CHAPTER 7

Another day in the dojo, the students practiced harnessing their chi, while Miss Mei took a quick nap. Suddenly, Jaggy's voice echoed through the room.

Si-Fu! Si-Fu!

"Miss Mei! Come see! Kai's levitating!" Miss Mei jumped up, startled. "What?! He's levitating? Are you sure?" she asked, not quite believing her ears. Miss Mei rushed over to where Kai was training. To her astonishment, he was Indeed hovering several inches off the ground, eyes closed in concentration. "Kai, how are you doing this?" she asked, her eyes wide. "I focused my energy and visualized myself lifting off the ground," he replied, opening his eyes and coming back down to the floor. "That's… incredible," Miss Mei said, still in disbelief. She's never witnessed someone with such ability. "Incredible," she whispered to herself, "the Hanzo clan really are something special." She felt a sense of awe and admiration for Kai and his abilities.

Lei watched the scene unfold in front of her, her eyes filled with wonder and admiration. "He's so amazing," she thought to herself, "he's so talented and focused. I wish I could ask him to teach me what he knows." But she held back, unsure if kai would accept. She would then continue to observe and learn from afar.

Then Meili insisted on going to ask kai for assistance. Lei caught sight of her approaching kai and became nervous at what she might be attempting to do. Meili, filled with a sense of determination, strode over to where Kai was standing.

Grrh!

Lei's heart sank. "No, she wouldn't," she thought to herself, but it was too late. Meili approached Kai and asked, "Can you please teach me how to do that?" Lei felt a surge of anger and jealousy course through her body. How dare Meili ask before me?

Lei marched over to Meili and Kai, her fists clenched at her sides. "How dare you ask such a thing?" she said, her voice shaking with emotion. "That power is for the Hanzo clan, not yours. You have no right to demand his time and attention." Meili looked taken aback by Lei's outburst. "I didn't mean to upset you," she said, "I just thought it would be nice to at least learn something from the best." Lei's face was flushed with anger. "Well, you're not going to learn from him. I won't allow it," she said, her voice raising in volume.

After a moment of hesitation, Kai spoke. "Meili, I can't teach you to levitate. It's a special ability reserved for members of my clan, and you're not a member. " His face expressionless and cold. There was no warmth or compassion in his eyes, only the certainty of his words. In an attempt to hide her disappointment, Meili put on a brave face and looked him . "I understand," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you for your time." And with that, she turned and walked away.

"And as for you. Um… Lei isn't it, you won't allow what exactly. What makes you think you can dictate what I do?" Kai asked, his tone stern and uncompromising. "Just because you're from the Hanzo clan doesn't give you the right to decide what I can and can't do. You're not my master, and I don't answer to you." His words were like a slap in the face, and Lei felt the sting of his rejection.

Lei's thoughts raced, "But I wasn't ordering you around," she said, her voice barely audible. Kai fixed his gaze on her, his eyes hard and unyielding. " You're the daughter of the best of our clan, you should act like it." His words cut like a knife, and Lei felt the sting of his rebuke. As Kai turned to walk away, as he casually remarked, "You should act like the daughter of the best of our clan." Those words struck a nerve, and Lei's feelings of admiration and respect for him evaporated in an instant. Lei snapped. Without thinking, she lunged forward, aiming a surprise attack at Kai. But in an instant, kai caught up to what she was about to do and stopped her move without causing any harm to her.

The scene caught the attention of everyone in the dojo, and they all stopped to watch the confrontation unfold. For a moment, their eyes met, and Lei felt herself lost in his gaze. But the moment was short-lived, and he quickly snapped out of it, dropping her to the ground. "I have no time for child's play," he said coldly, before leaving the dojo. Lei was left feeling frustrated. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" Lei thought to herself as she sat on the ground, tears in her eyes. She buried her face in her hands, overcome with frustration and despair.

As Ryou watched the exchange between Lei and Kai, he grew increasingly angry. He couldn't stand the way Kai had treated Lei, and he felt a need to defend her honor. "I'm going to have a word with that punk," he said to Jaggy, his voice full of rage. But Jaggy just shrugged and responded with a nonchalant "your funeral." Ryou ignored Jaggy's comment and stormed out of the dojo, determined to confront Kai. Miss Mei, exhausted could only watch helplessly at all what was going on. She also thought to her self that nothing bad could come of it .

As Ryou stepped outside, he saw Kai sitting on the staircase, just outside the door of the dojo. With an air of confidence, Kai looked up at Ryou and said, "What do you hope to achieve by coming here with the intent to fight me? You know you can't win, and even if you did, it wouldn't change anything. Lei would still feel the same way nor would she acknowledge you suddenly start to like you." Ryou's expression was stunned, "What!!" Ryou exclaimed. "You think I like Lei", he said he's face was obvious he's lying. "Never mind about that" Kai said "Remind me again, what made you want to become a warrior?"

Ryou was surprised for a moment, he responded " Um.. to become a warrior of Wushu Guan has always been my dream, I want to protect Wushu Guan and most especially my Clan !." "Hm, You all here say that but none of you act on that dream"

Ryou stood speechless for a moment before blurting out, "What? I do act on that dream! I'm here training every day, aren't I?" But Kai simply raised an eyebrow and replied, "Are you really training for the right reasons, though? Or are you just doing this to get respected by the girls and the other remaining clowns in your clan?" Ryou stammered in anger, "What are you trying to say? Don't you dare insult my clan like that!" His eyes blazed with fury, but Kai only looked back at him with a calm and unshaken by Ryou's threat " You and the others here take this all as a joke. You don't realize the real dangers that are out there, the enemies that lurk in the shadows and around this village."

Meili's voice cut through the tension, "Miss Mei needs you back at the dojo." Ryou and Kai looked up in surprise, and Meili continued, "She said you both need to come back right away." Ryou gritted his teeth, still furious with Kai, but he knew he had to follow orders. So, with one last glare at Kai, he turned and walked back to the dojo. He left Kai standing alone, a slight smirk playing across his lips. Kai trailed after Ryou, taking his time and walking leisurely.

"Well done, Meili," Miss Mei said with a pleased smile. "You managed to bring them back quickly and peacefully. While I'm not happy about the way things started as I watched on, I am impressed with how you handled the situation. So, I would like to offer you guys the opportunity to join in on a mission together. This will be a chance for you to experience a real mission and work as a team.". Meili's face lit up with excitement at the thought of being given a mission, but it quickly turned to nervousness. She was flattered by the trust Miss Mei gave them to take up a mission, but she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the prospect taking on a real-life mission. After all, they were still just beginners, and she didn't want to let them down. But she was determined to make Miss Mei proud. Lei looked up unfazed, the other students were eager to hear what the mission is all about.

"Due to the limited capacity of the mission, we won't be able to have all of you join on the same trip. I've invited two other Si-Fu's, and you'll be assigned to one of them. Think of this as an opportunity to learn from a different teacher and gain valuable experience from a different perspective. Be sure to pay close attention to your Si-Fu and take advantage of every learning opportunity you have." Miss Mei ordered.

Knock knock!

"that must be them, Come In!" Mei said. Two Si-Fu's entered the room, a man with white hair and a woman with a kind face. The students all looked at the newcomers, surprised to see the white-haired man again.

"You!" Meili exclaimed, pointing at the man. "You're the man we met before!" she said. "It's nice to see you again," the man replied with a smile.

The white-haired man introduced himself as Si-Fu Hibiki, and the female Si-Fu introduced herself as Kaede Sukuna. "So as Mei's told you already, you'll would be accompanying us on our missions," Hibiki said. "You'll be broken up into two groups, and Si-Fu Kaede and I will be taking each group separately," he continued.

"Yeah I wanna see what you maggots are made of,"

Clatter!

Kaede said as she stomped her foot on the table close by her. Some of students became nervous, and could tell she meant business. " Man, what a deceiving demeanor. She's way tough than she looks." Jaggy said to Ryou, his tone frightened. "sheesh, she's just trying to get us scared of her. But anyways I don't want to be put in her group though."

"Wait a minute," Miss Mei said, raising her hand to halt the class. "I know you're eager to get started, but I have to clarify something. The students won't be participating in the missions. They're here to observe and take notes. It's like a field trip for them, while we carry out the actual missions."

"What? That's not fair!" Kaede exclaimed, her face scrunched up in indignation. "I mean, come on! We're the ones doing all the work, and they get to just sit back and take notes? I wanna see what you've been teaching 'em all this time.

"I thought we were training the students," Hibiki said, his tone confused and disappointed. "No, I don't want to put any pressure on them, c'mon I mentioned this in our meeting." Miss Mei replied, her voice soft and pleading. "Please, Hibiki, let's do it my way." She clasped her hands together, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle at her expression. "But this is your class, not mine," he said, shaking his head. "If you say so, I won't stand in your way."

Miss Mei suddenly realized that she had gone a little too far in her attempt to persuade Hibiki. She dropped her hands to her sides and cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. "Thank you for understanding," she said, her tone now professional and authoritative. "

The students watched in silence as a range of emotions crossed their faces. Kai's expression remained blank and unreadable, but his thoughts were anything but neutral. "Can't these Si-Fu's get their act together?" he thought to himself, annoyance simmering just below the surface. " C'mon let's get this over with already!"

"ugh", Kaede still not liking the idea, "Alright, Mei . We'll do it your way."

"Good, thanks, guys. So let's move to the grouping, there are 9 students so—" Mei began, only to be interrupted by Hibiki. "Never mind, Mei. I've already arranged the students into two groups," he said, waving a piece of paper in front of her. "Hibiki!" Mei exclaimed, her expression a mix of annoyance and surprise. "Where's my group?" she asked, clearly miffed that she'd been left out of the equation. Hibiki just smiled, sheepishly acknowledging his mistake. "I'm sorry, I forgot you were participating too. I'll amend it right away," he said.

So the grouping where done and announced ;

Jaggy, Koko and kagawa were put on Kaede's group A. Jaggy wasn't happy with the arrangement. "Oh man," he muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Kaede asked, a fearsome expression on her face. "Nothing, ma'am," Jaggy said quickly, trying to cover his tracks. Lei, Lian and Ryou were put on Mei's group B. And lastly, Si-Fu Hibiki took in Kai, Meili and Fuse in his group C.

"Hmm.. so it seems we would be separated for the mean time, Lian" Koko said, "huh, why the long face Lian, we won't be apart for that long."

Lian sighed, "I'm just not sure I can do this alone. I'm not good at relating to others, or working with a team. I was hoping I could join your group, koko." She looked up hopefully at the instructor, but her expression fell as Lei chimed in, her tone biting. "Well, if you're so keen to ditch us, then by all means, go right ahead! We're just a bunch of creeps, after all." Lian's eyes widened and she stammered, "That's not what I meant!

"Hey, there's no need to be so harsh with her," Koko said, her brow furrowed in disapproval. "Look, I know you're just teasing, but it's not cool to make Lian feel bad," Koko said firmly. "Whatever," Lei huffed, rolling her eyes. She turned away from the group, muttering under her breath as she left. Lian sighed in relief, grateful that Koko had come to her defense.

Alright Then!

As the students followed their Si-Fu's to their respective quarters to receive their missions, they passed through another building of the School of Iron Fist, where the "Guardians of the sacred arts" (top rank Si-Fu's) and "Elders of the Eight Trigrams" (elders of clans) reserve. The building was home to the receptionist guardian, who collected and sent out the missions for the Si-Fus and the non-teaching warriors. It also housed the chefs guardians, Kung Fu who specialized in making delicious and nutritious meals for the school's staff. And last but not least, it was home to the Si-Fus and training masters, who honed the skills of the non-teaching warriors and ensured they were prepared for any challenges they might face.

The atmosphere was charged with excitement as the students caught glimpses of parts of the School of Iron Fist that they had never seen before. Imagine a kung fu temple unlike any other. It has a dojo with walls made of bamboo and a floor made of soft, springy cork. There's an arena that's built like a giant treehouse, with platforms suspended high above the ground. And the meditation room is located in a cave underneath the school, with water running down the walls and the sound of a waterfall echoing through the space. The library is in the form of a tree, with bookshelves growing out of the trunk and leaves that rustle in the wind.

There's a garden at the center of the school that's full of exotic plants, and some of the leaves can be used to make medicinal teas. The huge kitchen has a huge steaming pot that cooks rice with bamboo shoots, and a stove that's heated by a geothermal spring. The bathrooms have showers that are made of smooth, polished river rocks, and the plumbing system is entirely eco-friendly. There's also a museum of ancient kung fu artifacts, and a pavilion where Si-Fus can perform kung fu forms for each other. There's an art room at the school that's filled with materials for painting, calligraphy, and origami. The walls are covered with murals depicting famous kung fu warriors and scenes from martial arts history.

And finally, there's a training ground where Si-Fus can spar with each other in a safe and supervised environment.

"And I welcome you to Iron Fists own shoalin monastery!" Hibiki said.

"Wow, this place is incredible!" Meili exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder. "How come you guys get to hang out in such an amazing place?" "Maybe cause we earned it?," Hibiki replied, his chest puffing out with pride. "Newcomers like you aren't allowed here, only those who have proven themselves on missions. Even the lowest-ranking Dragon and Tiger Warriors get rooms here, but the Dragon Warriors get special treatment," he added with a sly grin, pointing at himself. "So, you're a Dragon Warrior?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow. His expression was a mix of skepticism and curiosity.

"Glad you asked Kai, but by any chance, you've ever heard of The shredder?"