The actual training was grueling, no doubt about it. From when she'd bleakly stepped into the room and took her position at the end of the back row, Yue had expected another two-hour long lecture, not push-ups and running. Having never done actual push-ups while training with the Yukihiro sensei, she found it extremely hard to get her muscles to cooperate and raise herself on just her arms. Minutes later, her chest burning painfully, she managed to get the hang of it, as much as her rather frail body would allow. She was conscious of how weak and staggered she looked compared to the the rest of the class, composed mostly of fit male students that had little to no problems with this exercise. Naturally, when they started on jogging, Yue exhaled a sigh of relief and ran, keeping in pace with the man in front of her and all too soon, it was back to push ups again.

The stances were hard to keep up for more than half a minute and it hurt every single part of her body that had her weight on it. Although she'd endured such stances back with her tutor, it was no match for this. 

It hurt. At one point, she didn't want to do it any more. Every part of her body screamed in pain and protest, urging her to collapse next to some of the students and surrender her body to sleep. Somehow, beyond her knowledge, she managed to push on, right until the near end of the sparring session with Akimoto-sensei's shihan. You'd think sparring with a 4'5, 12-year-old girl would make you think twice and consider her predicament but no, her shihan barely noticed and continued on with his brutal hits. Unlike some other shihan, however, he did not taunt her. He kept silent everytime she collapsed under one of his hits or could not maintain the painful stance, offering no praise or words of discouragement. It was uncharacteristic of him; many other, if not almost all shihan were rather abusive, both verbally and physically but he was not; he stuck to his technique and kept aiming blows that would knock her down. That was probably because he was not a Yukihiro - it was clear from his mannerisms and physical features. Later, she would learn that this was Akimoto Kouta, Akimoto-sensei's only son.

After getting up for the nth time, Yue could feel herself getting light-headed. Some of the students had vomited and nearly every one had passed out with the exception of herself and seven others. In the particular stance she was now holding and shakily deflecting blows from the shihan, her legs could not withstand the pressure and immense pain anymore and even before the shihan readied himself for another hit, she collapsed and hit the floor. The shouts and grunts of the other students and shihan in the room were deaf to her ears - she instantly passed out, leaving the pain behind.

How much time passed after that, she couldn't tell. The moment she was brought back to consciousness, the pain hit her truck and from the other students' faces, they were in the same condition as well. Only Akimoto-sensei and his shihan were perfectly fine, although Yue attributed it to decades and possibly centuries of practicing and perfecting the technique. Amazingly, even as she slowly and carefully walked out of the classroom, Yue could still hear Akimoto-sensei training.