18 Chapter 16:Past

Damien Reeves, 10 years ago.

I was sweating heavily, and was also breathing heavily. My body was bruised. I can barely stand on my own two legs.

"Stand straight!" My father said before hitting my calf with a stick. I winced at the pain and tried my best to not fall down to the ground.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stand straight with all my bruised and aches.

"You're a disgrace, you know that?! I'm teaching you everything I know to you, so why aren't you learning well?!" He yelled before hitting my back this time.

Alas, I fell down to the ground. My body now covered in dirt.

"Weak." My father muttered under his breath.

It's been like this for almost a year already. My father finished his military service and came back a different man than before. He would force me to learn the Martial arts he learned and "perfected" himself when he was on duty. Something called "Seu-Pineo" or some crap.

At first I thought it's good for me at least. Discipline and all that. Learning how to defend myself, but I didn't think of the hellish training I had to go through everyday for almost a year.

Father taught me everything. From the basics, forms, techniques, pros and cons and even brought me to meet other Martial arts masters. He would ask them to teach me some new techniques. I asked him why, and he said;

"I want you to get the hang of other styles, so you would know how to counter them when you meet someone who practices it."

To be honest, that's a smart thing to do. Learn about your opponent's weakness to beat them at it. This went on for six years. When I got into high school, he started to train me less and less, until I found out from mom that he said I should be looking out for myself from then on. Even though he stopped training me, I still did the daily routines that he would tell me to do when we begin our daily training. A 10km run, pushups, squats, splits, bag work, and many more routines he would tell me to do.

When I first I got bullied, I felt no fear. Instead, I thought why would people be this stupid to bully others? It was a three on one, and I got out of it flawlessly while they ended up in the infirmary. After that, bullies did not come after me anymore. Plus the students found out about my background and didn't dare to involve themselves with me.

I was basically alone.

I spent my five years in highschool, following the rules, trying to get good grades. I excelled in my studies. I never got into any trouble. I also took part in club activities. The Martial Arts club was the one for me, so I joined and to my surprise, on my last year they made me the chairman. I won a few tournaments, but not enough to make my name known. It's just a district level tournament.

I was interested in engineering in my fourth year in highschool. I was fascinated by the newest military technologies and liked the idea of inventing new technologies. The androids themselves were enough to catch my attention. I took engineering drawing because how invested I am to learn engineering.

Then after a few months of graduating from high school, my father really went and said he doesn't like me pursuing the engineering career and decided to kick me out, and it brought me to the point where I finally meet Clara and Bianca now....

Present Day...

"...and that's my life until now." I finished my story. Bianca and Alexander did not say anything for a whole minute. I understand how Bianca must've felt because she might have lived a probably worse life than I did.

"So your father is Vincent Reeves. The one who founded the new technique for Seu-Pineo world-wide. I'm surprised that your father hasn't started a dojo, until I found out that he's a rich son of a bitch now." Alexander said.

"That's why you're really good." Bianca nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, now you know. I want to prove to my father that I can succeed in my career path. I just need a capital first."

Alexander seemed like he was pondering, before he smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Then you've come to the right place."

He gave me a thumbs up.

"Wait." Bianca interrupted. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a gym. A Martial arts gym. I can hire you both to teach the people that sign up."

"Well that's a nice idea, but what are we going to do with these unconscious thugs?" Bianca yelled while pointing at the thugs that were unconscious while we were talking.

"Oh."

********

We called the paramedics and the police and explained everything. At first the officers were furious at what happened, but because it was self defense, and the fact I am a son of someone who has a big influence in the city then they don't dare to do anything.

We finished everything in less than 20 minutes and Alexander explained what he's planning to do. He's basically planning to hire us both as martial arts coaches now that the thugs are gone, and the members are probably coming back to the gym.

I'm not much of a coach, but it's a learning experience.

"Better yet, there's a martial arts tournament involving every style there is. The rules are pretty basic, you can't hit the groin or poke the eyes, but you can hit the throat and use more techniques that aren't against the rules. The winner is decided if the one fighter can't fight anymore or they forfeit. I'm going to register you both and the upcomimg gym members that are going to train under you."

I didn't hesitate to agree, the same goes to Bianca. Her style is probably harder to find than mine, which is a common one, and easiest to learn with a lot of techniques in it's arsenal, while Bianca is a lot rarer and is much more complex to learn. She probably wants to spread the style and make more people learn it so it wouldn't die out.

Plus, if she fought, she can expose her style to the public and people would get interested.

"Alright, now that it's all set, you can start working tomorrow. Bring me your resume for now. I want to clean this place for tomorrow." Alexander sent us off after, then me and Bianca headed straight home because we're both hungry.

Some time after, we're already at the table stuffing our face with food, and Bianca is the obvious eater. If there were more food, she would not hesitate to eat it all. Heck, she probably could even eat too much food that can support ten families. This is one problem living with someone that has a big appetite.

"Damien." Bianca said, before washing the dishes.

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure about doing this?"

I stared at her when she asked. This isn't like Bianca at all.

"What do you mean am I sure?" I quetioned her.

"We're still students after all, and now we're going to be coaches. Shouldn't we focus on other normal jobs?"

I stared at the plate that I was washing, and thought deeply about what she said. I let out a small sigh.

" I mean, fighting's the only thing I'm confident and good at. Why not use that to our advantage and get some paper?" I said with a smile, hoping that she'll understand.

After all, this was my idea. I don't want to rely on other people's money for my project. I want to be at least independent.

Well, that's what I thought of doing until I checked my account balance after I'd finished helping with the dishes.

"Seven digits....?!"

To be precise, two million. Sender, of course.

It was my mother. I immediately called her if she made a mistake of transferring her money to me, but she didn't pick up. I called her office but they told me she was "busy".

Is this her way of giving me money without me being able to decline? Mom, you're too nice. Bianca, who was sitting on the couch saw my horrified expression.

"Is something the matter, Damien?" She asked.

I slowly looked at her.

"Would you believe me if I told you I became a millionaire?"