Float Like a Butterfly

"What's wrong, Kuzan?" my sister asked in a worried tone.

"Nothing," I whispered back, turning my face away from hers to hide in my arms, like a grown-up.

"Come on, Kuzan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I said," I repeated, turning my head away again.

"Well, I'm not leaving until you're better," replied my sister, her statement met with silence from me.

"Do you know what's wrong with him, Xiao Xiao?" my sister asked her friend, who was also in my room uninvited.

I finally raised my head to stare at her, knowing that she was told about the result of my recent match from her grandfather.

I mouthed the words, 'Don't Tell,' in her direction, and it seemed to have worked as her only response to my sister's questions was to shake her head no, elevating Xiao Li to a higher level of care in my head.

"Fine, I'll just tell Grandpa Ryuu to have a talk with you—"

"Wait," I finally responded to my sister, cutting off her dangerous line of thought. "I'm just getting bored of my training here, Melissa, that's all. And don't you go repeating this to Master Kaku, do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." My sister complied with my request for silence and secrecy.

"How about you join us today? Xiao Xiao has this great dessert place in town that she wants me to try."

I smiled wryly at her invitation, knowing full well that it was more for her than it was for me. Considering that I had nothing better to do for the rest of the day, I decided to accompany them.

We entered the establishment, ordered some desserts, and sat down to eat.

'Melissa wasn't kidding, these desserts are pretty good,' was what I would say if I got to eat any.

My sister and Xiao Li were truly a match made in heaven, devouring the desserts of the small boutique. 'I swear they each ate more than their body weights combined.'

It seemed that only after finishing the last crumb of cake did my sister understand my situation. "Huh, Kuzan, why didn't you eat anything?" she asked, licking her lips clean, a picture of pure innocence replacing the previously carnivorous image on her face.

"I got too distracted. Looks like we'll have to order more." I called over the waiter to order more desserts but was shocked when told that they were all out of stock.

Apparently, the big selling point of this shop was that they made all their desserts fresh in the morning, and considering that it was already nearing the shop's closing time, I was out of luck.

It seemed that even the waiter understood my plight, as he gave me a coupon for a free dessert for my next visit.

"Looks like we're out of luck. It's fine, Melissa, let's go back," I replied in a tired voice, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster I had been through earlier in the day.

"No, no, I'm so sorry, brother, I didn't know...hmm." It seemed my sister still had a heart somewhere hidden inside her as she apologized to me for her previous behavior.

"It's fine, Melissa, really—"

"I know!" replied my sister as if a lightbulb had lit inside her head. "Xiao Xiao still has some frosting left on her lip..." My sister stretched out her hand, using her index finger to smudge off some of the frosting from Xiao Li's lips.

"Here, try it," ordered my sister, extending her finger.

"Whatever," I replied, licking the frosting off her finger. 'It's surprisingly sweet.'

I then paid for our meals and escorted the duo to Master Shikai Bun's residence for a sleepover tonight, an idea I greatly supported as I wanted some peace of mind in my room tonight.

I led the two gluttons out of the restaurant: my sister, who was currently jumping around hyper from the sugar rush, and Xiao Li, who was hiding her face from me for some reason.

I walked them back to Master Shikai Bun's residence, where he was standing outside the courtyard, waiting to receive them.

The duo each shared greetings with the master before entering inside, exchanging glances whose meanings I was currently unable to decipher.

What followed was Master Shikai Bun showing me an expression on his face that I had never seen previously, one that I was also unable to decipher.

'Was it amusement? Or was it jealousy?' I mulled over in my mind, being unable to pick a decisive answer as I walked back to my room, ready to end the day.

[3 days later]

I had just finished another training session with Master Kaku, growing nearer to his level of mastery of skill every day. I was also making great progress with my training under Master Shikai Bun, having broken through to the 'intermediate' level in the Hand Pocket skill. I was excited to reach the 'master' level in my first skill when the time arose.

Currently, I was walking to Master Shikai Bun's underground training room before being stopped at the door by him.

"Another one?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow, only to get a nod in return.

I changed into my clothes and followed him down the familiar set of tunnels, entering the arena, being met with silence instead of the cheers that I was expecting. However, judging by the look in the spectators' eyes, they couldn't be more interested in what I was about to do if they tried.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer started speaking to the crowd, "in the left corner we have the dangerous, the infamous, 'The Thieving Dragon'!"

"As I'm sure you know folks, during his last match this master of martial arts declared war against the entirety of the underworld, calling us a joke...

"Well, let's see if he can still keep up his talk after today!

"In the right corner, we have someone that was tracked down by the arena at great expense, to knock some sense into this green horse, to show that we are not as weak as he thinks we are...

"The former World Champion boxer, with over 25 knockout victories, the great, Andrei Valev!"

By the appearance of my opponent, it looked like I would finally get to have a little fun. The man was gigantic, weighing around 330 pounds and reaching about 7 ft 8 inches. What I was most drawn to, however, was that look in his eyes, the eyes of a beast.

I walked to the center of the ring and got ready, charging up my body for the fight it was about to face next. I was ready, ready for the exchange of blows, ready for the injuries I was about to face, ready for a real battle.

"Start!"

I was much quicker than my opponent; however, I chose to receive his first punch for the hell of it, wanting to experience some pain, wanting to prove to myself that I was in a real battle.

'I felt it.'

I definitely felt the power behind that blow, having to disperse it using my mastery of Xiaoli to avoid serious damage to my body.

'He's strong,' I thought while dodging his barrage of blows, 'but not strong enough.'

I knew I could finish the fight anytime I wanted. He was a strong opponent, but his weaknesses were glaring. He was a boxer outside the ring, a fish out of water to someone like me. He was dangerous, even deadly in the ring, but this wasn't the ring.

As I was about to finish the match by placing a well-timed strike to his neck, I stopped in realization, which resulted in me getting hit by another of the giant's punches. This time, however, I was knocked back by the blow, earning loud cheers from the crowd in turn.

'Can't it be?' I asked myself while slowly rising from the ground, under the now silence of the crowd.

It was as if a flash of lightning had gone through my head, causing the heat in my heart to rise to newfound levels.

'Why can't it be a boxing ring?' I asked myself, wearing the widest grin I could physically muster, scaring the crowd members further.

I walked back closer to the man, ever so slowly, each step echoing in the silent arena. He seemed interested in what I was about to do next, and I wasn't going to disappoint him.

My mind raced, remembering all the boxing training I had received in L.A., as well as all of the boxing matches I had observed in my previous life. I did my best to emulate the movements of Mohammad Alai Jr., utilizing the art to a degree he hadn't even currently reached.

I used my previous experience in Earth Logic, a fighting technique that involved kicking the ground to increase the power and speed of my punches, and applied it to my boxing technique.

Andrei was obviously surprised by my use of boxing. I had thought he would become enraged, thinking I was mocking him by utilizing his style; however, he seemed startled by my movements, especially my rapid footwork.

"It's like a dance," Andrei exclaimed, speaking his first words to me since the start of the match.

I dove into Andrei's range, avoiding his jab by a hair's length.

'Float like a butterfly.'

I struck Andrei's face with a full-forced uppercut, causing his body to drop to the floor, unconscious.

'Sting like a bee.'

"WE HAVE A WINNER!"

The crowd was dead silent at my victory, awarding me with no applause or cheers as the brave announcer made his way over to raise my hand and to crown me the winner.

I was impressed by his courage and decided to ask for the mic nicely this time instead of snatching it out of his hands.

"More" was the only word I said before dropping the mic to the floor.

I exited the arena, leaving the spectators mesmerized by my actions as I walked out before them.

The Thieving Dragon had indeed stolen something from the audience that day....

He had stolen their hearts.

Before I could fully exit the arena, I was stopped in my way by Master Shikai Bun, who was currently standing beside a short Chinese man.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to explain.

"This myan want's to have a talk with yowu. He has a deal yowu might find interesting." was all my master said before pushing the man forward to face me himself.

"Hello Master Hiden Bun, it's an honor to talk with you. I'm so sorry for wasting your time but I'm one of the organizers of this underground arena and I wanted to speak to you about a proposal," the short man introduced himself and his purpose in English, speaking in a very respectful tone.

I decided to hear out what he had to offer and gestured for him to continue.

"You see, one of our leading sponsors has requested your time and the underground arena would really appreciate it if you would flatter us. In return, the arena would be happy to fulfill any requests you may have to the best of our ability."

I was curious and even a bit tempted by the man's offer, as I needed their connections to continue fighting in higher-league tournaments on an international scale in the future.

I followed him to a separate section of the arena, that was much more lavish than the areas before. We walked up to a wooden door, being able to make out some semblance of conversation from within the room.

"Please understand, Miss Amber, the arena simply can't fulfill your request. Asking that fighter for such a thing can be too dangerous," pleaded the voice of a man.

"Mr. Mitsuki, I believe that I was promised your best, and after your 'Raging Bull' turned out to be a butchered cattle, I won't take no for an answer!" screamed a weirdly familiar voice.

I turned the door knob and entered the room, shocked still by the sight in front of me.

"Mr. Atsaki, I can't believe you actually called him over!" said the man who had previously been pleading inside the room. However, I tuned him out, as my full attention was directed towards the feminine figure in front of me.

Her body was fully covered by the Chinese robes she was wearing, her face hidden behind a mask in the shape of a fox.

The only hint of her femininity was her long, scarlet hair, which flew freely in the air, drowning the room with its magnificence.

"Ara, Ara, now what do we have here..."