"Right, sorry." He laughed in embarrassment, as he his other hand at his side as well. Kiro stared off in the distance, as he tried to let time do its thing, flow. He curled his toes around the edge of the posts to keep his ground, as the bar shook from Ally's continuous movement. He couldn't help but think about the bully he had faced just the night before. He let the bully's insults drive him to push himself to the limit. He'd prove them all wrong one day. Kiro worked hard for the entire evening, as he did continued to do several series of strength training. He couldn't feel his arms, or legs, or anything else by the end of it all, but he did feel accomplished. '[i]I just don't know how I'll keep this up every day.[/i]' He complained, as he exited the gates of the grounds. The thought crossed his mind that he could indeed end up dying within three days if he continued to train so hard, but that couldn't actually happen. '[i]Right?[/i]' Kiro nervously questioned if it were possible in his head, as sweat started to pour down from his forehead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (some unspecified amount of days later... AT SCHOOOOLLLL) The final bell was heard all throughout the grounds, as Kiro peaked his head out of an empty locker in an unused classroom. He had to use the double protection just as a precaution. He had started hiding in this specific location every day since the fight with the karate club bully, giving excuse after excuse to leave his final class just a bit earlier than they let out. The janitor felt bad for him, and gave him the keys to use the room whenever he needed to. Kiro was scared out of his mind as to what might happen if he were to be seen by the bullies again. They may have wanted to settle the unfinished business. Kiro silently, and carefully, climbed out the window of the classroom, as he rolled into some bushes. He peeked his eyes out of the bushes, shifting them left and right to confirm that the coast was clear. "Hey, Twig." Quite the annoying voice laughed from behind him. "Ah!" Kiro screamed, as he fell over from his squatting position, and right into the open. He slowly turned around, thankfully finding someone who wasn't the person he was running from. It was Niijima, who was indeed a bully, but not the kind that could punch Kiro's face in. "Oh, it's you..." Kiro angrily mumbled, as he picked himself off the ground. "Wait, were you hiding in the bushes too?" He questioned, quite confused. "I was, I was looking for you, ol' Weak-Knees!" The alienoid teen laughed, as he pulled out his handy PDA, along with the pen that went with it. "What do you want, Niijima?" Kiro questioned with irritation, as he dusted off his pants legs. "Word on the street is that you got your butt handed to you pretty good by Ijime." He chuckled, as he tapped on a few things on his screen with his pen. "You mean the jerk from the karate club? Yeah, so what?" Kiro asked about it, clearly not in the mood for anything the jerk Niijima had to say. "Well, another word on the street's saying he's not too happy about all the bragging you and your friends have been doing." Niijima added, the sly smirk planted on his face. "What bragging? What are you talking?!" Kiro angrily asked, as he grabbed the collar of Niijima's shirt, pulling the alienoid in close. "I tried to tell you before, but I just couldn't seem to find you. It looks like someone's been sending emails to the whole school, saying that you had the flu when you fought the big brute. That you could have wiped the floor with him any other day if you desired it. You really chose the wrong guy to piss off, didn't you, Kiro?" Niijima laughed in Kiro's face, as spit flew off from his open mouth. "I never did anything like that, and you know it!" Kiro angrily explained, as he shook Niijima slightly. "I know you didn't, Weak-Knees. Because I'm the one who did it. Thought I'd settle the score for you." He pushed Kiro off of him, as he started to walk off. "Anyway, I gotta go. Just wanted you to get a handle of the sitch. I'd be careful walking home if I were you, Twig." Kiro growled angrily, as he clenched his fists. He thought about punching Niijima, but that wouldn't really solve all that much. '[i]Oh, man. What am I going to do?[/i]' He cried to himself in his head. Two humongous kids from the karate club came into view from afar, as Kiro quickly dove back into the bushes. '[i]I'll never be able to show my face in public again. If that Ijime guy gets his hands on me again, he's sure to kill me this time.[/i]' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun began to set, as Kiro was the latest he had ever been to the dojo. He barely had any time left for training! Usually he walked with Ally back to the dojo as soon as school was out, but Kiro was too afraid to leave his hiding place for a while. Even after he had gotten out of his hiding place, he found bullies at every corner, all from the karate club, waiting for him to show his face. Kiro was covered in dirt, leaves, and other disgusting things, as he tried his best to take the safest route possible to get to the dojo. Usually he had Ally there to help him open the enormous doors, but not this time. He had to open them himself. He gave a mighty yell, as he gave the door everything he had. Once again, to no avail. Just as he expected, he was nowhere close to opening it. "Asuka! Ally! Bokusa! Muhai!" He yelled for each one individually, hoping to get a response from someone so he could get in.