Chapter 6 - Moving Up

Chapter 6

~

Sam, Chad, Nana and Yama made their way back to the gym after saying goodbye to Jonah and Vanessa, Coach John had sent them a message to just go on ahead of him since he wanted to catch up a bit with his friend.

As soon as she entered the gym, Nana was quick to go change to her workout outfit consisting of a black sports bra and sweat shorts in the same color before getting right back into training, though rather than the same routines she usually shifted between, she started occasionally incorporating more of her arms in her strikes.

Cycling between closed fist, open fist, wrist strikes, forearm strikes, elbow strikes and even using her shoulders to ram into the punching bag.

The three of them let out exasperated sighs in unison as an aura of resignation hung above them, they didn't even know why they expected her to relax, even if she fought her way through an entire tournament she was just as energetic as she was this morning.

Yama went to refill her water bottle and a couple of towels since she wouldn't remember to do so herself, sometimes even deliberately ignoring it since she didn't see it as something necessary.

Leaning against the reception desk Sam and Chad intently watched her shorter figure ferociously striking at the almost new punching bag, having had to periodically change it since it was worn out so fast, at the spot she usually trained in, the whole gym having basically designated it as 'hers' by this point.

Even if someone for some reason wanted it, she was already there when the first member arrived at the gym and was also there when the last one left.

"What made you change your mind about her going to central?" Chad asked idly as his gaze continued tracing Nana's figure burning it into his mind now that he could.

"I just realised that it wasn't such a big thing. Even if we can't see eye to eye everyday, we can still video call, call, message and even visit her, right? It's not like she's moving to the moon or something. Not to mention, she will probably learn alot over there. Jonah and the princess seemed like rich kids so if he's going to the gym, it's probably filled with top of the line stuff." Sam shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, she felt lighter than ever before now that she knew that Nana held the same affection she did for her, for them.

"Probably, yeah... I hope she punches their punching bags off their hinges every other day. It's unfair for only us to know the torment of getting new ones all the time." Chad mumbled venomously and chuckled like a gremlin at the thought of indirectly unleashing Nana on them.

"Stop that, it's creepy as hell." Sam took a big step away from Chad who was hunched over rubbing his hands together with a weird smile, an expression of repulsion appearing on her face.

"Kekekekeke, they shall know torment!" Chad ignored her and played it up even more.

Sam directed a deadpanned expression at the idiot she called her best friend before she had a wonderful idea, slowly reaching over the counter to get her phone she discreetly started recording him messing around.

He would regret this later, she would make sure of it.

A few hours later a few gym members were scattered throughout the building toiling away when Coach John finally got back, carrying a small box under his arm.

"Oh, you're back?" Sam who was leaning back in her chair with her feet on the desk messing with her phone raised an eyebrow when she saw him coming through the door.

"Yup." Coach John placed the box on the counter before he removed his outdoor clothes.

"What's that?" Sam asked curiously as she eyed it in interest, it was a black box made up of a weird material that when she ran her finger along it's surface gave her a feeling of it vibrating in place for some reason. Two stripes of white also wrapped all the way around it crossing over the top forming a + while a small button sat in it's center.

"Ah... Well. You see, my friend has apparently worked alongside a group of people researching vr technology with some degree of success over the past few years. There was a few problems with sharp and sudden movements destabilizing the test environments they made at first and they think they've finally fixed it." Coach John started explaining as he hung up his jacket after which he walked back to the counter and continued. "It has worked without problems so far but they want to make doubly sure so they asked all the current participants to invite anyone who was 'not a normal human', the odder the better apparently."

"Vr?" Sam questioned in interest, she didn't think someone had actually managed to recreate it, it was basically a research project built on fiction.

"Yeah, I was surprised aswell. It started because of some ultra big shot being enamored with the idea of a digital world and chucked literal mountains of funding at anyone willing undertake the task."

"Damn, that's cool. Won't people take advantage of it though?"

"Some people tried at first but apparently they mysteriously 'disappeared' after showing no intentions of actually taking it on."

"...I guess a nerd's wrath is pretty scary if you've got unlimited money and countless contacts."

"No kidding. Either way, the actual project initially began about a decade ago with early models only being sight and sound based using a headset with projector glasses allowing you to 'enter' another world, but he wasn't satisfied with just that and pushed for full body transferance. Most people thought it was impossible until they had a breakthrough a few years ago and somehow succeeded in making the impossible, possible."

"Wait, are you serious!? That's actually possible?" Sam's jaw dropped in shock, the early models weren't particularly special in her mind, she didn't think it would be immersive enough to be fun, however, full body transference was basically sci-fi territory.

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction at first, too."

"Is it going public? The guy must be pretty bored playing by himself, right?" Sam abruptly stood up and asked eagerly as her mind was filled with thoughts of entering a fantasy world filled with magic and dragons.

"Yeah, that's the plan. At least from what my friend could gather, they're pretty tight about information since they don't want to 'disappear'."

"Uh huh, anyway, is there a release date or something?" Sam ignored his words, her attention only lasting long enough to hear 'yeah' before excitement coursed through her body making her giddy with anticipation.

"Nothing concrete yet."

"Tsk. Anyway, I assume this thing is a vr console, right? Why do you have one?"

"Oh, yeah. She called me a few weeks ago asking if anyone from the gym fit her directives of as far from the average human as possible and a certain someone immediately popped up in my mind." Coach John hummed, ending with a wry smile on his face.

"...Oh." Sam deadpanned. Nana was practically a perfect fit for their requirements.

"Yep. She was at the tournament because she's a bit hardheaded and likes to confirm things with her own eyes. Nana's showing was apparently up to her standards and she also felt that she would be a suitable addition. I had to stay back to sign a few papers and a copy of the contract."

"Can she even sign contracts yet? Isn't she too young?" Sam asked in confusion.

"After I explained Nana's situation she made a call and they proposed making her a legal identity and everything that it involved on top of assigning anyone she wanted as her legal guardian."

Sam let out an impressed whistle. They had tried to get Nana an identity before, but they were stuck since she apparently didn't appear on any database they checked and her dna came up with zero matches, it was like she just appeared out of nowhere.

Despite this, getting her a legal identity was only a side benefit of the contract which in itself displayed the amount of pull the people behind it commanded.

"If she accepts, I'm sure Yama will be more than happy to fulfill that role." Sam mused to herself. She didn't think of herself as a suitable legal guardian for Nana, imagining herself more like a cool aunt or something, and Chad would have to step over her cold dead body if he wanted to take the spot.

"My thoughts exactly." Coach John nodded in agreement.

"She's moving to central in 3 days though, will that be a problem?"

"That's totally fi-" Coach John spoke on autopilot before his mind caught up, and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh, why?"

"The kid who fought Nana in her first match invited her to some Silverscale Gym and since he seemed rich, it's probably much better than anything we have here." Sam briefly explained as she idly poked at the box while Coach John choked on his spit as he heard something extremely surprising.

"D-Did you say Silverscale Gym?" Coach John's eyes were on the verge of popping out of his skull by this point.

"Yeah, why? Do you know about it?" Sam asked curiously, wanting to know more about where Nana would be training in the future. She had searched around a bit but there was barely any information online other than fancy words saying 'this is the best', 'we are unbeatable', 'if your spoiled kids wants to learn fighting, come to us' and so on.

She was honestly wondering if she made the right choice, the gym wouldn't be full packed with pretentious assholes, right?

"Do I know about it? It's the most well known gym in G city!"

"Huh. What's so special about it, then?"

"The Chambers family, one of the city's economical titans bought the gym about a decade ago just because their son wanted the 'authentic' boxing gym experience rather than the privately owned gym he used before. His instructors also followed along, all of which are legends in their own rights. It's practically like a holy ground to aspiring fighters. Unfortunately, while entering the gym is the easy part, actually getting one of the instructors' attention is the hard part."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same gym? Everything I could find about it online makes it look like a hotspot for pompous pricks."

"I don't know either to be honest. I heard some rumors of his sister designing the gym's website but I'm not sure if they're true." Coach John scratched the back of his head, he had also been confused the first time he saw it.

"..." Sam turned silent as she thought back to that embodiment of annoyance...

"They're true." Sam concluded simply.

"...How do you know?" Coach John asked weirdly.

"We met them and the sister is an absolute bitch with a pole the length of a skyscraper shoved up her ass." Sam spat, annoyed just thinking about her.

"...You met them?"

"Yeah? They were at the tournament... It was the first kid Nana beat up. Didn't you hear the owner announcing 'Jonah Chambers'?"

"...I wasn't really listening."

"..."

"Whatever. Anyway, Nana is moving to central in 3 days, can she still participate in the project?" Even if she couldn't join, Sam was hoping Nana would tell her how it felt at least. She was extremely curious.

"I don't really think it matters, but I'll give them a call just in case." Coach John palmed his phone and stepped out of the gym, returning a couple of minutes later. "They said it wouldn't change anything since where you 'logged in' wouldn't have any effects whatsoever."

"Cool, let's ask her then. Nana!" Sam shouted, gesturing for Nana to come over when she stopped going at the punching bag and looked at her curiously.

A few seconds later Nana stood in front of the desk, dripping in sweat as she tilted her head inquisitively.

"Well, it's like this-" Sam proceeded to explain the offer and eventually called Chad over to take a look at the contract together since he was better at that stuff due his growing influence in the world of economics.

Fortunately there was nothing sketchy in the contract being pretty straightforward actually, without all the fancy words it could basically be summed up to: Don't let anyone else use the vr device and do as many ridiculous physical feats as possible upon entering the vr world. Which was pretty much it, the rest being the benefits she would receive, one of them being an exclusive beta-access to all the games they may create in the future.

"What do you say, Nana? Do you wanna give it a go?" Chad asked while holding the contract, doing another quick scan just in case he missed anything.

Nana didn't really care about the benefits she would get or her nonexistant legal identity, however, looking at Sam's expectant face, Chad's expression of interest and thinking that Yama would be happy to officially be her legal guardian she eventually nodded.

They called over Yama who was beyond overjoyed at the opportunity and instantly agreed.

After contacting her future employers about her accepting, they followed up with a few questions and about 30 minutes of waiting later, Nana now actually existed on official channels. Apparently they had alot of freedom in what they could do since when they requested a surname to put on her ID, Nana didn't have anything in mind and when she asked if she could just choose one later they just went 'sure, why not?' and shrugged.

The next three days Nana took her first break in training ever since she had started and spent most of her time with Sam and Chad, going to the arcade, getting groceries and cooking up a feast, and watching movies together.

Though they also packed everything that Nana would take with her which wasn't all that much. Her hoodie and blanket which she staunchly refused to part with, her custom made mouthguard, a few sets of clothes and her workout outfit. Other than that was also a phone Sam had bought her containing both her's and Chad's number while Chad had bought her a pair of new shoes since her old ones were pretty worn out and a few sturdy hair ties.

She also had the vr console, of course.

Sam's foot tapped idly as she leaned against the gym with her arms stretched around Nana who was holding the box in her hands in a hug. Glancing at her watch and seeing 08:58 staring back at her, her eyes narrowed.

"Where are they?" Sam grumbled impatiently as she looked around, searching for a fancy car or something.

"Maybe they got stuck in traffic or something?" Chad guessed with a shrug as Yama emerged from the gym carrying his old, but now much cleaner, bag over his shoulder. It was still prefectly fine despite the wear and tear so he didn't see the need to buy a new one.

"Hmph, excuses. If he's not here on time I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind." Sam scoffed.

Fortunately for Jonah, the roaring of a monstrous engine suddenly appeared about a minute later, growing louder and louder before a car pulled around the corner. It was a menacing pitch black color, the whole car covered in armor plates giving off the feeling of a moving fortress as it made it's way through the street stopping in front of the gym a few seconds later.

"...What the hell is that?" Sam deadpanned as she looked at the cross between a tank and an SUV standing in front of her.

"Conquest Knightmare XVI, it's an ultra fancy SUV inspired by military trucks, it could probably shrug off a rocket launcher and still be driveable while the inside is apparently extremely luxurious, everyone wealthy enough to buy it wants one. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Chambers family got a hold of one, even if only 10 of them were ever produced." Chad rambled absentmindedly as he looked at the car with sparkling eyes.

As the car turned off Jonah quickly opened the door and jumped down, walking over to them as he waved.

"Sup!" Glancing down at his phone he smiled as he proudly displayed the screen showing 08:59. "I made it in time!"

"Hmph, just barely." Sam huffed at him before looking down at Nana and tightening her hug making her look up at her.

"Go say goodbye to Coach John and Chad first, I want the last hug." Sam smiled as she raised her hand to gently pinch her still slightly pudgy cheek, some baby fat persisting despite her activity.

Nana nodded and put down the vr console on her bag after Sam loosened her arms and went to give Coach John, who just came out of the gym when he noticed the car arriving, a hug.

"I'm sure you'll do great over there Nana. The next time I see you, I'm half convinced it'll be on a tv screen knocking people out." He chuckled as he returned her hug, he had a feeling that Nana would be making some waves even if he didn't think she'd do so deliberately.

A few seconds later she moved on to Chad who picked her up in a big hug lifting her off of the sidewalk. "Make sure you give anyone annoying an extra punch for me, you'll probably meet alot of them over there. Bonus points if you wreck their equipment." He laughed loudly, his face softening as he looked down at the little girl's usually dull face now carrying a few points of reluctance.

Setting her down again he gave her an encouraging pat on the head and gently nudged her towards Sam who's eyes had reddened slightly.

Nana had only taken her first step when she was engulfed in a massive hug, Sam's arms circling around her in a tight hold as she buried her face in the crook of Nana's neck. Apparently she wasn't as ready to separate as she thought she was, her buried feelings bursting out as a sense of urgency filled her now that it was actually happening.

Nana blinked slowly, feeling a few tears landing on her collarbone. Looking down at the purple haired woman she had known for more than half of her life, someone who had taken care of her for alot of that time even. Seeing her trying to stiffle her small cries as her tensed body radiated reluctance and sorrow she...

She didn't really know what she felt.

...

What she did know however, was that she didn't like it very much.

Her mind spun countless times faster than a human's as she tried to figure out a way to make her feel better, to make her go back to her usual self. Unfortunately, Nana didn't know how to comfort someone. She never had a desire for such knowledge and she didn't see the need to go looking for it either, much to her current chagrin.

Eventually she just decided to do what felt the most right to her.

Raising a hand Nana began gently massaging Sam's back in comforting circle motions while putting the other one on her head, tenderly running her fingers through her soft hair.

Closing her eyes, Nana took a small breath and paused for a few seconds before she started humming softly.

Sam was surprised by Nana's sudden actions and unconsciously froze up. Though not long after, she was shocked when she heard a very pleasant humming next to her ear. Although there was no mistaking the source as a young person Nana's voice was unusually charming.

Despite her not talking alot, when she did, they had never noticed any side effects like raspiness or hoarseness.

When she heard her humming however, Sam discovered that Nana's voice possessed an alluringly smoky quality to it that made her want to listen to it forever. This combined with her already full voice and the usual monotone she spoke with bleeding into it created a distinctly unique sound that she found listening to addictive.

Sam closed her eyes and exhaled deeply as she indulged in Nana's comforting embrace and bewitching voice enveloping her in a soothing warmth as her formerly tensed body slowly relaxed, her previously overwhelming feelings dissipating as if they were never there.

Nana continued her ministrations for the next couple of minutes, eventually slowing her efforts along with her humming when she felt Sam's body being sufficiently relaxed enough to satisfy her and slowly opened her eyes again.

"...Are you sure you want to continue fighting, Nana? If you became a singer or voice actor I'd become an ultra simp for you, you know? I'm actually kinda scared of what you will sound like in a few years." Sam's voice was heard a few seconds later, slightly muffled due to her speaking into Nana's budding chest.

"You comfortable down there Sam?" Chad raised an eyebrow as he asked jokingly, snapping out of the daze Nana's voice ensnared him into. He was also very surprised when she started humming and inwardly nodded along with Sam's words.

"Shut up." Sam shot back as she lethargically stood up again, a light sigh of reluctance involuntarily escaping her at the loss of warmth Nana's body provided, it was seriously like her body just didn't care about the weather.

"Well, I guess you should get going Nana." Sam said still slightly reluctant and gave her a quick hug while Jonah made gestured prompting a heavily muscled man to get out of the passenger side of the car and fetched Nana's newly bought bag and put it in the trunk along with the vr console, going back for Yama's after he was done.

"Remember to call whenever you miss us, okay? Also, don't skip showering after your training just because I'm not there to keep an eye on you, I'll be asking Yama for updates so don't think you can be lazy. Also, don't trust strangers. Maybe you can look for a hobby or two aswell? Also-" Sam rambled on with a serious expression, she knew Nana could be a bit clueless so she had to make sure... just in case.

"...She's gonna be here for another hour if you continue." Chad rolled his eyes with crossed arms.

"-And if someone is annoying you, just punch them. If that doesn't work you can aim a kick between their legs." Sam adviced 'kindly' while directing a close-eyed smile at Chad who stiffened up as a cold shiver shot through his body and instantly turned away trying to look like he was intently inspecting a particularly interesting brick.

"Lastly... You will always have a home to return to with us, no matter what. So go wild over there." Sam promised gently before an unruly smile appeared on her face at the end of her sentence, playfully ruffling Nana's hair before taking a few steps back.

Nana climbed up on the car's skirt ledge and paused as she turned her head and looked at Sam, Chad and Coach John standing together in front of the Dieseldunk Gym waving at her. In her eyes the scene seemed almost glowing as gentle sunlight streamed down from above highlighting the tenderness in their postures despite trying not to show it.

Memories of her time at the gym surrounded by their kindness and care, memories of her first time going to an arcade, her first time cooking and the pleasant surprise coloring their features when they tasted it.

Memories of Sam showing her new things through pictures, videos and stories, memories of Chad's neverending encouragement from the first time she tried boxing up until now, and memories of Coach John meticulously introducing new concepts and tricks, making sure she really understood what was taught before moving onto the next.

When Nana snapped out of her daze, her gaze intently engraving the scene before her into her mind, her usually blank expression slowly pulled into an although very small simple-natured smile, it was full of sincerity, happiness and innocence making her glow brighter than the sun, and gave a small wave before entering the car.

Yama also gave a deep bow towards the three of them and also the gym behind them. This gym and the people in it had given both him and Nana a new lease on life, something he was incredibly grateful for.

Holding the position, he straightened up a few seconds later and gave them another nod before entering the car behind Nana, Jonah quickly joining them and closed the door behind him, the car starting and taking off as soon as he did.

The three stood frozen in place as Nana's first smile remained at the forefront of their minds.

"Hey..."

"Huh?" Chad snapped out of it when he heard Sam mumble next to him and turned his head to look at her to see her head drooping, her expression hidden from view by her hair.

"...She doesn't really need to go to central, right?" She muttered.

"Sam...?" Chad felt a weird feeling starting to emit from Sam and hesitantly got closer to hear what she was whispering about.

"My baby smiled at me... I kinda don't want her to smile at anyone else... Can't I just go take her back? Central has much tighter security though..."

"..."

Chad slowly retreated back into the gym.

---

A couple of days later, Sam who was listlessly lying on the receptionist counter scrolling through a few photos of Nana and listening to a clip of humming she managed to convince Nana to send her felt a tap on her shoulder and sluggishly reached up to remove her headphones and looked up to see a face she recognized.

"Oh... What do you want?" She asked lethargically, her eyes shifting back to her phone.

"I'm here to extend the offer of training the little girl in my discipline of martial arts." Somchai stated solemnly with a serious countenance, standing straight as an iron pole with his hands clasped behind his back.

"You're too late, buddy." Sam drawled flatly.

"What do you mean?" Somchai questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"She got kidnapped by a big black truck and dragged off to central."

"What!?" Somchai's eyes widened in shock. She got kidnapped!?

"Have you notified the authorities?" He asked as his mind spun rapidly, he knew a few people that could probably find her despite the massive area they'd have to search and was just about to give them a call when another voice spoke up tiredly.

"Sam... I get that you miss her, everyone does, but kidnapped? Really? The guy looks like he's about to bolt to central to look for her himself." Chad had a wry smile on his face as an exasperated sigh escaped him. Since Nana's departure, Sam had turned into a sad zombie.

"What really happened?" Somchai asked sternly with a slight frown as he realised that he may have overreacted due to misinformation.

"Oh, uh... Somchai right?" Chad scratched his head as he tried to remember, continuing when Somchai nodded his head in confirmation. "The Jonah kid that Nana fought in the tournament invited her to a gym in central to continue her training since she's been starting to stagnate by staying here. She learns best by example and she's currently the best boxer out of everyone here."

"...I see." Somchai pondered to himself as he rubbed his chin in thought. "May I ask the name of the gym she will be training at?"

"Silvescale Gym."

"The one owned by the Chambers family, yes?"

"That's the one."

"Hmmm..." Somchai hummed slightly before giving them a small nod. "Thank you." Turning around he left the gym and retrieved his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his contact list, finding the name he remembered offering him the position of an instructor for their gym a few months ago.

Pressing the call button, he only had to wait for a few seconds before an amiable but serious voice answered.

"Victoria Chambers speaking."

"Mrs. Chambers."

"Master Somchai? To what do I owe the honor?"

"I have reconsidered your previous offer."

"Truly? How splendid. Give me just a minute, please."

Somchai heard the shuffling of papers and a few muffled voices through the call followed by the clinking of high heels and a door opening and closing, Victoria's voice returning not too long after.

"Apologies, I had to excuse myself from a meeting." She explained politely making Somchai raise an eyebrow, if she herself was in attendance he was sure it wasn't just a normal meeting. Both Mr and Mrs. Chambers were surprisingly family oriented compared to most of their peers, having mulitple very competent and loyal employees who took care of most things so they could spend more time with their children, only tending to important matters that required their presence.

Despite this however, to their competitors' eternal conundrum, their companies were squeaky clean with not an ounce of dirt to be found anywhere on the ladder from top to bottom.

In lieu of this, some had of course tried fabricating scandals and such, it was just that it never seemed to stick for long enough to actually affect their reputation.

On the contrary, everyone acting against them with malicious intent seemed to quickly have their dirty secrets brought to light no matter how well hidden they may be in retaliation, multiple rival companies having been systematically dismantled and torn apart due to their scheming.

What made everyone else breath a sigh of relief however was that they didn't seem to want to occupy the market, leaving more than enough space for others to rise up. With that said, the quality of their products and their stellar public reputation pushed anyone with subpar wares out of business, indirectly forcing everyone else to improve their goods or go bankrupt.

The gradually improving standards of everything on the market since their rise was a big part of why most people loved them and remained loyal customers.

Either way, Mrs. Chambers excusing herself from a presumably important meeting merely because of the chance of him accepting the role of an instructor to further her son's skills was very admirable in his eyes. Though what he didn't know was that Victoria was just as big of a fan of boxing and martial arts in general as Jonah, maybe even moreso.

"No worries."

"Now then, you changed your mind regarding the instructor position?"

"That is correct."

"Good, good. I take it you still have access to the contract I offered originally?"

"I do, yes. However, I want to add a few conditions regarding time allocation."

"Oh? Could this be related to the reason you reconsidered?" Victoria's curious voice sounded from his phone prompting him to continue.

"It is."

"How interesting, would you care to tell me about it?"

"I would. However, I have a funny feeling you might already know about it."

"Ah, was I discovered? Fufufu." Somchai heard her let out a playful chuckle.

"I admit I didn't find anything odd at first, nevertheless that many trained combatants attending a junior boxing tournament is very unusual no matter how you put it."

"Hoh, you spotted them? Very impressive, it seems your reputation preceeds you, Master Somchai. I would have difficulty distinguishing between them and the average person myself."

"I'm glad I didn't disappoint. Although I wasn't the first to notice, unfortunately." Somchai responded politely. He had seen the little girl's eyes wandering around the crowd, roaming over the guards multiple times.

Though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised she was the first to spot subtle differences in both stance and body. He only even noticed it because her gaze repeatedly wandered to a handful of people scattered throughout the crowd.

It stood out so much because to him, the little girl was fairly apathetic to her surroundings until something actually caught her attention.

"Hm?" Victoria hummed in slight disbelief, someone not only discovered them but also did so before an incredibly skilled martial artist?

"Who?"

"I presume you already know about your son inviting the little girl he fought to your gym?"

"Mhmm." Victoria's thoughts wandered back to the recording of the match one of the guards had sent her showing her son's punches ineffectively landing on his smaller opponent who only improved throughout the fight, even doing that stance copying stunt and actually being half decent in using it by the end of the third round.

"I only noticed because her eyes kept drifting to them."

"Really?" Victoria's eyes widened in shock. "You're just messing with me, right?" Although she didn't think he was the type to joke around, she found it hard to believe. Her guards had been trained in both combat and how to blend in with a crowd to remain unseen since they were just starving kids wandering the streets.

Although she would admit that the little girl was a monster in terms of fighting, she still found it hard to believe someone so young could pinpoint them.

"I take it you haven't met her in person yet?"

"Not yet. My husband has taken an interest in a research group working on vr technology and wants to sponsor them with some more advanced facilities to speed up their progress. He's convinced it'll blow everything else out of the waters if it's released to the public so we're a bit busy ironing out the kinks in the cooperation agreement." Victoria readily explained since she didn't see the point of keeping it secret. She wasn't as interested in games as her husband was so she didn't understand why he was so confident, but apparently actual vr games were incredibly popular in fiction.

"I see. I'm sure you will discover why she could spot your guards if you watch her closely enough." Somchai decided to not tell her, feeling a more comfortable now that the air of seriousness had dissipated somewhat. He was usually polite, but even he got tired speaking so formally for prolonged periods of time.

"Eeeh~ You won't tell me?" Victoria whined playfully as her curiosity towards the little girl only grew the more she got to know about her.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Even if I say please?"

"I'm immune to that word." The both of them chuckled slightly at their back and forth before deciding to get back to business.

"Anyway, do you have a finished contract with the changes that you want to implement ready to go?"

"Not yet, I'll probably have it revised in a few hours. I'll send it to you before tonight."

"Wonderful, happy cooperation." Victoria already felt that she had a decent grasp on Somchai's character and was about 90% sure he wouldn't add something outrageous to the contract and had already decided to accept it.

"Likewise."

---

During the car ride lasting multiple hours, Nana preoccupied herself with trying to puzzle out how her new phone worked with the assistance of Vanessa who surprisingly enough took the initiative to help her out making Jonah look at her weirdly. Although he knew that she wasn't as bad as she normally came off as, she was by no means a person who would help someone she didn't already know on some level.

When Vanessa who was currently showing Nana how to use the search function, not knowing that she couldn't write by herself, saw Jonah giving her an odd look she froze up slightly before fakely coughing into her arm.

"What's with that stare? I can be helpful too!" She shouted in justification while Jonah just stayed silent, continuing to observe her judgementally making her start sweating nervously as her eyes darted around the cabin trying to think of an excuse.

"Hmph, starting to doubt your own big sister now?" Coming up with nothing she eventually decided just to unsuccessfully try and change the subject.

"..."

"Now that I think about it, didn't mom tell me you hoped I would be a girl because you wanted a little sister before?" Jonah's eyes suddenly narrowed a bit as he directed a penetrating stare her way while Vanessa was slightly startled when she heard his question.

"..."

"...No?" She protested unconvincingly as she turned her head away from him.

"Uh huh... Sure..." Jonah replied flatly with a deadpan expression on his face as he saw her unconsciously grabbing Nana's hand and started softly pinch her fingers to distract herself, trying to make herself look busy.

"Anyway!" Vanessa suddenly shouted a few seconds later as she leveled him with a commanding glare that lost all it's sternness when he saw her still not letting go of Nana's hand. "I'm trying to teach Na- this girl how to use her phone so don't disturb us anymore." She promptly ordered before turning her body away from him and towards Nana who had lost interest when they started arguing, trying to regain her attention.

"Urgh." Jonah let out a groan as he facepalmed. Was his sister getting stolen from him? Actually... now that he thought about it, maybe this was a blessing in disguise? On top of a monstrous sparring partner that he felt would quickly catch up to him in terms of skills being readily available, she was also a magnet attracting his sister's attention away from him which meant he could train for longer periods of time without her nagging at him to take a rest...

While Jonah was contemplating ways to keep his sister focused on Nana as much as possible, Yama was trying his best to not move, at all if possible. Although he had long since left the streets behind him, even before that he had never been in close contact to such an expensive... anything before really.

Although he felt that Nana wouldn't even care about the difference between crouching beside him behind the dumpster where they had first met or sitting in this car that probably cost tens of millions of credits, something that he confirmed with a quick glance and seeing her still acting as unconcerned with her surroundings as she always did, Yama's whole body in contrast to Nana's had been extremely tense ever since he stepped foot in the car.

He unconsciously fiddled with his pants leg while nervously wiping away the sweat that just wouldn't stop running down his body, his back already drenched. He sat on the edge of his seat, high-strung to the extreme, scared of accidentally breaking something.

He tried distracting himself by looking out of the window and saw the car gradually leaving the middle layer consisting of slightly older buildings sporting signs of wear and tear giving it the feeling of being well lived, which it was. Although most of the population liked to refer to the city in 'rings' there wasn't that much of a difference in terms of the environment itself.

Starting from the outer ring, the closer to the center you got the higher the buildings got, the cleaner the streets were, the tighter the security, the richer the people, the more well taken care of the infrastructure was and so on, but it wasn't like it was unlivable on the edges of G City. There were actually a few shelters for the homeless set up even, something that couldn't be said for alot of other cities.

Yama had had a short stay in M City and if you weren't already established economically or socially, you were practically worth less than dirt, he had an incredibly difficult time during his stay and despite only remaining there for about a week he regularly saw cases of kidnappings, murder, suicide, betrayal and trafficking happening in broad daylight.

Even with all of this, the authorities didn't care unless you could either pay them to act, the meticulousness depending on the sum, or you were important enought that they'd get in trouble for remaining inactive. He truly pitied those that either couldn't or wouldn't move away from there for various reasons.

G City's more benevolent environment was also what convinced him of trying to get a job and possibly settle down, something he successfully did, on top of accidentally taking in the little treasure that was Nana's presence in his life.

There was also something he was a bit worried about. Although he very rarely spent money outside of necessities and had a decent sum of credits saved up, he didn't know if he and Nana would be able to survive on it for long enough for him to find another job due to central's prices being much higher than in the outer ring due to a combination of higher quality and unecessarily luxurious additions.

Yama really couldn't bring himself to understand why a normal t-shirt with a luxurious brand mark plastered onto it would add up to thousands of credits to the price.

Well, he had never been in central before either, but he didn't think it would be completely void of more manageable accomodations.

Seeing as his worries wouldn't solve themselves and he didn't really have anything else to do, he decided to just ask someone more knowledgeable.

"Excuse me, Jonah?"

"Hmm? Yeah, what's up?"

"I just have a few questions if you wouldn't mind."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well um... I have never been to central before so I was wondering if there were more 'affordable' accomodations available."

"Oh... I mean, yeah? It's not like there's only super rich people in central, you know? It may look like that from the outside, but there's plenty of just well off middle to upper class families who run their own apartment complexes and such."

"I see. That's good, then." Yama breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you curious about central, Yama?" Jonah asked inquisitively.

"No... I mean, yes. Um..." Yama scratched his temple and sighed slightly as his shoulders slumped. "I was just worried about being unable to find a place where Nana and I could stay. Although I have a bit of credits saved up it'll probably be quickly depleted." He currently had about 243,000 credits saved up from roughly 6 years of working. What if a single night at a hotel cost something ridiculous like 10,000 credits? That was barely 24 days, not to mention food.

"Huh?" Jonah looked at him weirdly before suddenly realising he probably forgot to tell them about his arrangements. He may have grown up in central, but his stints through the outer ring allowed him to have a clearer picture about the difference in between them. Although he didn't know how much Yama and Nana had saved up, he wasn't about to drag them to central and then just leave them on the side of the road or something.

"You don't have to worry about that, the Silverscale Gym has an apartment complex attached to it since there's a school nearby, you two can just live there as long as you want." Jonah waved nonchalantly. If they had to go house hunting all day, when would Nana have time to spar with him?

"Um... as nice as that sounds, are you sure you can decide just like that?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Won't you have to take it up with the gym's management or something?"

"I mean, you're technically talking to the management right now? My family owns the gym, you know." Jonah explained casually while Yama promptly choked on his spit. That was news to him, alright!? The only thing he knew about the Silverscale Gym was that it was incredibly established, basically seen as 'The' gym to go to from Coach John.

"I-I see." He let out dryly, it seems he and Nana stumbled across someone pretty important. Although he probably should've gathered from the car, Jonah was very down to earth compared to his image of rich folk so he found himself forgetting occasionally.

"Yeah, man. I've got it covered. Can't have my new sparring partner waste time looking for a house, right?"

Yama nodded at him gratefully, relaxing slightly as his biggest worry disappeared. Glancing out the window and seeing the cityscape passing by, he found himself entering a daze as the car descended into a comfortable silence only broken up by Vanessa whispering instructions to Nana adding onto the tranquil atmosphere.

A few hours later Yama was knocked out of his thoughts when he felt the car coming to a stop.

"Oh, we're finally here." Jonah idly noted after glancing out the window, quickly unbuckling his belt and got out of the car.

Yama followed at a more sedate pace. Getting down with the help of the skirt ledge Yama looked up to see a massive building you could almost mistake for a large mall. The whole building was covered in a solid black color broken up by ivory white pillars surrounding the rectangular building holding up the roof which extended a meter or two further than the walls.

Something that stood out to Yama was that there were barely any windows, he could see a small row of horizontally placed glass panes but you could barely see inside. What stood out the most however, was the massive dragon statue on top of the roof. It was a dignified western dragon covered in lustrous silver scales who's 7 limbs seemed to protectively wind around the building while it's gigantic head glared down at the gym's entrance as if warning others against approaching.

Large ferociously styled letters spelling out 'Silverscale' and 'Gym' hung above the entrance on an enormous silver dragon's tail which snaked around the building's front.

While Yama's eyes widened in awe at the majestic building that practically radiated imperial might only made even more impressive by the piercing slitted dragon eyes glaring down at him, Jonah saddled up next to him with a smug expression.

"It's awesome, right?" Jonah questioned with an expectant face full of anticipation, like a child excitedly showing something they did.

"It... It is certainly a very impressive sight indeed."

"I know, right!?" Jonah laughed cheerfully as he happily started patting Yama on the back. "I designed it myself when I was only 8 years old!" He exclaimed proudly, puffing up like a peacock as he basked in Yama's awe. Unfortunately, Jonah's moment of glory was interrupted by a disdainful snort from behind them.

"Hmph, your 'reference' looked more like a lump of coal with a stickbug on top of it, your should be glad your mother had the sense to hire a proper architect to make sense of your doodling, kid. "

"Hey, that's not true!" Jonah protested in outrage and whirled around. Yama also turned around and saw a man about 190cm tall with short black hair, faded sides and blonde highlights standing with his arms crossed and an unimpressed expression on his face. He wore a tight black shirt hugging a lean wiry build of compact muscles and maneuverable black cargo pants fastened with a belt on his legs with blocky white sneakers on his feet.

"Sure it's not, continue lyin' to yourself." The man scoffed at him. "Either way, I guess you're done messing around for now. You better not have slacked off the 2 weeks you were away." He warned as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

*Cough* "Of course I haven't, ahahaha..." Jonah's eyes widened like a deer in headlights before he quickly looked away. Even if he did want to train, he had barely just healed from Nana's beating so he couldn't really help slacking off. Not that any of his instructors would accept his excuse.

"What the hell are you even going to tournaments in the outer ring for? Anyone worth anything is probably already in the middle ring either way." He really couldn't understand why Jonah was so insistent on fucking around in the outer ring, it's just a waste of time.

"Aha! See, that's where you're wrong! And I have proof!" Jonah shouted confidently with a proud face and hastily made his way back into the car. "Wait here."

The man frowned to himself before his eyes landed on Yama. "Who're you supposed to be?" He asked standoffishly.

"Ah... I'm-" Yama stiffly began, about to introduce himself when he was saved from the man's glare by Jonah returning from fetching Nana, carrying her by the armpits like a cat.

Running over he stopped in front of the man and lifted Nana in front of him like he was showing off. "Look." Jonah assuredly held her up to the man who raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the little girl, scruffy black hair in a ponytail, half-lidded black eyes encased in a ring of green with weird markings below them wearing a plain black hoodie with it's sleeves rolled up and large shorts.

"The hell am I supposed to be lookin' at, kid?" He eventually questioned with a scrunched up face.

"Nana here, beat me up in a boxing tournament!" Jonah declared proudly, he felt no shame in admitting his loss.

"...You fuckin' with me, right? The girl looks half asleep."

"Huh?" Jonah turned her around and saw that she had her usual vacant expression on her face. "No she's not? Are you sure your eyes aren't going bad Master Chang-hoon? You're getting older, you know?" He mocked.

Chang-hoon's face darkened to an inky black as he stared totally unamused at Jonah who was trying and failing to hide his irritating giggles and had the urge to give him a solid kick to remind him not to mess with his taekwondo instructor who got paid to kick the shit out of him on a regular basis.

Though his eye caught something odd. The moment the thought of sending a kick at his stupid disciple drifted through his mind the little girl blinked, her previously murky indifferent eyes regaining some clarity and looked at him with a bit of curiousity.

"Hmm? Whad'ya want?" Raising an eyebrow Chang-hoon stared back down at her, though blinked in confusion when she went back to vacantly staring into the air a few seconds later.

"Why'd you bring a girl back with you anyway?" He turned to Jonah who had calmed down and asked with a frown. He didn't buy his sorry excuse about her beating him in a fight. It's probably another one of his 'genius' ideas to make them let him get away with slacking off.

"She really did beat me!"

His stupid disciple stubbornly protested, did he take him for an idiot? He and the others had trained him since he was a toddler and although he'd probably be locked into just punching in a boxing match, there's no way anyone his age could beat him fairly. Not to mention someone who looked to be younger than him by a couple of years.

Chang-hoon felt his temper starting to bubble up, although he respected humility, Jonah shouting and insisting that he lost was basically spitting on his and the other instructors' years of teaching and imparted experiences.

The idea of kicking him into the next century was getting more and more pleasing to the eye and as he unconsciously subtly shifted his weight distribution due to decades of ingrained muscle memory he suddenly paused in place. Glancing at the little girl's eyes which had once again slightly cleared leveling him a curious stare his eyes widened slightly while he internally supressed his shock.

Did she see him gearing up? How the hell!? He had specifically trained himself in not outwardly showing any signs before he attacked being well aware of how devestating unexpected strikes could be, to most it would just look like he was standing there normally.

His eyes narrowed in thought, deciding to test his theory. Relaxing his body back to idleness the girl's eyes remained on his figure for a few seconds before losing interest again...

Wait, she wasn't reading his mind or something, right!? Keeping a tight lock on his body to remain relaxed, he thought about sending a kick her way. She didn't react. Subtly shifting his weight again, this time as slowly as he could, her eyes locked onto him the instant he started moving.

"What the hell..." Chang-hoon mumbled in shock as he stared at her with wide eyes.

"...Master Chang-hoon?" Jonah hesitantly spoke up as he eyed him weirdly, what's gotten him so shaken up?

"Hey, you said she beat you up right?"

"...Yes?"

"Uh huh, say I believe you. Why's she here anyway?"

"I invited her to the gym because she didn't have anyone decent to spar against at her old gym, it's stiffling her growth."

"She gonna be training at the gym, then?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. See ya later." Chang-hoon nodded curtly before turning around and walking inside the gym without another word leaving the two of them standing in confusion.

"What's he being so weird for?" Jonah mumbled with a bewildered frown. "Did you scare him away, Nana?" He asked as he turned her around to face him again making her tilt her head.

"Whatever I guess. Let's get you guys settled in for now."