4 First Blood

The day dawned and Saran woke up, she got up and walked to the room still in her pajamas where she sat at the table.

"Uh...good morning..." She said yawning, her father was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, she sat at the table and looked at a woman sitting in front of her, she had short black hair with red, her mother Mina Rapa

"You didn't even tell me about your day yesterday, it made me sad" Her mother would say, Saran looked at her.

"Sorry, I think I was asleep when you got home." Saran says apologetically.

"I heard you're going to fight today, is that true?" Her mother would say excited, the smell of food dominated the room.

"Yes, I'm going to fight a sophomore, hope to see you there." Saran would say smiling.

"A sophomore? Wasn't it better to fight a freshman?" Your mother would say worried.

"I don't see a problem fighting a sophomore, plus he didn't look that strong." Saran would say rubbing her hands when she saw her father bringing the dishes and silverware. " Food!"

" Bacon with eggs? Since when are you an American, darling?" Mina would say looking at Naidan.

"I saw it in a movie, I thought I'd like it." He says sitting on the corner of the table, he wore a white tank top showing his muscular arms covered in tattoos and small scars, he wore the same mask as the day before.

"I liked it, I just thought it was a little different." Mina says looking at Naidan. "Aren't you forgetting anything?" She says this and Naidan is still for a few seconds.

"Oh, it's true." He says taking off his mask and putting it on the table, Saran looks at her father's face, a calm face that shows strength, it was rare to see him without the mask. Each of them clasps their palms together in a sign of prayer and closes their eyes.

" Thanks for the food." They say synchronized and start eating, a few minutes pass and Saran gets dressed, she puts the clothes she got as a gift folded into her backpack.

"Okay, I'm coming, I want to see you there today, understand?" She says opening the door, she leaves the house and then closes it.

"She looks like you when she was the same age." Mina would say looking at Naidan.

" It is true." He says taking the mask and putting it on his face.

Saran walks for a few minutes until she arrives at the school gate, she shows her identification to the security guards and enters the building, goes up the stairs and arrives in her room. She opens the door, enters the room, walks to her place and sits down.

"Hm, Lin hasn't arrived yet." Saran said and looked at the window, it was possible to see several students running after a man, they ran without stopping some were left behind trying to keep up with the others. "They must be third year…" Saran would say to herself when she feels someone touching her shoulder.

"What's up!" It was the white-haired girl who said in a loud voice.

"Oh, hi…" Saran got a little shy.

"Your name is Saran right?" Harumi would say trying to fit in.

"Yeah... and yours is Harumi if I'm not mistaken." Saran would say and Harumi was a little shy.

"Yes, but you can call me Nakamura, I heard you're going to fight today." She said looking at Saran with a smile.

"Is it true, do you want to see it?" Saran would say looking at her.

"I will, did you bet some points?" Nakamura asked.

"Yes, I bet 10,000." Saran would say and Nakamura would have a panicked face.

" Expect 10,000?! But you only have 10,000!" Harumi would say in shock.

"I know, and because of that I found a fight faster than I expected." Saran would say with a smile.

"Well...you must be pretty confident to do something like that, do you know any information about your opponent?" Nakamura asked trying to analyze.

"All I know is that he's tall and that he's bear rank." Saran would say and Nakamura's eyes would widen.

"Bear rank?! Did you challenge someone a rank above you on the first day of class for 10,000 points?!" Nakamura screamed angrily, Saran covered his ears. "Are you crazy girl?!"

"Why does everyone react like this?" Saran asked naively.

"Because it's the reaction of any normal person! Why did you challenge a guy one rank above you? He'll just get your precious points for free!" Namakura would say in a loud voice.

"Apparently no one trusts me, did I get the wrong impression?" Saran wondered putting her mother on her chin.

"Ah...right, what weapon do you use to fight?" Harumi asked with a tired sigh.

"These ones." Saran would say showing his hands.

"...You're kidding me, aren't you?" Harumi says staring at Saran.

" What's it?" Saran asks.

"You're at a school where most of the students use guns... and you're going to fight bare-handed...against someone a rank above yours..." Harumi would say tiredly looking at the ground

"How strange, yesterday you were impressed when I said who my father was, what do you think he taught me?" Saran asked staring at Harumi.

" It is true!" Harumi would say instantly, she was looking at Saran with a twinkle in her eyes. " You are a Rapa! You're a warrior! I'm sure you can beat anyone...it depends who."

"Relax, I'll win today, you can be sure!" Saran would say excited.

"What are you talking about?" Tanaka would say behind Harumi, the two were startled hearing his voice.

"Tanaka you idiot, since when are you here!?" Harumi asked with her hand on her chest.

"Since when did you say 10,000 points or so." He would say looking at Harumi. "You're the one who's going to fight today, right? There are a lot of people talking about you out there." Tanaka would say looking at Saran.

"Are you talking about me?" She asks looking at him.

"Yes, I've heard that when a rookie challenges a more experienced opponent he has a 'dose of reality', and a lot of people want to see him fight too." Tanaka would say.

"Hm…'dose of reality'…" Saran mumbled. Professor Matsumoto entered the room and walked to his desk.

" Good morning guys." He said wearing his white Gi, putting his papers on the table and standing looking at the room. "I see you are all here, in your places, please." Matsumoto would say and the students sat in their seats, Saran looked back and talked to Lin.

"You're late." She said in a whisper.

"Sorry, it's just that the place where I am is far away, we'll talk later hehe." Lin would say and Saran looked straight ahead.

"Today we will have a theoretical class, we will see the properties of the colors of chi." The teacher would say turning around and writing on the blackboard, some students took their notebooks to take notes. Matsumoto finished writing and turned around.

"Okay let's start, as you saw yesterday, chi has five colors and each color is related to an element and a feeling, but why these elements in particular, does anyone know how to answer?" The teacher asked, Harumi raised his hand. "Miss Nakamura?"

"Because these are the elements that most accurately describe the properties." She answered.

"That's right, these elements more accurately describe the properties, the properties of each color have an influence on the fighting style and personality of the user." The teacher would say. "Red chi is an example, its users tend to have a more aggressive fighting style and be more violent in combat, whereas green chi users tend to be more resistant and patient, these rules do not apply to all users necessarily, there are many variations of personalities and fighting styles."

The teacher would take a sheet of paper and place it on top, he would then drop it and the sheet would fall slowly, Matsumoto forming his blue chi mantle.

"Now the properties of chi, blue chi for example." He said and gave a karate cut to the falling sheet of paper, splitting it in two. "The properties of chi appear in the first years of life, that of blue chi is precision." The pieces of the sheet fell to the ground, cut exactly in half, the teacher bent down and picked up the pieces.

"Each color has its own properties, yellow chi is speed, green chi is endurance, and purple chi is subtlety." The teacher said placing the pieces on the table, Saran raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Rapa?"

"You didn't say the property of red chi." She would say.

"It's true, but looking at red chi it doesn't have a property that sets it apart in the beginning, its users show more aggressiveness but that's just it, in its first years of life of course." The teacher would say. "But in advanced stages of basic control, red chi does have a special property."

" And what would be?" Saran asked.

"The strength, receiving a hit from a red chi user hurts more than the same hit from another chi user with the same physical build, and that's every hit he uses chi, that's why it's fire chi, by aggressiveness and by force." The teacher said and clapped his hands. "Everyone up, please." Matsumoto would say and the students would get up.

"Now we will have a small practical class." The teacher said with a smile. "I want to see the colors of our class, can you show me?" Saran wasted no time forming her chi cloak, the chi coming out of her instantly reddened.

"Oh, so that's why you asked!" He says in a comical tone, Tanaka and Nakamura form their mantles, Tanaka's turns purple and Nakamura's turns yellow. "Hm, what a variety." The teacher said intrigued, Lin formed his chi mantle that turned blue. "Okay, that surprised me."

"I swore yours was yellow." Saran would say looking at Lin.

"And I thought yours was green." Lin would say, Saran would look suspicious.

"And how do you know my color?" She asked, Lin smiled.

" Secret." She would say. The teacher clapped one more time.

"Alright you can stop and sit down, Miss Rapa, I heard you were going to fight today, is that true?" Matsumoto asked.

"Yes, I will." Saran replied.

"I don't know who your opponent will be but I wish you luck, you're going to have a very busy year apparently." The teacher said and went back to writing on the board. The day passed and class ended.

17 hours. In the arena behind the school, several people were entering through the gate, students and common people from the city, the building was divided from the school by a wall. Saran was in the arena locker room, she was putting on the clothes her father had given her.

"Cool, served nicely." She says raising her leg at head height stretching. "The uncle thought of everything." She took a deep breath, two people entered the locker room, Harumi and Lin.

"You came!" She says running towards them.

"I want to see the guy you're up against, let's see if being a rank above really matters." Lin would say with a smile. " I wish you luck."

"Your match will start in five minutes, I think you'd better win." Harumi would say looking at Saran. "And what is this outfit?"

"It's a bokh uniform, my uncle gave it to me." Saran would say looking at her outfit.

"Bokh?" Lin asked.

"It's traditional Mongolian wrestling, it's not my style but my uncles sent it to me from Mongolia, it's what they usually use, I think you'd better go to the stands." Saran would say.

"Okay, the 5:10 match will start, the participants can now go to the arena." A speaker would say in the locker room, the various speakers scattered around the arena would say the same thing.

"Okay then let's get going." Lin would say walking to the entrance. "Good luck Saran!"

Saran opened a smile, he took a deep breath and walked to the entrance hall of the arena, there were several cameras along the way, television cameras, the school broadcast the fights on the regional fight channel, a girl in a dress shirt talks to her on the halfway down the hall, she had long black hair.

"Excuse me, my name is Saori Abe and I am part of the journalism club at Senso-Ji school, do you have anything to declare before the fight?" The girl asked while she had a small agenda in hand, a boy beside her was taking pictures.

" What do I have to declare? Hm...it will be a quick fight" Saran said with a smile and walked back to the arena. "Wish me luck!" She would say nodding to the two who waved back.

Saran finally arrived and saw several spotlights illuminating the arena, there were several people sitting in the stands and even a space for the narrators, it looked like a professional fight arena.

"And there she is! The rookie who bet 10,000 points on her first fight!" A woman would say in the space of the narrators, her voice echoing in the arena along with the sound of the crowd.

Saran climbed into the arena and met his opponent Kato, he wore a black tank top and sweatpants, he had two metal sticks one in each hand. Beside him the judge, he wore a shirt with black and white stripes, the judge made an ok sign to the narrators.

"Okay now I think we can announce the status of the fight." A man would say next to the narrator, they were sitting at a table that had microphones.

"On the right side with 14 wins and 7 losses, the rank Bear Kato Susumo fighting with his metal sticks!!! On the left side with 0 wins and 0 losses, wolf rank rookie Sarangerel Rapa!!! Apparently this is a fight worth 10,000 points!!!" The man shouted into the microphone.

Finally!..." Kato would say forming his chi mantle quickly, the green chi mantle covered his entire body and the sticks, Saran assumed a defensive posture raising her fists and bringing them close to her face, the red chi mantle covered her body .

"HA!" Kato was advancing on top of Saran and with his sticks made a top-down blow, Saran dodged by jumping to the side.

!BAAM!

Kato's bats hit the ground opening a large hole. Saran landed a right hook and bounced back.

"Was it supposed to hurt?" Kato would say looking at her. He came forward once more and took a side swing with his sticks. " Take that!"

Saran quickly ducks out of the way, she breathes in and gets up giving an upside-down elbow to Kato's chin making him lose his balance and falling to the floor on his knees. Saran doesn't stop, she grabs Kato's head and kneed him straight in the face and knocked him back.

" Look at this!" The narrator said impressed. "It seems that the match has barely started and we already have many moves, it seems that Rapa is not to be trifled with, a fierce and powerful newcomer!"

"Now that you said, isn't Rapa the name of that fighter from Mongolia?" The other narrator would say looking at the arena.

Kato got up and leaned on the floor on his knees, blood trickled from his nose that was broken and bent, he quickly looked at Saran but she was still.

"What is this, won't attack me?" Kato asked on his knees.

"I would like to, but I can't." Saran said staring at him.

"You can not?" Kato would say getting up, he regained his posture and pointed the sticks at Saran.

" Now I can!" Saran would say running towards him, Kato would do another top-down attack but Saran dodges, he tries to attack again from the side but she dodges underneath and gives a spinning elbow right in his chin, Kato loses his balance but Saran doesn't care . She would start punching Kato's chest, straight punches one after the other, Saran then punching both arms at the side, punching his face and stomach at the same time, the impact of the chi knocking Kato to the ground again.

"Oh my gosh, it looks like Rapa threw a yama zuki karate punch, it looks like she's a pretty karateka even with her weird outfit." The narrator would say excited, the crowd screamed as Saran watched Kato's dying body as he tried to get up.

"Ah...uuh!" Kato screamed in pain putting his hand on his chest, Saran stared at him all the time without doing anything.

"Why doesn't she attack? If she attacked now it was guaranteed victory…" Harumi asked, she was sitting in the stands next to Lin.

"I don't know, it's like she's been waiting for him to recover…" Lin says looking at the arena.

Kato stood up while moaning in pain, he spat out some blood and looked at Saran, she walked slowly and calmly until she was within reach of him.

"Ah... Stop underestimating me!" He advanced in a frontal thrust with the sticks, Saran dodged without difficulty and jumped, she began to spin in a pirouette.

!SLAAP!

A loud slapping sound echoed in the arena, Saran kicked Kato in the face with all her might, knocking him back unconscious. The judge ran to Kato and knelt beside him, he clasped his hands and raised them.

"And it's over! Looks like the newcomer will win the 10,000 points she bet!" The narrator would say and the audience cheered excitedly. Saran came down from the arena and walked calmly down the corridor she entered.

"Excuse me, it's me again, as the winner of the fight would you have anything to say?" The same girl from before would appear and talk to Saran.

"Like I said, it was a quick fight." Saran would say smiling, she walked to the locker room and found Lin and Harumi.

"Saran that was amazing!" Harumi would say excitedly approaching, Saran began to change clothes.

"Damn, I didn't think you were going to win that easy, so he wasn't much." Lin would say, Saran was looking at her.

"Did you see my fight?" Saran asks.

" Yes, I've seen that." Lin responds.

"How?" Saran asks in annoyance as Lin laughs.

"Hehe, secret." She says.

"Well, now you have 20,000 points, you'll need two more wins and you'll move up the ranks." Harumi would say.

" It is true." Saran would say putting on his shirt. "He was pretty rough, it helped me a little."

" What are you going to do now?" Lin asked.

"I think I'm going home, I want to see what my father will say." Saran would say walking to the exit, the two walked beside her.

"Oh and can I ask you something?" Harumi asked, she got an extremely serious expression.

"Of course…" Saran would say a little worried.

"Can your father give me an autograph?" Harumi would say looking at her.

"Well, I think so." They come out of the locker room and Naidan was there with Mina.

"Saran, it was a great fight." He says looking at her, Harumi has an expression of fear, as if seeing a ghost.

" Dad! I was talking about you, let me introduce you, these are my friends Lin and Harumi!" Saran says excitedly, her mom gets a smile.

"It's…It's an honor Mr Rapa…" Harumi would say extending his hand

"Hm, the honor is mine." He says lowering his head and looking at them. "Saran, shall we?" He would say walking, his wife accompanied him.

"Hm right, I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Saran would say accompanying his father.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Lin would say with Harumi.

The two walked in the opposite direction from Naidan and Saran.

"It was a great fight." Naidan said, Saran was happy with her father's compliment.

"Did you really think?" Saran would say excited.

"It was amazing dear." Mina would say. "You even used the pirouette I taught you."

"It was to increase the strength of my kick." Saran would say looking at her mother.

"Now it's only two more wins, right?" Naidan asked, Saran opened a smile looking at her fist.

"Yes, two more wins.