Huh, you're right I do see the problem in training with damaged hands." He then put down his hand and nodded. "No choice then, we'll make today 'leg-day'."
"Are you absolutely sure you aren't blind?" Ohma questioned him with irk.
Instead of answering, Akisame looked to Kenichi. "Okay, Kenichi, let's try it again."
"Huh? Again?!" Kenichi repeated, obviously not wanting to repeat that process.
At that point, the little girl named Honoka Ohma assumed; stepped between Kenichi and Akisame with her arms spread out protectively. "What do you think you're doing to him?!"
"What's this?" Akisame finally took notice of her. "We have a guest."
"Uh, she's my sister." Kenichi awkwardly introduced her.
"Oh, hey, when did you get here?" Ohma asked as if he just noticed her presence.
"I've been here for a while," Honoka told him enthusiastically.
"Really? Huh, you're so small that I sometimes have trouble noticing you." Ohma noted.
"I'm not small, I'm fun-sized." Honoka corrected, almost proudly.
"Kenichi, you have a sister?" Miu asked, smiling as she looked at Honoka. "Oh wow, she's so adorable."
"What?" Honoka looked over to who said that and gasped as she became hooked on Miu's voluptuous figure and form-fitting spandex.
"Aw, you have the same eyes." Miu noticed with a smile and a blush. "Just like Kenichi."
"Yeah, that's kind of how most siblings are." Ohma reminded her like it was obvious.
Honoka kept her focus on Miu and looked shocked at her before she put on a confident smirk. "Now I get it."
"Honoka, what are you doing here?" Kenichi asked her.
"Just stay back!" Honoka said loudly as she put her hand on his torso. "And keep quiet!" She looks back at Miu. "So, you got your nails in him huh?"
"Oh, god." Ohma face-palmed.
Miu didn't seem to notice Honoka's negative feelings towards her and continued to gush over her. "She looks just like a little doll, you're so cute."
"Stop right there!" As Miu took a step forward and reached for her Honoka halted her. "Keep away from my Brother!"
Miu just continued to smile as Honoka turned back to Kenichi.
"Don't you even realize?! This big boobed wonder has totally got you wrapped around her little finger!" Honoka accused.
Now Kenichi face-palmed in annoyance. "Oh yeah? Well, I'd like to wrap my fingers around your neck."
"But, technically she's not wrong." Ohma pointed out.
"Who's side are you on?!" Kenichi snapped at him.
Ohma sighed before he looked at him. "At what point in my life have I ever done anything to make you think that I'd be on your side?"
Kenichi felt a blow go through his self-esteem as comical tears streamed down his eyes. "That hurt."
Miu kept her focus on Honoka. "She is just too precious, aw~" She coed.
Honoka clenched her fist at Miu. "I can't believe this! I thought Kenichi was in danger but it's just this tramp stringing him along!"
Ohma wrapped his hands with bandages as he saw Honoka's expression. "I know that look, she's letting her imagination run wild."
At that point, the other Masters entered the room and gathered around the others.
"What's with the uh little kid?" Sakaki asked confused.
"Apa pa pa pa?" Apachai added.
"She's Kenichi's younger Sister," Akisame informed them.
Kensei then appeared from under one of the floor mats. "Oh, younger Sister?! Just how young are we talking exactly?" He asked with excitement.
Ohma stomped down on the floor mat, but Kensei easily dodged and came up.
"Back off man, don't make me call the police," Ohma warned him.
"Well, you don't have to mean about it," Kensei complained. Then looked at Honoka. "Alright too young, I have my limits."
"Perverted Old creep," Ohma muttered.
Honoka shrieked at all the strange people that suddenly crowded her. "Oh no! I'm surrounded!"
"You're so cute~" Miu coed again. "What's your name?"
"Hey genius, you already heard her name," Ohma told her, tapping her head. "Would you pay attention for once?"
Honoka took the opportunity to grab Kenichi's arm in a rush.
"Kenichi! Time to go!" Honoka decided as she dragged him off.
"Hey wait, Honoka?" Kenichi resisted in confession.
"Hurry it up!" Honoka insisted.
Kenichi stopped however and freed himself from her grip. Which made her stop as well and look back at him in shock as she started tearing up and began flailing at him.
"Are Big Boobs really that important to you!?" Honoka cried out. "Kenichi! I'm disappointed in you!"
"Hey, what are you saying?" Kenichi nervously looked away with a blush. "I don't know what the heck you're talking about. I'm here to learn Martial Arts, and that's it!" He insisted.
"Really? You don't sound too convincing." Ohma told him with his arms crossed.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, a man can balance pleasure and training just fine, that's what I do." Kensei consoled him.
"Will you guys just leave me alone!?" Kenichi snapped at them.
"Wow, so this must be what it's like to have a little sister, I'm so envious," Miu noted still smiling. "It's different than having a little Brother but looks just as fun."
"Actually, most guys prefer to have brothers because they're easier to get along with," Ohma informed her. "I guess a girl would prefer a sister though."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind having a younger sister," Kensei admitted. "I just have an older brother though."
"Really?" Ohma asked mildly surprised by this information.
"Apa! Apachai also have an older brother!" Apachai admitted.
"I actually have an older sister." Sakaki joined in.
"I was raised as an only child," Akisame added as well.
"Huh, learned something new about you guys," Ohma noted. "I was raised along with two others, I think I consider them my brothers."
"True, we should talk more often." Kensei agreed.
Meanwhile, Honoka was in the process of storming out. "I'll be back! Got it!" She yelled before she ran off.
"Oh no, you won't!" Kenichi shouted after her. "You little freak!"
"How sweet," Miu noted, holding a package. "I think she liked me, she gave me a gift."
"What did she say when she gave it to you?" Ohma asked.
"Well, she said her Mom wanted her to give me this." Miu then looked a bit confused. "But then she called me 'Top-heavy', wonder why?"
"Whelp, she's definitely Kenichi's Sister," Ohma commented.
"What?" Kenichi objected. "I am nothing like that freak!"
"Ha! You wish." Ohma chuckled.
Apachai poked the package and sniffed it. "Do Apachai smell sponge-cake?"
"You guys are so lucky," Miu noted happily. "What I wouldn't give to have a younger sibling, especially a cute little Sister like Honoka."
"Don't you have any siblings, Miu?" Kenichi asked curiously. "Actually, I've never even met your parents."
Miu became silent after hearing that and quietly confessed. "Well, I barely knew my parents, they both passed away when I was little. And well, the only family I have now is my Grandfather."
Kenichi gasped in complete shock when he heard that news. Ohma also looked surprised, but mostly kept his poker face.
Miu then nervously stepped back. "Uh, I've actually got a lot of chores to take care of so I'll talk to you later okay?" She then ran off. "Bye."
"Apa pa pa!" Apachai chanted.
"Ooohhh!" Sakaki made a comical sound.
Akisame just kept his chin down as Kensei scolded him. "So, were you born without a heart or did you sell it?"
"Whaaaat?!" Kenichi looked immediately regretful "Oh no! I had…No idea! Really! Please, believe me! I never would have said that!"
"Oh yeah?" Kensei went on. "Try telling that to Miu."
"Hey, don't say that!"
"Will you all SHUT UP!" Ohma yelled. Then everybody stopped.
Kenichi was then first to speak. "Hey, do you think I did something wrong?"
"Of course not," Ohma said truthfully. "She never dropped any hints or made you think that was the case so how could you have any way of knowing? It was a question anyone curious could have asked." He then narrowed his eyes at the Masters. "What isn't cool is jokingly making it worse."
Kensei raised up one of his hands. "Alright, no more. I suppose it was in bad taste."
"He's right you know?" Akisame addressed Kenichi. "It happened before she can even remember, it's the thought of memories she doesn't have that makes her sad."
Kenichi then looked upset. "Miu is so smart and beautiful and always smiling and not only is she talented at Martial Arts but amazing in Gymnastics as well but the truth is she hardly been able to enjoy a normal life because she has been stuck here in this Dojo." He said to no one. "She's been forced to cook and clean for these annoying men to keep this absurd Dojo from falling apart." He then fell to his knees in dismay. "And she experienced the love of her parents, she does so much but receives so little."
Kensei nodded at Kenichi's every word in agreement while Akisame looked confused, Sakaki looked insulted and Apachai looked sympathetic.
"Did he say 'absurd Dojo'?" Akisame asked with a bead of sweat.
"And 'annoying men'?" Sakaki asked with a tick mark on his forehead.
"You are annoying," Ohma told him with a shrug. "Can't help what you are."
"Poor Miu," Apachai said with a tear.
"Miu has lived a rather unusual life, to say the least." Akisame continued. "She spent most of her childhood travelling with her Grandfather, making pilgrimages throughout the country."
Kenichi looked surprised at that. "Making pilgrimages?" He repeated. "You mean she's been studying Martial Arts since she was only a child?"
Ohma, however, honed in on another part of that sentence. "Throughout the country?"
"You got it," Kensei confirmed Akisame's claim. "Elder knew her life would be tough without her parents so instead of spoiling her he chose to train her for all the difficulties she might have to endure."
Kenichi looked utterly taken aback by this information as it went completely went against what he assumed about Miu up until now. He then looked to Ohma. "Hey, Ohma."
"What is it?" Ohma asked.
"Can I ask you about something?" Kenichi requested.
Kenichi then led him outside and away from the Masters so that they could talk. Kenichi then looked at him with a serious yet uncomfortable expression.
"So what is that's got you so curious?" Ohma question, wondering what he wanted to ask.
"It's about Miu, but it involves you as well." Kenichi started.
Ohma raised a brow. "Me?"
"I…I always thought that geniuses were great at whatever they did, without even having the try." Kenichi admitted with guilt as he looked down at the ground. "That while you and Miu were so amazing and talented, I couldn't do anything without weeks of training, but was that wrong? Do geniuses actually work just as hard as ordinary people do?"
"What are you talking about?" Ohma asked with a frown, making Kenichi look up. "Are you insulting me? Do you have any idea what I have been through to get here?"
He continued. "I started at a higher level than most of my peers, yes and I improve faster than others true, but in both of those cases it doesn't mean I have been handed all this, I fought fights way beyond my league, got ass kicked a couple of times, almost died more times, broken and bedridden may times. Yet I love doing it and I still do."
Kenichi then placed a hand over his face. "If that's true then I'm an idiot, how could I just assume you guys are some kind of geniuses and not even consider how hard you've worked? I was too busy feeling sorry for myself." He realized. "I was just generalizing things because you always made it look so easy, it never occurred to me how much you guys worked longer than me."
"Well, to be frank, there are some prodigies like that," Ohma said remembering foggy memories of Wakatsuki; someone who was born with superhuman strength yet lost to the Fang. "They're ultra-rare but people who are unfairly good without training do exist, they were just born for it and outshine everyone without working a day." He explained. "But honestly, people like that who think they can reach the top with just their natural-born abilities are always destined to fail at some point, it's just a matter of when."
"But you and Miu are nothing like that, you'll never have to worry about failing because you always work hard every day." Kenichi then turned around. "I've gotta find Miu!"
Kenichi was about to run off but Ohma grabbed him by the shoulder. "And why do you need to find her?"
"I have to apologize to Miu!" Kenichi insisted.
"Apologize for what?" Ohmaasked, rolling his eyes. "Are you going to say 'I thought you were a genius who never works hard because I was feeling sorry for myself? How would she even process that?"
Kenichi stopped and thought about it. "Well, when I actually hear it out loud it does sound kinda weird."
"You don't have to apologize just for thinking something without knowing the facts, so don't make a big deal out of this," Ohma advised. "It's better to just let this go and get back to training, I'm sure Miu's already over what you said a few minutes ago by now."
Kenichi then looked like he was more relaxed. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, instead of using words, I'll prove I'm sorry by training even harder! He said more determined than before. "Even if I'm not a genius, if I work harder than anyone else, I'll definitely become a great Martial Artist."
Kenichi then ran back inside with an eagerness to continue his training as Ohma put his hands in his pockets and walked back inside himself as he thought. "He probably has a long way go, so long as Akisame doesn't break him before it."
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