Kasuki Lu: Rise of a Warrior - Part Two

Also by shadowcristal

"Get up!" the Grarrl roared when Kasuki sat there, trying very hard not to burst out in tears. "We don't want weaklings at our school... GET UP!"

     More frightened than depressed, the poor Chia quickly got up, stumbled and fell down again. This time he was clever enough not to repeat the mistake as he moved to the left side of the teacher.

     Quickly the teacher introduced everyone and told him the rules that governed his lessons. The Grarrl also welcomed him to the school, in a brusque way. But the faces of the other pets told another tale.

     "As for a special treat today, we will try something else than the usual battles. Today's subject, as you sissies call it, is Meditation! LINE UP!"

     Everyone did as the teacher had said, and Kasuki found himself in the last line, which only consisted of him and the Kacheek that had teased him.

     "Meditation," the Grarrl begun, "is very important to fighters. In order to concentrate better, thus fighting better, you must clear your mind to make room for concentration. This is what meditation does for you." He looked around the arena. "Despite its quite weak look and the simple actions, meditation is powerful."

     "Good for me," the Chia thought, depressed. "All those bullies... I really need to clear out my mind."

     The Grarrl proceeded to give out directions about meditation, and Kasuki was more than eager to close his eyes and begin the process.

     Slowly but surely, the Chia lost himself and let his mind float in a dimness which he could not distinguish. There, on that higher level, he truly felt as if he had escaped. It was as if he was floating in a cloud-filled heaven, without any fear or darkness. Everything was good...

     A painful jab in the ribs returned Kasuki to reality. He blinked and found everyone staring at him. The Chia gulped, wondering what he had done this time.

     "Excellent work!" the teacher said. "That is a good, serious example!" He jabbed a finger at the pet who had poked Kasuki. "Instead of fooling around like you. NOW GET DOWN TO WORK!"

     Kasuki could see the Lupe's face slowly being covered by a mask of hatred. The Chia gulped, turned around and kept working diligently. If a peaceful lesson was like this in this new fighting school, then... He couldn't imagine the horrors of a lesson where he actually had to fight.

     "Mom... Dad..." he thought, moving his mind desperately. This time it was harder, and all those small noises in the arena disturbed him more than anything else.

     Finally the lesson ended, and the pets were free to go. Trying to avoid trouble, Kasuki waited until everyone had left before he stepped into the hallway.

     "What a teacher's boy..." one of the pets said loudly, and they all turned around to look at him. Kasuki tried to ignore the hurtful comments and the cruel eyes by staring at the ground. He passed all of them quickly, feeling his throat stuff up.

     "Run all you want, but you can't run away," the Lupe that had been reprimanded by the teacher snarled when Kasuki passed him. "Fattie."

     Kasuki Lu continued to lag purposely behind, to avoid any of the teasing pets, most especially the Lupe who had been made a fool of in the last class. Even though he did this, it didn't stop his other classmates from craning their necks and giving him hateful and spiteful glares every now and then.

     The Chia followed everyone else to another room, only this one looked much more normal than the rest of the places in the school. It had a blackboard, tables, chairs, and the usual stuff you'd find in a regular Neoschool.

     As everyone found seats, Kasuki decided to find one at the farthest, most secluded corner of the classroom. The fact that even the nearest pets inched their tables away from him didn't bother him as much anymore, since the new student wanted to be far away anyway.

     Just after everyone had plopped themselves into chairs, a sweet-looking speckled Acara walked into the classroom, clutching a stack of books and a huge shoulder bag. It gave the Chia a slight feeling of relief to see such a serene teacher, who gently arranged her things on her table.

     "Welcome to class, everyone. My name is Miss Alana. And the only reason why I said that is because we seem to have a new face in the class." Her eyes swept over Kasuki Lu and glanced at one of her papers. "Kasuki Lu is the name, aye?"

     He nodded obediently. A couple of Meercas nearby snickered.

     "Very well. I seem to be properly acquainted with the neophyte. Now we proceed to our lesson on appropriate nutrition and accurate health surveillance." The teacher wrote her words on the blackboard in pink chalk.

     "Say what?" whispered the Lupe (whose name was Darien) to one of his seatmates. But the Bruce beside him never got to answer, for at that very moment, Miss Alana began scribbling notes on the blackboard.

     The Acara turned back to her class. "Please take these bits of information down in your books of notes. We will be having a quiz that will test your general knowledge on health and nutrition." She resumed writing away, her cursive penmanship making a nearby Krawk greener than usual with envy.

     Most students however, barely copied any notes. A Zafara and a Blumaroo began passing notes to each other, giggling shrilly. The Meercas who had snickered earlier amused themselves by trying to draw each other. In fact, it was only Kasuki Lu who copied the notes very closely, word for word, and reviewed them over and over to make sure they were all correct.

     The Chia did not get bothered until he entered his dormitory room, where several Lupes under the command of Darien were waiting for him.

     "Teacher's pet, aren't you?" a Lupe said when he tried to get over to his bed, lie down and have some time to think.

     Kasuki chose not to reply, but looked at the notes he had taken in class.

     "Positively one," Darien said, and they started snickering evilly. The pack of Lupes stayed in the room for the next hour, loudly making up many poems about a certain fat Chia's failures as the poor pet tried to block it out of his mind.

     He looked at the inscription above the doors, and shook his head. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words..." Kasuki gulped. The Chia bent down to get a hanky, and when he got up he was sordidly smacked in the head.

     "Please leave me alone," Kasuki quietly whispered as he looked at the bunch of snacks under his bed. He could feel his hand tremble and reach for them. No. If he was going to do it, then he would have to start now.

     "Whatcha doin', little Fatty Boy?" Darien called out as they got up.

     Trouble. Quickly the Chia jumped up, already imagining the horrible things those bullies would do to his secret stash.

     "N-nothing," he said just as the dinner bell rung.

     "You may be lucky, but sooner or later your luck will run out," the Lupe snarled as he turned around and walked out of the door. "Let's go."

     Kasuki watched them until they disappeared from his sight, then tried to calm his beating heart. Then, as he reached the door himself, he looked at the inscription and saw another, smaller text written in pencil below it.

     Only one word that probably had been in a sentence was now left, after all those years of dust and then cleaning.

     "Remember," it said.

     Remember what? His parents had told him he would get lots of friends, and that was a lie. Suddenly he remembered what Miss Alana had said.

     The Chia promptly turned around and sat down at his bed. How could he have forgotten? If he wanted to do it, there was no better occasion than to try right now. And now he would.

     Kasuki Lu watched all the pets walk out of the door for dinner. Trying not to sprint after them, he lay on the bed and continued to skim through the notes from Miss Alana's class. When he was done, he looked over them again until the Chia finally fell asleep on his bed, ignoring his stomach's growls of hunger.

     * * *

     The next day, he awoke to the sound of a bell. The Chia opened his eyes and saw that dawn was beginning to break through the wide window. Some of his classmates were yawning and stretching, while some were dashing for the bathrooms.

     "Breakfast, everyone!" called a deep voice down the aisle of the dormitory. "You all have ten minutes to get ready for breakfast!" Kasuki could see their Grarrl teacher, shaking a bell so vigorously that the nearest pets covered their ears.

     Breakfast? The word seemed to echo in his ears, along with the sound of his tummy rumbling. He watched as everyone else scurried over to the Grarrl, without so much as a peep to the Chia who was trying to avoid the mealtime.

     He waited in the room alone, still reviewing those notes and trying to create a good mantra in his head until it was time for the first class.

     Even though Kasuki had explored the school with his parents just the day before, he couldn't remember exactly where he was supposed to go.

     "Too tired to fight, fatty?" Darien snarled, popping up from nowhere.

     The Chia gulped. Fight? Not when he hadn't even had breakfast!

To be continued...