Chapter 10: The Lesson of the Single Punch

I show up. My cup is empty.

I'm also pretty sure my entire body is one giant bruise. Walking into school is going to be hell.

"You are early," she says. She's already on the mat, in her training gear.

"Yeah, well," I grunt, dropping my bag. "Figured I'd get a head start on the agony."

I walk to the center of the mat. "So, what is it today? You going to beat me with nunchucks? Throw shurikens at me?"

Ayako just stares at me.

"Empty your mind," she says.

"It's empty. It's a vast, echoing void of... emptiness. Trust me."

"Stand."

She moves. She adjusts my feet, shoving my heel with her own. She shoves my back, forcing me to straighten my spine. She adjusts my shoulders.

"This is your stance," she says. "Kiba Dachi. Horse Stance."

"It... hurts," I say, my thighs already screaming. It's so unnatural.

"It is stable," she corrects me. "From here, you can move in any direction. You are balanced. Your 'street fighting' stance is just you leaning forward, waiting to fall. This is a foundation. You have no foundation."

"Okay... so I stand here. Now what? We fight?"

"No," she says. "You stand here."

I blink. "For... how long?"

"Until I say."

So I stand.

For five minutes, it's just... hard. For ten minutes, my thighs are burning. For twenty minutes, my legs are shaking so hard I can barely stay upright. For thirty minutes, sweat is pouring into my eyes, and my entire world is reduced to the agonizing, fiery pain in my quads.

"I... I can't..." I gasp, my legs giving out. I start to collapse.

A bo staff appears from nowhere and presses hard against my solar plexus, pushing me back into the stance.

"You can," she says, her voice bored. "You are just weak."

I hate her. I really, truly hate her.

I stay in that stance for a full hour. When she finally says, "Rest," I just fall over. I can't even stand. I just lie on the mat, a quivering pile of jelly.

"Your foundation is pathetic," she says, taking a sip of her water. "But you did not quit. That is... marginally acceptable."

"Hooray... for me..." I wheeze from the floor.

"Get up. We work on your fist."

This is the whole week.

Monday is stances. Tuesday, she makes me throw a single, straight punch. Tsuki.

"No," she says, standing just out of my reach. "Again."

I punch.

"No. Your power is coming from your shoulder. It's a push. It is weak."

I punch again.

"No. Your wrist is not aligned. You would break your hand on a real target."

I throw that same, single punch for two hours.

"Again." "Again." "Again." "Your form is sloppy." "Your power is dispersed." "You are thinking. Stop thinking. Do."

By Friday, my knuckles are raw, my arm feels like a wet noodle, and I'm pretty sure I hate the very concept of "punching."

But...

Something is different.

My punch isn't just a swing anymore. It's... connected. I can feel the power starting from my foot, twisting through my hip, snapping from my waist, and exploding out of my fist.

It's not just an arm-punch. It's a body-punch.

At school, I'm a zombie.

"Dude, Shoujo, you look wrecked," Taka says at lunch, poking my arm. I flinch.

"Yeah, man, what's up?" Ken asks, leaning in. "You got new bruises on top of your old bruises. And you keep... like... standing weird. You're not getting in more trouble, are you?"

"I'm... taking up a new hobby," I mumble, trying to eat my rice. My hand is shaking.

"A new hobby? Like what, getting hit by cars?"

I look across the classroom. Ayako Katsumi is at her desk, quietly reading, being the perfect, pristine goddess. She turns a page.

I swear I can see the calluses on her fingers.

She glances up, and our eyes meet.

Her gaze is the same as always. Cold. Calm. Analytical.

But I'm not scared of her anymore. Not really.

I'm not intrigued, either.

I... I'm pretty sure I'm just terrified of what she's going to make me do tomorrow.

"Minatawa-kun. My office. After class."

Her voice is the normal, polite, Student-Council-President voice. But I hear the command underneath.

I just nod. "Got it."

My friends stare at me. "Dude, you're in trouble," Taka whispers.

I just shake my head.

"You have no idea."