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9. Honor a Dishonorable Dojo

I woke up later that day around 11 am after I'd had a good night's sleep. My dad wanted to make sure I had a good night's sleep so he had made sure that he was quiet when he got up much sooner than me. By the time I woke up breakfast was over so I just quickly got dressed, sprayed my body with some deodorizers and we went to get some lunch.

We walked out of our hotel and walked down the streets of Tokyo until we got to the restaurant that my dad had gotten the burgers from yesterday. It wasn't that big a place, mainly a fast food type area. It wasn't that big inside the standard looks of weird colors and people standing behind registers to take our orders. My dad placed the orders for the both of us and a few minutes later we were sitting down to eat our lunch together.

"Talked to your mom last night." I looked up at my dad as he talked in between bites of his burger while I dipped mine in ketchup.

"She's ready to move up to Brookdayle with your brother and they should be up late July and your brother will be going to school with you this fall. Everything is going ahead smoothly for once."

He could say that but inwardly I was groaning. Me and my little brother Joey didn't exactly get along really well. We were like oil and water and different in not only our likes and dislikes, but personality and classification as well. Whereas I was mostly a gray timber wolf with a few tiger characteristics he was a tiger, but instead of being orange and white with black stripes he was gray and white with black stripes along with dog like claws and a rather dog like tongue that hung from his mouth when he was hot and panting. Despite our physical differences he was also a motor head, he loved being around machines and computers but I was more comfortable in the kitchen, doing some art, or reading. In short I was the artistic one and he was the mechanical one. Night and day we were and when we were together a fight wasn't often far much to everyone's chagrin, even our own. Regardless though we loved each other and I'd do anything for my little brother and him for me. We both knew that at least.

"That's nice, dad. Did you tell mom about what happened here to me too?"

He looked off to the side and let out a breath before he nodded. "I did, and while she's not happy with what you did, she is still proud of what you had done. I told her how much money you made too and that also helped her become ok with it too. Either way she will want to talk to you soon about these stunts you're pulling and she also told me she wishes you'd talk to her more. This whole loner thing isn't exactly thrilling for her, you know."

"I know dad... I just never know what to say and how to tell her things without her worrying about me more or making me feel guilty about the things I do. I just would like it if she'd just listen to me and would let me do what I feel I have to do without making me feel guilty about it."

"She's your mother, pup, it's her job to make you feel bad about doing dangerous things." My dad just chuckled as he ate a fry and I shook my head annoyed at him. "But you have to live your life and she understands that, but what she really wants is for you to just call more often and let her know you're ok. That's not so hard is it?"

I nodded my head, "I guess so... I'll call her later today when she's likely awake. Don't worry. Now hurry up and let's finish eating and we can go play tourist for the day since we both have nothing to do."

He chuckled and gulped down the last bite of his burger as I finished off my fries. After that we spent the next few hours going about the city, getting pictures of some of the sites. We bought a couple of souvenirs and after a couple of hours we got a bit to eat, this time from a seafood restaurant. I ate some of the local fish baked and served with some local vegetables in order to balance out the junk I'd eaten for lunch. My dad on the other hand just had the fish and a helping of rice.

The day was pretty boring and nothing to really write home about, but I did call my mom later like I had told my dad. It was late evening here but it was just the early afternoon over where they were at. I waited for only a few rings before my mom answered the phone and said hello.

"Hey mom... Dad said you wanted to talk to me?" I was lying in bed at that point, while my dad was out in the sitting area watching TV.

"Yes I did, I hear you've been making a bit of a ruckus over there in Japan, care to explain what you were thinking trying to fight off a full grown man who had a gun?"

"I wasn't thinking mom... I just saw what he was about to do, smelled the gun on him, and reacted. I couldn't help myself I just was standing nearby one moment and the next I'm on top of this guy trying to get the gun out of his hands. The gun didn't go off though so it's all ok though, I didn't get hurt or anyone else for that matter. Well, except for the gunner, I had to hurt him a bit but he doesn't count."

My mom was quiet for a moment and I couldn't tell what she might have been thinking over the line but what she said next surprised me a bit, I was getting surprised a lot lately, and I hope it wasn't going to become a habit for me.

"You were actually able to detect the gun on him from scent alone? That's impressive, Zeke, I guess those tracking classes we signed you up with a few years ago are actually coming in handy."

I had taken those classes because when I was younger I wanted to be a cop in order to prevent people from being hurt from others again, but because of my complex code of ethics and my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from when I was younger I could no longer qualify to become one because I was, as they put it, a "safety risk". It hurt to hear that but it didn't stop me from trying to improve my skills. I might not have been able to become a police fur any more but I could at least help out in similar ways.

"Well it's not that hard to smell a gun, mom, the real trouble comes from having to detect the scent over the smells of people, animals, plants, and chemicals that are all around them." It may have sounded humble to many, but to me it really wasn't that hard a task to do.

"Either way, I'm proud you were able to protect those people and were able to get a job. I heard that it paid quite nicely for just one night. What was it in American dollars, like 400 or something?"

"Yeah mom it that's a close enough guess for it. I got the check with me and I'll be takin' it to the bank on Monday here and get it put into my accounts over there. Or something, I'm not real sure what it is that I'll do with it yet, but someone gave me a name and I shouldn't have much trouble getting the money."

She said that was nice and we went about talking about less serious matters for awhile. She asked how I was eating, if I was staying healthy, and even asked how things were between me and Matt to which I honestly replied to the best of my abilities. It was a long talk but eventually she said that was enough as she had to go fix some lunch for Joey who I could hear rummaging around in the background.

"And Joey says hello too." I smirked, I knew he hadn't said that and I could just barely hear him say that in the background too to which our mom shushed him and said goodbye and that she loved me.

"Love you too, mom, night." And with that being done I hung up and got out my PDA to start emailing Matt again. I told him about my day today of course, but since there wasn't a lot to talk about it wasn't really long so after sending it off I just went to bed and called it a day.

The next day it was raining and since neither of us had anything to do we just hung out in our room for the day. My dad watched TV and worked on some of his job reports and I just played some video games I'd brought along and read some to my mystery novels. It wasn't the most productive of days, but it was always nice to hang around and do nothing for awhile. The next day would take my dad back to work and I was going to go looking at one of the local dojos to see if I could get any training done and maybe pick up on a few things that I didn't know just yet.

That night as I was laying on my back looking out the window of our room with my hands behind me head, I thought about Matt and how he'd enjoy this steady rain that we were having now. In his last email he'd said that things were fine at camp if not a little tough and hard like it always was, but that it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. I sighed inwardly though as I wished he could have been here with me. It felt lonely not having him around and I missed his scent and the feel of his fur next to mine. I pushed those thoughts aside though and thought more of what we'd do when we got back together and let those thoughts ease me off into deep slumber.

Monday came around soon enough and I was up and about by 8. I got myself some breakfast and started to look for the bank that Mr. Hamada had told me about and found it pretty easily. It was a large bank and all but it was a lot like the banks that we had back home. Wide clear doors leading into a large open room with several desks all around with mainly women behind them. I looked around for a moment before I went to a desk to a woman wearing a blue dress and looked up at me.

"Hello, may I help you with something? I am afraid the bathrooms are for employees only but I'm sure there's a place you can go a block down." She smiled nicely but it still felt like she was being condescending to me.

"Actually I'm here to see a Ms. Narita Midori? A Mr. Ryuu Hamada told me to ask for her to help me with a check."

She looked at me like she didn't believe me for a moment but pointed me out to another desk that was against a wall near the back of the room. I walked over to the desk and saw a kind looking woman of around 30 to 35 with her hair done up in a bun type thing which she had chopsticks going through, she wore a long white skirt and a blue blouse and as she looked at me through her glasses I could tell she saw me just like anyone else and not as someone who didn't fit in there.

"Hello, may I be of some help to you today?" She offered me to sit down and I took the chair and got out the check that I had been given and laid it out.

"Yes, ma'am, I was told by a Mr. Ryuu Hamada to come here and ask for you in order to get help with this check. I live in America and so I would like to put this money into an account there and he told me you could help me."

She looked at the check and then at me before she started to type on her computer and look at a bunch of numbers and figures that I had no idea what they meant. She asked for my name and where I had an account and I told her all that and gave her my ID to check to make sure I was who I said I was. After she got my information she kept on typing and finally after a few minutes of just sitting there she finally stopped typing and looked at me smiling.

"Well that will just about do it, Thomson-san, if you would just sign the check I would gladly deposit the money into your American account, there is a slight fee for transferring the Yen to American dollars but it will only come to about 5 dollars American. Now if you will just sign this I can have this done and you can be on your way." I signed the check where I was asked and she went back to typing and running the check through a machine to check to make sure it was good.

"And by the way how is Ryuu-san? Is he doing well?" She just barely glanced at me as I sat there and I nodded.

"He seemed to be fine when I saw him last, we had to work a body guarding job the other night and it was during the drive from the job that he told me to come here to ask for you. I take it you're friends?"

She finished typing and a receipt was printed out, "Yes we've been friends for a long time now, we get together about once a month for coffee and talk about our lives. It's nothing great, but it is nice to know he's still doing alright. Here's your receipt for the transaction will there be anything else today?"

I shook my head and smiled softly at her as took the receipt, stood up, and bowed to her. "No, ma'am that is all that I require today. Thank you for all of your help and it was nice meeting you."

She said the same to me and with that I left, I was done with the bank so now I was free for the rest of the day.

Since the rest of my day was free I decided to look for a dojo to train at. I figured if this could help out the fight team I was co-captain of back home then it was worth a day to look around and try out. I looked at a few but most of them looked pretty low brow or lame.

By noon I was extremely tired of all the dojos I had looked at. I was sitting in a more suburban area of the city and was drinking a bottle of water I had got from a vending machine after wandering around most of the city for hours now. Japan may have been a bit different than the United States but at least they had plenty of vending machines around full of various juices, drinks, and edible things.

While walking around the latest area I'd come across I found another dojo and looked at it. It looked pretty old fashioned and traditional. It had a red sloping roof on top of a single floored building that was some sort of red stone. Around the building were various trees, a couple cherry trees, a couple maples, and I think some kind of elm but wasn't sure. There were some bamboo stalks growing around some ponds that had koi in them and some small bridges going over the larger ponds which had various plant and animal life in them. The whole place looked like it had come from 17th century Japan and looked pretty traditional and old fashioned.

I didn't think this kind of place might be open to having a fur around but I thought what was the worst that could happen? I walked up to the sliding doors at the front of the place but before I could open it I heard a few various voices laughing and not sounding friendly at all.

"I told you, you weren't welcome here anymore. With sensei away I'm in charge and you're a waste of our dojo. Now get out of here before I kick your sorry butt out the door like I did all over the floor here." I perked up my ear as I waited to hear more of what might be something bad.

"B-b-but sensei said that anyone is welcome here and that it didn't matter if you were weak or strong... Just if you had the desire to learn!" A smaller voice that sounded like a boy of 10 to 12 years old was talking to who I guess was the second in command of this dojo. I didn't have to wait long to see if I was right though as the doors opened and the kid was shoved out and right into my body where I caught him.

"And stay out, Genta, we don't need weaklings like you." He and a bunch of other guys laughed at the poor kid that I was now holding up from stumbling to his feet. It seemed to take them a moment before they actually saw that there was someone new standing at the front of their little dojo.

"Heh? And who the hell are you, fuzz ball?" I rolled my eyes and held the kid up and looked him over.

"Genta-kun, was it? Are you ok? These guys didn't hurt you or anything, did they?" I helped brush him off and looked up at the so called leader of this group of miscreants.

"It doesn't matter what my name is, I came to see this dojo and maybe join in for some practice but I guess I came here to make sure you don't dishonor this place by being such an ass."

He looked at me and looked like he was about seething from what I said to him. I however stood my ground, we looked to be about the same height and weight, but he might have had a year or two on me, but that might not really mean much if he hadn't trained as long or couldn't keep his cool. He had a dark brown hair that was at about 2 inches and spiked up while the kid I just caught had his hair buzzed short, likely for the summer.

"What did you call me, you feral freak?" He grunted and got close to me and showed his teeth to me. It always surprised me how humans could call us furs feral when they still had habits and instincts that were just as feral like as the chimps they shared so much of their DNA with.

"I called you an ass but the words, bully, ogre, demon, devil, jerk, and I could go on, I have an extensive vocabulary, but I'm better in English if you prefer." I smirked and showed a fang to him. Sure I was acting a bit cocky and smug, but when you meet a bully like this you have to show no fear and stand your ground before you do anything else. In this case the act of taunting him and showing no fear was really starting to get him exceptionally mad.

"Listen here, feral, I'm the guy in charge around here while our master is gone, so why don't you drag your tail out of here and take that runt with you." I smirked and looked down at the kid and pat his back.

"A dojo is a place to learn and a place for instruction. It is a place of training people to become strong, to perform examinations, and such. Kicking out a kid just because he's not up to your standards in strength is an insult to your dojo and you bring dishonor on this place and on the sensei who instructs here and taught you."

He got a step closer to me and pushed me back, and I moved back a step but took it back to my place and smirked. He'd have to do better than that to get rid of me.

"Big words from a puppy. You gonna put up or you gonna slip away with your tail between your legs?"

I smirked, "That depends, fleshy, I gotta put up with you or one of these others losers here?"

That got him even more flustered and I knew I had him. He turned around and headed back inside with a grunt.

"If you want to fight then come in, otherwise I suggest you leave with that wimp of a student you caught there. C'mon guys." And with that the big guy walked back in with the rest of the guys right on his proverbial tail.

"Ok Genta-kun, what's with the punk here? And what's his deal?"

The kid that had his hair held back with a headband looked up at me for a moment before I snapped my fingers in front of his face and he seemed to snap out of it.

"Hey, kid, you ok? You never met a fur before?" He shook his head slowly back and forth and I sighed shaking my own.

"Lord... Ok, kid listen I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm basically no different than a big talking dog, ok? I don't bite or scratch or kill humans and I only fight when I have to, same as what you're learning to do, so talk to me, kid."

He gulped and nodded reaching out to touch my arm and looking at me again, "Um... thanks for catching me and all... and that was Norito, he's been left in charge of the dojo while out sensei is away to visit family. Norito is the top student here but he's a bit of a bully and says that I'm not worth the effort being taught how to fight even though I try really hard and want to learn how to fight too."

"Ok kid, first off you're not learning how to fight so much as you're learning to protect yourself and others, secondly you are worth the effort to train; so long as you want to train and you try your best that's all that counts, and thirdly: I know I'm soft and fluffy kid but could you stop petting my arm that's a little bit personal."

I saw the kid pull back embarrassed that he had been feeling the fur on my left arm as I spoke to him. I wouldn't have minded it really but it seemed like he was a bit to focused on it and didn't know that it would have been just as weird if a fur and started petting his arm out of no where. He nodded though understanding what I had told him and I pulled him back inside to settle this.

I took off my shoes and tied back my hair and started to stretch out a bit as one of the guys pointed back at me and the guy who Genta had said was named Norito looked back at me and started swaggering over to me. He was looking cocky and arrogant but I was hoping I could take him on without any trouble.

"So... the puppy dog came in with the weakling and decided he wanted to fight." He stood before me in the standard white gi that many martial artists wore to train in. I kept stretching and popped my back a bit as I got ready and looked at him seriously.

"Yeah, Norito, I came to fight you. And I am going to ask you only one more time to let Genta-kun back into the dojo to learn and practice."

Norito and some of the others started to laugh at what I had said but I was serious about it.

"You can't make us do anything so long as the Sensei isn't around, but I'll tell you what..." He walked up closer chuckling as I finished readying myself to fight.

"Tell you what though, if you really want to fight we'll fight but when I beat you, you better leave and take him with you."

I nodded and got out to the matts where he was standing, "Fine, but if I beat you, you have to let Genta join the dojo again and I get your dojo's plaqueto show how you dishonored this place."

A hush fell over the place as most of the students looked over at Norito. He was the current master of the dojo so if I beat him that meant I could take their plaque if I wanted as a symbol that I had taken down the master of the dojo. It would bring the place a great deal of dishonor and when the master got back Norito would have a lot of explaining to do about it. His arrogance however made him throw caution to the wind and he took a stance in the middle of the mat. He thought he was so good that there was no one around that could possibly beat him, but I knew if I could use that arrogance and under estimating of me to my advantage I could beat him.

Norito just smiled and nodded, "Fine, I'll agree to those terms, puppy, even though there's not a chance that you'll be able to beat me."

One of the other students pulled him back and I heard them talk between themselves.

"Norito are you sure you want to do this? You don't know anything about him, he could be pretty strong and he could get lucky."

"There is no way some fur covered freak will beat me, there is a reason I am the top student here, it is because I am the best and no one here can beat me. There is no chance that I will lose to him. There is no reason to be afraid."

He turned back around and we both took our positions as a student steped up to the side and acted as the referee.

"This match will go to 3 points. The first to pin, strike, or land a blow on the other will gain a point, and the first one to reach 3 will be declared the winner." We both nodded our understanding of the rules and we came up to the lines. "Contenders bow to your opponent." I bowed to him politely but as he did as well he looked at me with that arrogant sneer he had had throughout this debacle.

"Aaaaannnd... BEGIN!" The kid acting as ref backed up and watched us as we started to circle each other. He was trying to get a sense of what I'd do but my style of fighting revolved mainly around defensive moves and kicks, I kept my arms and hands free in case I needed to grab something while attacking, plus I just had a lot of strength in my legs.

He saw that I wasn't going to make the first move so he started to get close and started to deliver a series of punches at me. I dodged or blocked several of them as I moved about and ducked around one strong punch that was aimed at my head. After I had ducked down I swept my foot under him and tripped him and before he could get up I landed a punch to his chest. Not only earning me my first point, but also giving his ego a major blow.

Everyone gasped as Norito fell and I stood up and backed away a few feet to get ready for the next round. He looked up at me amazed for a moment and then he slowly started to go from angry to beyond ticked off. This was going to be both good and bad for me. Good that I was ahead now and he was angry because that would make his next moves sloppy, but bad because with his anger he'd be a bit stronger in his attacks and they'd be a bit more wild.

He sprung back up after a moment on the ground and then stared me down and I could hear his breath seething from his mouth. A person could almost see steam pouring from his mouth as he got back into position and the second round started.

I was right about his attacks being faster and stronger and it was all I could do to dodge most of them and keep from getting hit. Finally he landed a strike to my side with a kick and I stumbled away panting a bit as he backed away and got ready for the third round. This time I had learned enough about his style and movements to go on the offensive, he was startled by this sudden change in my behavior and it was easy to score another hit to his chest. That meant I now had two points and he had one.

He was now even angrier now that it seemed like he was about to lose, and several of the students were trying to cheer him on but I noticed that they were in the minority it seemed. I on the other hand had my own fan cheering him on.

"You can do it, Okami-sama!" I blinked at being called that, but then I remembered I hadn't told the kid my name so I guess calling me Okami, the Japanese word for wolf, would be appropriate, but no one ever called me 'sama' while I was here before so that was also new. It didn't matter though as this was the possible last match and if I won this one I'd have 3 points and have won the match.

Norito was now tensing up afraid that he might actually lose to some new stranger that showed up. I think that would almost be worse than by being beaten by a fur like me, but since I was both this was seriously driving him insane with anger. He started to fly into attacking me and I was able to gracefully dodge and duck around them. My lower body leg strength made it easy to jump around and being part cat and having a tail I could use for balance made it easy to dodge and move out of the way without losing my footing.

The round was really going on for a lot longer now. The first 3 had lasted less than a minute but because of how determined this guy was I was having a problem finding an opening to strike, but likewise he was unable to even touch me and he was also exerting a great deal more energy I was. He may have been a jerk and a bully but I could tell from his movements and attacks that he was indeed very high ranking. He was just arrogant and unfocused and that, to me, seemed to be a great flaw that would keep him from improving as much as he could.

It took a bit of work but I could finally see that he was starting to lose his breath and slow down. He was panting hard and his punches were slowing down and getting easier to dodge. After a few minutes of this fight I was finally able to catch his fist, twist around and toss him over my shoulder pinning him with my fist and thus earning my third point.

I got up and backed away for a moment and looked at the guy who was the ref, and after he didn't say anything for a moment I growled softly and startled him enough to look around and raise his hand on my side.

"The winner of this match is... uh..." He looked at me, I guess he didn't know what to call me either and so just shrugged, "Okami-san!"

I groaned inwardly at how unoriginal that name that I'd been coined with was, but since it was the kid that had called me that I didn't mind it so much. It could have been worse, but as Norito got up he looked beyond angry and pissed and it seemed he was about to charge at me again, but a loud voice stopped him and every eye turned towards the entrance to the dojo.

At the entrance of the dojo stood an older man wearing a casual white buttoned shirt tucked into a pair of long khaki slacks and brown shoes that he was kicking off as he looked around at everyone. He looked to be about in his mid forties to early 50s but it was hard to tell because he also looked like he was in exceptional shape. He had baggy hair that he had tied back into a pony tail and it seemed to be graying around the top of his head and temples.

"Norito! What is going on here, why my top student about to attack someone after the fight has been declared over, what is this male here, and furthermore why are you fighting in the first place?"

"Sarutobi-Sensei!" The small kid went over and looked up to him and then bowed before he continued on talking.

"The Okami-san came to our dojo to train, but when he came here he heard that Norito was going to kick me out because I wasn't strong enough, it's not his fault please don't blame him for it!" The little guy seemed really worried that this man would be angry with me, but if worse came to worse I could just slink out a window and disappear before things got bad for myself. After that I was sure nothing worse could happen.

As luck would have it though I didn't need to as the man who seemed to hold the name of Sarutobi came over and looked at Norito and myself as we stood there. I suddenly felt a bit nervous and I found my thoughts thinking about getting out before I got into any more trouble, again.

"Norito! You have been behaving horribly! This is not the way my top student should be acting to those who are new to the dojo or to strangers who wish to train here!" He looked over at me and I kept very still as he stared at me.

"And I assume your name is not really 'Okami' so please tell me what it is and why you challenged my pupil?"

"My given name is Zeke, sir, my family name is Thomson. I came here in order to train while I am in this country but I overheard what was going on with Genta-kun and Norito-san and so I challenged him and if I won I'd get this dojo's plaque and Genta would be let back in to train. I figured if I won the plaque it would prove just how miserable he had failed this dojo, both as the instructor in charge and as the top student. I will leave now, now that you are back and I have no need to be here."

I started to leave but he held out his arm to stop me and I looked up at him.

"If that is what my pupil was challenged to and lost then you shall take our plaque. My student has failed me, this dojo, and himself and so this shall be a reminder to him over his bad behavior. I am sorry for the trouble you have gone through here, please won't you follow me and I shall get you the plaque that shall now be your trophy. As for the rest of you start warming up! When I get back we are going to do drills and instruction for the next half hour and then practice our form and then spar. The vacation is over and it's time to get back to work here. And Norito our conversation isn't over yet, I'm not happy with how you have behaved."

I followed after the man who seemed to be very serious in his training and discipline of the dojo. I looked back at the students and even Genta was among them and performing the basic warm up drills of punching before them in an even rhythm. The kid had good form and he could go far if he practiced hard enough.

"Now, Zeke-san, I am sorry that you had to take time from your day in order to fix a problem in my own dojo, but I thank you for it nonetheless. I hope you weren't too terribly troubled by him. He is a very strong fighter after all, but I suppose with your animalistic strength and stamina that you had a bit of an upper hand on him."

I looked at him as we went out a door on the side and we walked to a shed, "I don't know, sir, he is indeed very skilled but the success he has had has gone to his head and he seems to think that he was not once a small boy who was both weak and unable to defend himself like Genta. If nothing else he needed to be reminded that while he may be the top student here, he is not 'the best' fighter elsewhere. I just was able to dodge and avoid him with my own style until I was able to properly attack, that and I was able to make him mad and lower his guard as well."

I watched as the man walked into a shed and came out with a box of tools and then followed him. I guess he really was going to give me that plaque after all. That certainly would be a huge honor for me even if the way that I had went about getting it wasn't exactly the standard, but a win's a win I guess. We walked over to the front of the dojo and the sensei started to get out a screw driver and started to unscrew the plaque from it's mantle on the left side of the entry to the area.

The plaque itself looked very nice for being outside for who knows how long. It was well kept varnished brown and had the dojo's name on it. I just now got a chance to look at the name "Sarutobi school of the Twin Force" it was certainly something I had never heard of before but at least the mantle looked nice and I said so when Mr. Sarutobi handed it to me.

"Thank you, Zeke-san, I am sorry my student made you get involved in this, but I am glad that you taught my son a lesson of humility and respect for others." I hadn't realized it but looking at the man and recalling what Norito looked like they did seem to share a lot of physical aspects so it really didn't surprise me when he said that after a second.

"I guess that makes sense then, he seemed really angry that he'd lost but I guess what I took for a furious attack over being beaten I think might have been a blow to his ego over losing and possibly even losing his father's respect." He handed me the plaque and I held it in my hands for a moment admiring the smooth feel of it under my touch and sighed.

"I also apologize for any trouble I might have caused again. If I may I would like to watch you and your students for awhile, and if I may participate in a session tomorrow?"

He nodded and agreed to allow me to stay and watch for awhile and while I watched I made a note about coming back here tomorrow. The atmosphere was friendly and the style was pretty interesting and looked to be something I could manage to pick up some things with. It may not have been how I wanted it to be, but it looked like I had found a place to go for the next few weeks while my dad finished up his work with his company.