Post by Ryusei on Feb 12, 2012 18:13:40 GMT -5
My fists were on fire as I began to punch the air with incredible vigor, the weight of my hands becoming more apparent as I started to think on what my life would become and what I needed to accomplish in the mist of these last few years. The relentless training of the days when I felt that these fists could accomplish anything and that nothing was out of my reach. This was my true calling, the calling to become something greater, to be all I could be. I aspired to be like him, that man that led me to be within the marines.
As my fists hit against the leather, my arms began to sweat vigorously, in anticipation that tomorrow would be what I wanted it to be all along, the greatest day of my life. My skin tingled all over, as the soft winds of the outside went against my body. I pushed my fist against the bag as I began to pummel it with a few jabs and then a single hook, my leg pressed tightly as my foot pressed powerfully into the ground. Twisting my hips, I could feel the energy build inside my fist as I built up power within a straight punch, I'd land my fist into the bag, and release extreme force, almost sending the bag away with my almighty punch, with only the overly large and strong chain keeping it in place.
"That felt good."
I said to myself, taking a glance at my fist for but a moment, my eyes closed as I realized all the memories of both my training. The good and the bad of those memories flowed through me. A wide smile pierced my lips as I pressed my fingers into the bag. I thought about my father, the man who raised me to become a strong as I could be for the simple gesture of becoming a marine. Slowly tears would form on my eyes, this shouldn't have happened as I was taught to be tough, strong, and a man never showed tears. And as I heard footsteps, I began to wipe my eyes quickly in order to overshadow what just happened to me.
"You down here, kid?"
A familiar voice would ask me, and one I would smile at with a large grin. She came towards me slowly rubbing her eyes, her lips pressing into her mouth softly, as she looked down to me with her own eyes. She would begin to sigh deeply, agitated at me for what I've been doing. It was Kokoro-sensei, someone who trained and took me up as her adoptive son after father died. She isn't one to easily show her emotions, but when she does, it's always from her heart.
"Yeah."
I'd say trying to make sure she wouldn't have seem me crying. She always punched the hell out of me if she saw me crying, just as father did. She was more of a tomboy than even me. She was also thirty years old and not even thinking of getting married. After my father died, she decided to teach me to box and how to scrap with the best of my ability. Because of her, I am the man I am today.
"You're supposed to be in bed, right getting ready to go tomorrow."
She seemed to be semi-worried about me, but not so much because of me overdoing myself. Maybe more because I was keeping a racket while she was trying to have her, "beauty sleep". Whatever the held that meant. At any rate, I wouldn't really look at her as she sighed. She began to scratch her head. Her eyes positioned towards the bag as a smile appeared on her face.
"You've been doing pretty well, you've gotten and mastered all the basics of boxing. Now all you need to do is use them to combat those jackass pirates and you should be finished."
That was just the thing she would say, as if it would of been that easy to destroy the pirate way after so many years of being within its shadow. I've never been able to beat her in combat. Even at this stage, whenever I tried to beat her I would be thoroughly defeated with ease. Just how strong was she. All I know is that she used to be some big shot bounty hunter, pirates feared her fists. Will they fear mine as being part of the marines, could I become as legendary as my father or her? I didn't know.
"Sensei?"
I'd ask with a small sigh looking towards the ring. As I turned directly towards her, she turned to me and her eyebrow arose. My body would begin to sweat slowly, grasping my fists as I tightly clenched them in my hands.
"What's up, ready to confess your love for me!"
A soft pink tint appeared on my cheeks, I couldn't believe what she had just said. Taken back a bit, I regained my composure, but not a lot of it almost slipping backwards on my own two feet.
"W-what?!"
She began to laugh and tapped her chin pressing it to her cheek, but as she did this, I sighed. I couldn't believe how she always got me with such things as confessing love, or being so "provocative". As I regained all of my composure, my eyes looked to the right. I gestured my head towards the ground to the left, a bit of tint on my cheeks still stayed.
"No. I wanted to ask you to have one last match with me before I left."
Her lips went wider, her arms crossed as she nodded. She placed her hands to the cabinet where the equipment for gloves was and with some time wrapped her fists in bandages. Clenching her fists slowly, I started to move towards the large boxing ring. And as I did, she would start to stretch her arms. My fists were already wrapped, and strong. They were ready for this last match between teacher and student.
As she went for the ring, I began to do a few practice punches, slipping towards the side as I punched in a slow rhythm, making myself ready for what would be my next obstacle of how far I have come in my training. She leaped over the ropes pressing her hand against the large elastic band, and began her own volley of rapid punches. Pushing to the side as she pressed both fists together.
"Speed, power, technique, and rhythm... The fundamentals of boxing are easy to remember but hard to master, to be a strong boxer you need all four of these or you will not be strong."
I listened to her. Her words were true to form, I was someone who listened to them as if my life depended on it. Considering just as I was someone who couldn't hold myself from going all out, she couldn't either. I watched her eyes, she had a small smile on her face. My face however, was terribly serious. She was always like this, always this confident. But it was never for show. In the eight years since I was with my father. She has been training with me, and for all those years, I could never defeat her. This was important, and I needed to fight with everything I got.
"I'll let you go first, Ryu-kun."
And there it was once more, that voice that I didn't so much despise but was annoyed by. So much so that it made me seem like a kid, like something less than myself. I'd need to move on the defensive, take this fight into my own hands. My arms pressed tight into my body as I moved quickly towards her. My fists clenched as the atmosphere changed, her eyes turned mischievous as I watched her move to the side. Starting myself off, I would use my jab to try and catch her within the attack, but it would fail as she swayed her head. With this i fired another jab towards her chest, which she would inch backwards, taking her time to slap me with her glove. It was a bit of a playful slap, one used to get people riled up, I needed to stay calm.
Leading with my left foot, I pressed onward as my attacks would fire off another set of jabs towards her head. I needed to pressure her inward. I couldn't allow her to get too far. After all, she was taller and had better reach than me as a result. She was definitely a hybrid fighter however, someone that could fight using all styles of boxing to their fullest extent. As I finally saw her move with the use of her own two legs, I pressed forth with a twist in my body. My thoughts ringing with the expression of finally gaining the upper hand. My hips twisted as the rotation of my lower body would allow for a powerful straight punch from my right to fire off. This wouldn't come to pass, feeling my attack batted away with her glove.
"Too slow, Ryu-kun!"
Her body also turned, her expression changing as a sly smirk appeared on her lips, pressing forth with her enormous speed, she would begin hitting me with a rapid set of jabs that I could barely see. Her straight punch sending me away as I tried to regain back my composure. My arms moving back into defensive position as I set aside my pain and watch her. She would lick her tongue out at me, annoying me with this display once more. She could always get inside my head easily. But I had to focus, I couldn't allow her to do this.
As I arose with a plan, my eyebrow sweating as she started to position herself closer to me. Moving into my space, I had to move into hers before she got to me. My body swept forth like a gale as I used my footwork to press on to attack, once again I pressed into her with a set of quickened jabs. She would begin to dodge them, fast her bob and weave was as excellent as always. However, I used one feint in order to capture her within my right hook, crossing into her body with my own twisting punch. I weighed my options as she once again dodged, going into her own rhythm, as she punched towards my gut with a low uppercut, I moved forward to take the damage, and attacked her with my own right cross using my fist to drive into her face. She began to wallow back a bit from the punch, regaining her composure instantly.
"Good punch..."
What incredible durability Kokoro-sensei had, my punch was enough to usually break things like brick or stone. But she was strong enough to shrug such a perfect and clear shot away. I watched as she began to smirk once more. It came to pass that I'd need a lot more than that to even damage her. Even more now, the atmosphere changed once again, the terrible feeling that she was about to strike with more force than I would have been able to predict. As I saw this change, my body went into a cold sweat, my eyes surprised by the amount of weight the atmosphere had as I tried to move my feet back. I couldn't run away, but if I stayed I would be killed.
"You dare hit a lady with such a furious blow?"
Darkness... I couldn't remember much after that, all I knew was that I had pains all over my body. And when I woke up, she had been relieved from me having been alive after her anger got the best of her. After all was said and done, I was now awaiting for what would be my last day on this island as a citizen but my first as a seaman. I was still pumped, the bandages and pain all over my body couldn't affect my excitement at all. I wouldn't even allow it to be weighed down. As I would go out onto the island. Saying goodbye to my old friends, my old rivals and the ones I respected the most, the adults.
I would bite into an apple I'd gotten from the local market. Sucking in the juices from such a succulent piece of fruit. I enjoyed fruits that were sweet, hating the sour ones with all my strength, lemons were definitely off the list of my liking. My feet pressed against my old stomping grounds, when I did three mile runs, or when I practiced punching against the tough bags stationed all over the island to get stronger. It was nostalgia. This feeling that I had couldn't be more filled with the spirit I felt all over just being on Karate Island.
My last stop would be the beach, looking out towards the vast blue. I'd take in the salty scent of the water with a large smile on my face. My eyes closed as I enjoyed the cold winds. His last days on this island were upon him. All the memories that he had, they'd never leave him...
