New Year... New Start? (Open)

Sophie walked through the dormitories, trying to get inside her new dorm as quick as possible. She wanted to keep out of everyone's way. She fiddled about in her jeans' pockets for a while before finding a golden key, which she pushed into the lock of her new dorm room. She opened the door wide and threw all of her belongings on her bed.

She walked towards the window and stared outside at the amazing view. She watched the blossom on the sakura trees fly about in the small breeze and the grass on the hills wave. Then she looked in the opposite direction and saw the magnificent building. It was the beautiful, Crystal Palace. I stood and stared out of the window at it, amazed.

Keni had already been into his room and had everything unpacked. He was wearing his typical loose-fitting clothes, a white shirt and pants this time. He had also put on his fingerless gloves and had a headband in his pocket as he stepped out. The school had tried to persuade him to wear their uniforms, but Keni had been adamant that he wasn't going to. In the end, he'd won out. Keni made his way along the path, stopping by the sakura trees. There, he tied his headband tightly around his head. He glanced around and saw a few students enjoying the view. He happened to catch glance of a female looking out through the dormitory window, but paid her no mind. Instead, he began to meditate, clearing his mind out in order to begin practicing his martial arts.

Sophie glanced around the site quickly and was just about to leave when I spotted a guy down near the sakura trees. He was meditating and looked so peaceful.

That was one thing Sophie had always wanted to learn to do. Meditation. She had tried once when she was younger but had never had to patience to stay still and learn. So within a few minutes, she had moved on to something else. But now, she was older, maybe she could learn? And maybe, just maybe, that guy down there could teach her?

Sophie shoved her phone in her pocket and walked down the stairs quickly. She walked out the door and into the the grassy area. She wandered under the sakura trees and leaned herself next to one. She stood there in her green jacket (which she knew she wasn't allowed to wear but didn't really care anywhere) and watched the guy carefully while waiting for him to finish.

Keni finished his meditation, and opened his eyes. His hand reached into a pocket in his pants, and he pulled out a black belt that he tied around his waist. He then began moving through some of the basic forms for his Capoeira studies, seeming to be dancing. He started with the basic ginga stance, bouncing back and forth, from foot to foot. He then began performing a few spinning kicks and cartwheels, which were all he really knew at the moment. He then fluidly switched to Muay Thai forms, executing various punching and kicking maneuvers, along with some shin-strikes, elbow thrusts, and kneeing movements. He then switched to Lua, striking imaginary pressure points in order to break a person's arms and legs. He finally ended karate forms, performing a few various strikes.

When he had finished, Keni made a bow to his invisible opponent. That was when he saw a flash of green out of the corner of his eye. So, he had an audience... Keni looked the girl over. She seemed like the type of girl he'd find on a street. She was wearing a green jacket (against regulations, but his entire wardrobe was, so he wasn't gonna complain). Keni grunted, before asking "Anything I can help you with?" his voice sounded a bit gruff, but not threatening or aggressive by any means.

Sophie was amazed. She knew that was martial arts the guy had just been performing. And she thought he was really good at it too. That was another thing she'd always wanted to learn, but without the money to pay for lessons, she hadn't ever had the chance to.

She walked up to the guy and smiled.
"No need for the grunting, I was here to compliment you." She noticed a black belt tied around his waist. "I saw you out of the window and thought you were pretty good at that meditation. And now I think you're great at martial arts too."

She realized what she must look like to him though. After all, she'd come from the streets. She realized that he probably wouldn't teach her after all. He'd probably just think she was dirt like everybody else. There was no harm in trying thought right?

"I might not look like much but... Could you teach me? You know, the meditation and stuff?" She asked. She knew he wouldn't though, and didn't even know why she had bothered to ask in the first place.

Keni saw the open admiration on the girl's face as she approached and smiled. Keni's look didn't change when she complimented him. He kept his eyes on her at all times, not missing her eyes travel down to look at his belt. He nodded. "Thanks, I guess... I'm not used to compliments." he replied, with the tone that indicated that he'd had an audience before. It was true, as he usually practiced outside, and always had a gaggle of girls... in fact, he could hear them in the bushes a few yards away, giggling and chattering like only schoolgirls could. He sighed, but ignored them.

However, when the girl asked for lessons, Keni's mouth opened in shock. That was new. He recovered after a few minutes, his face adjusting itself into a passive mien. "Well, I'm not sure how good of a sensei I would make... but if you think you have the discipline and will to learn, I will teach you what I know. However, I am only certified to teach Karate, Judo, Lua, Muay Thai and Kung Fu. I cannot teach you Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, or Capoeira, as I do not have black belt rank in those arts." Keni told her.

Sophie was taken aback. How many arts did he know? Then again he was shocked she wanted to learn the arts. She wondered why.
"What's wrong with a girl like me wanting lessons?" She asked quite annoyed. She was perfectly capable of learning. She was strong enough. Just because she was a girl doesn't mean she couldn't fight. Most of the time she acted like a guy anyway. So what was so wrong with it?

Sophie stood there waiting for an answer from him. Maybe it was because of how she looked. She had come from the streets so maybe he thought of her differently. But she wasn't any different to anyone else anyway. She'd love to hear this reply.

Keni laughed at her comment. "That's not it at all. I've just never had anyone ask me for lessons." Keni said, not missing the annoyed tone. She was one of those girls, eh? Keni shook his head. He had a feeling that he had his work cut out in taking this girl as a student... still, he'd never backed down from a challenge.

As he thought these things, his right hand strayed to the back of his left, playing with the kanji carved into the metal plate there. Courage. It was the only thing he really believed in. Keni nodded. "Alright. You wanna learn martial arts? Let's start with seeing how disciplined you are. Meditate, now. For as long as you can stand."

Sophie stood there for a minute. What? Discipline? She wasn't disciplined at all. Oh no, she got herself a chance and now she's going to go and ruin it completely. That was just typical. Damn.
"Wait what? Meditate? I don't even know how to do that!" She exclaimed. And now she looked stupid too. Brilliant. It just keeps on getting better doesn't it?

Keni shook his head. He somehow knew this wasn't gonna be easy. At times, he had to wonder if he was that difficult when he was first learning... but he shrugged it aside. "Just close your eyes and empty your mind of all thought. Let yourself fade away from this world." Keni said, his voice taking on a very relaxing and soothing tone. He then closed his eyes and let all thoughts drain out. He felt his body relax, the stress from the earlier exertion fading away.

Sophie watched as the guy closed his eyes and seemed to relax. Was he...?
"Hey! Don't go to sleep on me!" Sophie yelled as she ran forwards to him. She accidentally tripped over a tree's root that was sticking out of the ground and fell straight into him, knocking them both to the ground. 'Aww no...' She thought to herself, 'It can't get much worse than this!'

Keni snapped back into consciousness as the girl collided into him. Keni quickly lept onto his feet from his back, expecting something else to have happened. He then saw the scuff marks near a tree root. He sighed. There was a lot of work to be done. Coordination, discipline... Keni shook his head. How had he gotten himself into this mess?

Keni then looked the girl over. He hoped that she hadn't hit the metal toes on his sandals... However, an initial inspection proved that she seemed fine, just a bit embarrased. Keni held his hand out to pick her up. "You okay, Clumsy?" Keni asked in a slightly joking tone. Now that he looked her over more thoroughly, she did have a kind of beauty to her that few could appreciate. Keni shook his head. What was that thought?

Sophie took the guys hand and let him pull her up.
"I have a name you know. And it's not clumsy," She snapped at him. There we go again, making it all worse. She couldn't just take it could she? Oh no.

She dusted herself down but it was no use she was covered in mud and stuff. Now she looked even worse. Fantastic. She picked at a small cut she'd gained on her hand out of pure awkwardness, completely unaware it hurt and she was making it worse.

Keni kept his hand held out in order to shake the girl's hand. "Okay, okay... I'm-" However, the sound of laughing stopped his introduction.

Keni glanced over and saw a well-known bully approach. Keni sighed. He looked over at the man, withdrawing his hand. The boy approached him. "Look at that. The big ape made himself a girlfriend!" The sound of laughter followed as two of the boy's cronies approached. Keni stared at them with a fierce glare. "I suggest you be on your way..." Keni told him. The boys laughed. "What, you gonna make us?" the leader asked, before gesturing with his head.

One of the two cronies rushed at Keni, planning on tackling him. Keni, however, sidestepped the man before delivering a roundhouse kick to the back of his head, sending him stumbling to the ground. The second crony charged at Keni, aiming a punch at his head. Keni ducked and grabbed his wrist. Keni then jabbed a pressure point on his attacker's arm, making him clutch it in pain.

The first attacker then rushed at Keni, who grabbed him and judo-tossed him into a tree. The leader then attacked, kicking Keni's shin. Keni didn't react, instead pinching a nerve cluster at the base of the bully's neck, causing him to immediately go unconscious. The other two picked up their leader, and all three walked off, Keni's second attacker still not able to use his arm.

"KENI UMUTEMI!" Keni turned and saw a school official approaching, his face livid. However, Keni's "fan club" intervened, telling the official that the bullies had started the fight. Keni then gave the official a martial arts bow. He then turned to the girl. "Well, that was interesting. Anyway, my name's Keni, as you heard." Keni said, again holding out his hand to shake.

Sophie had watched the whole thing. She thought he was amazing. He made a guy fall unconscious just by pinching him! She was astounded by what had just happened.

So his name was Keni Umutemi eh? 'Nice name', She thought to herself. He held out his hand for her to shake and she took it.
"I'm Sophie," She told him. She was holding the hand of someone who could do that. Most people would probably be scared and normally she would be too. But for some reason, she trusted him. It was weird really.

Keni shook the hand in a delicate manner. He then looked her over again, still unable to completely get rid of the thought of how... cute... she looked. "So... you wanna learn the martial arts, eh? You've got a long way to go before you're ready to actually start, but I'll take you on as my student." Keni said to her.

"You need to first work on discipline and coordination. Otherwise, you knowing the martial arts will be about as useful as a bird knowing to swim... it just won't do you any good."

Discipline? Coordination? Oh no... Sophie had a very bad feeling about this. But she couldn't back out now. No way. She had a long way to go? That didn't sound good. If that was the same long way as in maths, she was screwed. She hoped he didn't mean anything like that at all.

"So, what do you want me to do?" She asked. She stood there kind of awkwardly as she bit at the cut on her hand, still completely oblivious to how she was making it bleed even worse.

Keni saw the wound. He sighed. He held out his pointer and middle fingers, and whacked her on the head. He then pointed at the wound. "Right there. See, you're making it bleed worse."

Keni then reached up and untied his headband. He then tied it around the wound. "There. That'll stop the bleeding for now. First, you'll need to learn to restraing yourself. I now you have a reputation for a fiery personality. However, rule number 1 of the martial arts is to never bee an aggressor.
That means you only attack if you're attacked first."

'Hold on! He just hit me on the head!' Sophie thought to herself.
"Hey! Why did you hit me on the head?!" She yelled at him. Them she realized what he'd just said. Fiery personality? Yeah, guess that was true judging by what she'd just said. Grr.. She was so stupid sometimes...
"How do you know about me?" She asked. She really wanted to know. After all she had only just got here.

Keni chuckled. "Well, let's just say that I have my ways of finding out, mostly when you trashed up the Muay Thai dojo I was studying at when you were told you weren't allowed to study there." Keni said. He then paused. "Was that even you?" he asked, trying to recall the incident.

That definitely wasn't her. Can't have been. After all, she was on the streets. He obviously didn't know her after all.
"No, that wasn't me. I come from England, so can't have been," Sophie told him. He was right about her personality though. But was thinking of somebody completely different.

Keni nodded. "My apologies. At any rate, you need to learn to keep yourself calm if you're harrassed. So, close your eyes. From there, allow your muscles to relax, and let your mind empty of all thought." Keni said, again meditating while standing in place. Again, his body relaxed, though this time he was ready to dodge if Sophie came charging at him again.

Sophie watched him for a few minutes and then started thinking to herself. 'Is he asleep? No he can't be. But what if he is? Should I wake him up? Or should I go to sleep too? He did say to close my eyes. Right nap time then!'

She side stepped to one of the sakura trees and sat down, leaning herself against it. She closed her eyes and within a minute, she was fast asleep.

Keni sighed. He walked up, and saw the girl was fast asleep. He chuckled. He could have some fun here... he shook his head. He leaned down, and then took a deep breath in. "SOPHIE! YOU'RE UNDER ATTACK!" he bellowed, then back-flipped out of the way to avoid the possible fallout of that. Keni kept himself at the ready, expecting an attack from the girl.

Sophie woke up at the sound of that and ran straight into Keni and tackled him down to the ground.

"Who? What? Where?" She yelled at him keeping him pinned down in the grass. She looked around for possible attackers and when she found nothing she turned back to Keni.
"What?!" She yelled. Where was this so-called attacker then?