Memory: Mitsuki Style

{Time: 1:25 PM}

{Location: West Equinox: Mitsuki Dojo}

I watched my mom train with Royal and smiled at them. I would always love training with Mom or Dad whenever I did visit West Equinox when I was younger. Everything was much simpler back then. All I had to worry about were my rivals in West Equinox, Ricky and Dante.

{Seems like you want to reminisce about the past. I can definitely help you with that.}

"Go ahead." I smiled and noticed Rhea walk next to me and noticed a digital screen appear in front of us.

Rhea smiled and held her arms. "Ahh Memory Recall. A very nice skill to have when trying to indulge in past memories.."

{Recalling Memory...}

{Memory Recalled!}

[Six Years Ago]

Dante grunted as he was kicked to the ground. He looked up at Lexi and Royal then looked at me who stood in front them. I looked down at Dante and stepped on his head, making him bow down to me.

"This'll be the last time you mess with Lexi and Royal." I said as I had my hands in my pockets.

"Hey get off him dude!" Ricky said and pushed me off Dante.

"Ricky!" Nova said and pulled him back.

I looked at Ricky and immediately went for a roundhouse kick at him, but Mom caught my leg. I looked back at Mom and sighed.

"Now you kids should be getting along and not being enemies~ In West Equinox, we are all descendants of my Clan. Let us all get along and if we fight then fight fair, Kaden." Mom smiled at me and let my leg go.

"These knuckle head idiots started it. I was hoping they would have learned to not mess with them." I said and looked down at Dante.

Dante stood up and pointed at me and his hair became fire. "Knuckle heads?! You better watch it buddy! I could care less about your little Envisage Skill, you still don't even know a single Mitsuki Style Bio-Energy Technique!"

"I know all of their stances. That's enough for me." I said.

Mom clapped her hands. "How about we all take a trip to my dojo? Looks like each of us can burn off a little steam~"

We all agreed to go to the Mitsuki Dojo. This was like Final Destination in Smash Bros to us. If any of us had any form of beef, our mom would let us use her Dojo to settle it.

We made it to Mom's dojo and walked inside. She walked into her changing room and changed into her Mitsuki Style Kimono.

She wore a large white kimono with the material crossed right side over left. She had blue tasuki tied around each of her shoulders over the folded sleeves of her kimono, which is tied at her upper back in a bow. Over this, she wears a gray obi with darker gray, diamond-shaped designs, tied with a red obijime holding a golden insignia at the front. She has an off-white traditional kimono dress with both sleeves of the kimono hanging loose and red bows on the ends of each sleeve connected to two Mitsuki emblems.

She also wore elbow-length, white, fingerless gloves with a floral design. They were tied to golden arm guards, with a shell design and small red rope at her wrists and just below her elbow. The interior of her kimono dress is blue. She also wears white tabi with the same patterning as her gloves, and black geta with red rope.

This attire was very important for women of the Mitsuki Clan because those who wear it are declared Head of the Mitsuki Clan. To be classified you needed to learn all Seven Mitsuki Style Stances, mastered the Seven Mitsuki Arts, and have Envisage and Sage Drive mastered. It is impossible for the male to be classified Head of the Mitsuki Clan since it is a tradition that women are the Protector, but for men who have these requirements mastered are selected to marry the Head of the Mitsuki Clan.

"Alright!~ So who's having problems with one another?" Mom asked.

"I have a definite problem with Kaden. He acts like he's all tough and what not! The outside must've taught you how to be more of a thug than anything!" Dante said.

I stared at Dante and frowned. "That's rich coming from wannabe Yakuza members."

"Alright boys. Let's settle this in a old fashion sparring match!~ Before we get started on it, I want to introduce someone~" Mom said and looked at her phone then hurried outside.

I watched Mom walk back in with Kasumi and tilted my head. "Who's that?"

"Everyone, meet Kasumi Saitori. She's gonna be a new recruit from this point on. It is said she has Mitsuki Blood within her as well! When Freya and Nicholas get here, that's when I will actually start my lessons. Until then, Dante and Kaden~ The dojo is yours!~ No holding back!~" Mom said excitedly.

Dante smirked and got ready for battle. He fixed his kimono and chuckled. "You heard the boss lady, no holding back!"

I stared at Dante and smirked. "Right. Let's just get into this so I can go to the arcade later."

Dante generated flames around his hands then dashed toward me. He went for the first strike, but I dodged it and swiftly moved out of the way of his next attack then blocked his third attack. He grabbed me then headbutt me then hit me with a roundhouse kick. I grunted as he struck my stomach with a blazing punch then she uppercut the air, creating a small flaming twister to launch me in the air.

"You can't dodge in mid air!" Dante laughed and ran toward me.

He propelled himself toward me and noticed my smirk. I parried his kick then grappled onto him then went for the Izuna Drop. Dante groaned as he hit the ground.

"I can tell my dad taught him the Izuna Drop..~" Mom giggled as she watched.

Lexi watched with excitement and smiled. "Y-You got this Kaden!~"

Royal smirked and crossed her arms. "He's always stealing the spotlight."

Dante stood up and groaned softly. He looked at me and growled. He ran toward me and went for a spinning kick trailing fire behind his kick. I blocked the kick then grab his leg. I went for a pressure point, but he parried it then kicked me off him. I rolled to the side then stood up.

Dante dashed toward me and went for a barrage of attacks, but I used Envisage as much as I could to dodge his attacks before my mind stopped me. I grew a bit dizzy and grunted as Dante struck my stomach. I dodged his next strike then countered with a kick to his leg. Dante got one knee then groaned when I hit him with a clean right hook.

"Enough!~" Mom called out and walked forward.

I looked at Mom and walked backwards. I heard the dojo doors opening and looked over to see Freya and Nicholas. I hurried to them and greeted them. We walked over to the others.

"It's time for you all to truly understand Mitsuki Style Martial Arts. It's about Mind over Matter. Intelligence and not Emotion. It's about Instincts. Before my clan was wiped out, we were the most powerful clan for some time. Envisage allowed us to warn our people and prepare...but there was one person we could not defeat." Mom said.

"Who?" Ricky asked.

"A man named Ketsuko Hashiro. I was maybe 18 around this time so I was just meeting my husband. Ketsuko and his Yakuza killed every member of my family and it wasn't until my father stepped in and drove Ketsuko and his gang away." Mom said and looked at the ground with a smile.

"Anyway, Mitsuki Style Martial Arts is about feeling the flow of battle and shift it to your will. It is a Martial Arts that bonds with you. You must find your Nature and Instincts. Soon you will also truly understand...Mitsuki Style Martial Arts." Mom said with a smile.

{Ending Memory...}

I chuckled softly and closed my eyes. "Times were so much more simple when I was 14. We didn't have to worry about anything back then.."

"I can tell...I'm feeling nostalgia and I wasn't even around at this time..~ But now you see why we want you to focus more on Intelligence instead of Emotion. Although your Feral Style of fighting is powerful, it also is too dangerous if you can't control it." Rhea said.

"Hey it only comes out when I'm in serious fights and besides, I have way better control over my emotions now than I did when I was 16." I chuckled.

"Kaden! Over here!" Mom called out to me.

I looked at Mom and got off the rails then walked over to Mom. She playfully hit me with a light tap on my cheek and giggled. I chuckled and pushed her hand away.

"How about a sparring match against me?~ I know how much you always loved to spar against me and your dad. This will give me a chance to see how much stronger you've gotten over the years~" Mom said and smiled at me with hopeful eyes that I would accept her challenge.

"Alright, but don't cry when I outshine you." I chuckled.

"Mhm~ I love the confidence, just like your dad.." Mom chuckled.

Mom floated backwards and got into her battle stance. My mom was a special fighter. For each Stance she could summon a Spirit into battle to fight with her for a few seconds. She is also the strongest woman I know, but I've always wanted to know if I could finally beat my mom is a sparring match.

"I'm ready when you are, Sunshine!~" My mom called out.

I smiled and ran toward her then ran along the wall and propelled myself toward her with a spinning 540 Kick, but she perfectly dodged it then blocked my next roundhouse kick and parried my back fist strike.

Mom smiled and shoved me forward. She taunted me and watched me run toward her. I hopped forward then went for the superkick. Mom perfectly dodged the kick then got into her Azure Stance then struck my stomach, staggering me. She pointed up then a puddle of water formed and a serpentine creature flew up from the puddle and knocked me upwards.

"Ha!~ Your offense needs more work!" Mom said and jumped up then axe kicked me to the ground.

I landed on one knee and grunted. I felt the gravity around me grow heavier and tried to stand, but couldn't. "What...is this..?"

"The Mitsuki Clan have hidden scrolls, hidden Bio-Scrolls that allow for hidden techniques like this, Gravity Manipulation. By manipulating my energy, I can control Gravitons, create Gravitons, and destroy Gravitons. This is my favorite technique by far~" Mom giggled and returned my gravity to normal.

I chuckled and went for a swift, spinning heel kick then noticed Mom was gone. I looked down and noticed her shadow move behind me. I stood up straight and noticed her shadow duplicate. Her six shadows circled around me and six Shadow Illusions of herself emerged from the shadows around me. The illusions giggled and watched me. I smiled and chuckled.

"Gotta find the real me~" Mom giggled and her illusions scattered around.

Rhea watched the sparring match and smiled. She noticed Mom and I were more playing around than sparring because that's normally what happens in sparring matches. Mom and I would seriously spar for a few minutes then we would end up playing tag just like what happened now.

{Time: 1:50 PM}

Mom, Royal, and Kasumi laid in the middle of the dojo like we always did six years ago and stared at the ceiling.

"I miss these times.." Mom said softly.

"Me too..." Royal said softly.

"This is the only place I've ever known in West Equinox. I regret betraying you all.." Kasumi said.

Mom smiled and shook her head. "I've already forgiven you. You are still a Mitsuki to me. Greed took over you, but now I can sense you've found a new and better path."

Kasumi smiled and closed her eyes. "I have..."

Mom chuckled and rested her hands on her stomach. "I'm glad...At least I'm not a total failure of a mentor."

"You aren't a failure, Mom." I chuckled and closed my eyes. "All of us learned a thing or two from you."

Mom looked at me and leaned her head against mine. "I know. I can tell you all still worked as hard as you did without my guidance...I want nothing more but your safety.."

Being here with Mom and the others really brought back a sense of nostalgia I had lost within. It was nothing but good vibes as we talked. Mom was that one key piece that has kept West Equinox together because of her personality which was genuine happiness and a hopeful energy within her.

"Mom..." I said softly.

"Yeah?" Mom answered.

"I love you." I said and smiled as I was finally able to say it to her again in person.

"I love you too, Sunshine.." Mom smiled and closed her eyes.

Royal and Kasumi also smiled and we all decided to take a nap on the floor to rest. Rhea watched us and closed her eyes. She felt genuine happiness from me and she felt good inside because of it.

{Kasumi and Royal have grown closer...}