Superior Mirroring

After his loss against the young man, whose name he learned was Thomas Hinton, Yamato went back to his room where he just stared at a wall for a while. Beatrice came in to check on him and brought him some food, but he wasn't hungry.

"Oh, poor young master… I heard what happened. But don't worry to much about it!. From what I have been told, you did a lot better than they expected and they even said you were talented beyond their wildest dreams! Besides, that Thomas guy was a real professional. They said he trained in the mountains alone for two years before Mr. Clee took him in!"

"Uh huh…"

"Aww, don't be like that… I'm sure some day you will surpass him by a bunch!"

"Would you mind leaving me alone for a while… I am going to call you if I need something…"

"Oh… Sure… I was just… Sure…"

"Ah, before you leave, could yoi bring me a cup of tea, please…"

"Of course, it will only be a minute!"

"Take your time…"

She hurried to get him a cup of tea to cheer him up, but when she brought it to him, he just drank it in silence.

"That would be all, thank you…"

She looked at him slightly worried but chose to respect his wishes and left him alone.

The rest of the week, Yamato barely left his room and also did not attend any of his scheduled training classes. Even in the library, where he would usually spend most of his time, he was no where to he found. The only time Beatrice got to see him during that week was when he brought him food and water and occasionally a cup of tea too. It was pretty much all be drank at this point. Exactly a week after his match with Thomas had passed with this routine, and she thought he wouldn't show himself today either. But to her surprise, Yamato walked through the hallway towards his training session. Expressionless as ever, but he greeted her on his way with somewhat of a happy attitude. Or at least not as down as before.

When he arrived, Mr Clee and Thomas sat on their knees in the middle of the training room waiting for him.

"I am happy that you chose to return to us, Sir. I apologize if the actions of assistant have displeased you in any way. I am sure he didn't mean to-"

"-It's no problem… I just have one request, if that's alright."

"Please."

"I'd like to have a rematch. I feel like I wasn't giving it my all, compared to what I fee like now."

"Hm… I see… If that is what you wish, we shall redo the sparring match. I will take this one just as much into consideration when planning your future training sessions. Thomas, if you don't mind?"

"Of course…"

Thomas stood up, once again towering over Yamato. But this time, he knew better than to underestimate Yamato.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how you will fight this time, Sir."

"…"

Thomas said while Yamato only stared at him expressionlessly, waiting for Mr. Clee to give the signal.

"Okay, then… Same rules, any questions?"

"No."

"No."

"Well then… Three… Two… One… Go!"

But Yamato didn't move. He just stood there. He loved one foot in front and held his arms at chest height. It looked like a defensive position. Thomas knew about almost all the marital arts, and this one seemed to be Judo from what he could tell. Although he wasn't entirely sure what Yamato's strategy was, he decided to be on the offensive. He took a step forward and was about to try kicking Yamato the same way as he did the last time. But Yamato kicked him first against his other leg just after Thomas put all his weight on that leg to start his kick. He staggered a little and took a step back, while Yamato just remained where he was. Thomas attempted the same kick again, but this time being prepared for Yamato's counter attack. Yamato just took a step back this time and dodged the kick. Thomas kept his foot in the air and stood only on one leg now, waiting for Yamato's next move, but Yamato just waited yet again. Realizing he would just keep doing that, Thomas jumped forward and attempted to grab onto Yamato's training clothes. But Yamato was already hitting the exact spot where his arm would be, and hitting him exactly on his inner elbow (cubital fossa), causing Thomas to feel a intense pain and numbness go through his arm and fingers. He also started to feel dizzy as he backed off of Yamato, who still just stood there. Thomas arm felt paralyzed, and he changed stances to fight with his left hand, which was just as strong as his right hand. Thomas made another attempt to hit Yamato, but Yamato instead of blocking hit back at Thomas's paralyzed arm, which he was unable to move away in time. Intense pain comparable to an electric shock went through his arm, forcing him to stop his attack on Yamato. Due to being in the middle of an attack, the sudden forced stop caused him to lose balance and fall over. He was unable to catch himself with his left hand alone, and landed flat on the ground. He tried to force himself up…

But it was already over.

Yamato kicked him against his jaw, and he was left unconscious.

Mr. Clee applauded and had two other people carry Thomas out of the room.

"That was fascinating, Sir! It looks like I need a new assistant to support our training, since you already outgrew Thomas."

So it seemed. During this fight, Yamato seemed to have predicted every move Thomas would make near if not instantaneously. To understand how he did that, one would need to go back to when he shut himself off in his room. He was not pouting or depressed over his loss, no. He spent the entire week studying human autonomy, micro expressions and micro muscle movements. All for the his goal to create his own martial art, if you can call it that, "Superior Mirroring". By hyper analyzing every movement the opponent makes, Yamato is able to predict the movement his opponent will do next. It also allows him to copy and improve upon any technique he sees his opponent do. Essentially learning it while fighting it and adapting it to his body to make potential individual adjustments and or improvements. Sadly he will never be able to teach it anyone, since his thinking and processing speed are necessary for it to work.