My New Defense Teacher

MY NEW DEFENSE TEACHER

“You! Teaching me defense? Are you joking?”

“No. Not at all. I can teach you for free.”

“Come on. What kind of joke is this?” I paused dramatically. “Are you serious about the arts?”

“Yes.”

“So…”

“So, tomorrow, we’ll meet here tomorrow at six o’clock. Bring three bottles of one liter water. You’ll need it.” She talked in a business tone. Then, we made a formal hand shake.

“Hey isn’t that a bit late? And, by the way, from where did you learn the arts you said you’ll teach me?”

"I-" I noticed her eyes sparkle with tears for a moment as she turned her back to me. “-It was one of our family rules that everyone should learn defense arts.”

“Our family? Ariel! Hey, what happened? ”

Too late and big mistake. The moment I said ‘our family’, she ran and disappeared behind a huge maple tree, leaving her stuffs behind.

“Did you break up with her, son?” An old man with a walking stick came up and asked. “When I was coming up, I saw her running away in tears.”

“I don’t know what happened and she is not my girlfriend!” I said as I felt my face grew warmer. “Why do people passing me always ask embarrassing questions?” I wondered aloud as the old man walked away. “Now, I’ll pack the books she left here… Woah! Where did her things go??”

The books and her bag disappeared from its place. It really puzzled me because a moment ago, I saw it safe and sound… I started to have some sort of doubts about Ariel.

The next day, Ariel and I met each other there, on the same spot. Just as she told me, I brought three bottles of water.

“Ariel, where did you go yesterday?”

“I was hanging around here.”

“Okay. So did you get your stuffs back?” I asked friendly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got it back. I came back for it when I realized I didn’t have them.” She replied carelessly.

“When?” I asked in a normally.

“Why are you asking me questions like that?” She asked suspiciously. I realized that she must have suspected something from my tone.

“Simply.” I said coolly.

“Some minutes later.”

“Some minutes later, huh? Hmm.”

“Chris, what’s wrong?” she glared at me. “Why are you questioning me?”

I couldn’t bare the glare she threw at me. It had some sort of power to make me feel guilty. Guilty for suspecting something about her.

“I’m sorry. I just- it’s about yesterday’s strange occurrence.” Then I told her about the missing stuffs. She simply looked at me with pity.

“Now, why are you looking at me like that?” I asked angrily.

“I told you that I was hanging around here, right?”

“Right.”

“I was kind of observing you.”

“Observing me? Why?” my heart swelled up a bit as she turned a pale shade of red.

“I don’t know. I felt-” she started.

'What did you feel?! Come on. Tell me. Tell me the moment I have been waiting for.' i silently prayed.

“-Sorry for you…” She completed.

At that moment, my swelled heart shrunk a bit too quickly. “I was looking at you to see what kind of beginner’s arts suit you.”

I was waiting for a different answer. I exactly don’t know what, but I thought maybe the answer to the deep crush I had on her.

“Why sorry for me?”

“I don’t know. You were too poor for your kind. Out of three months being with you, I saw you were too, er, scared to do anything of your own. Then yesterday, I thought of helping you to make yourself, hmm, a man, you know, to make yourself powerful against those bullies.” She said meekly.

“Oh. And what about your books and bag?” I asked with thirst for the answer.

“When you were talking to that old man, you were moving towards him by going behind the tree. That’s when I saw my bag, as you moved away from it.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Hmm, why were you crying yesterday?” I asked again.

“Howling Wolves! You are full of questions! Are you sure that you want put your head in my personal businesses?” she asked angrily.

I was shell shocked. “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No. it’s not your fault.” She said calming down and apologized. “I’m sorry. I should not burst out like that. If my mom was here, she would have scolded me in an embarrassing way. I’m terribly sorry.”

She was talking about her family in a past tense. Before also I have notice plenty of times, she using plural for singular to tell about herself, like for an example yesterday, she used ‘our family’ for ‘my family’. She’s a chamber full of some kind of secrets…

“Hmm, do you know to fight somebody?” She asked doubtfully.

“Yeah, I can fight someone of my size.” I tried to sound convincingly to myself.

“How many of your size?” she asked.

“Er, one, I guess so…” I replied unsure.

“Hmm, a good sign.” I heard her murmur.

An hour passed after starting the defense lesson. The teaching was opposite to what I expected. Instead of some kicking training, she taught me to relax. Then I realized that she was teaching me yoga, an Indian art used to calm and control a person who learns it.

“Why are you teaching me yoga? I asked her wildly. I felt grateful to her for telling me to bring water. Even though it was cold, yoga made my body warm and I was sweating. I had already finished drinking two bottles of water.

“Because, it makes you stretch your arms and legs-” She said sitting cross legged on the grass. “-hence making you flexible and easy to learn defense.”

“So this isn’t defense?” I asked trying my best to sit cross legged as you are supposed to sit in yoga. “Ariel! This is difficult.”

“I know it is. If you don’t like it, find someone else to teach you arts.” she said coolly as she stood up.

“I want to fight somebody.” I said with adrenaline rushing in.

“Who?”

“You.” I said with a determined face.

“Why?” there was a note of fright in her voice.

“Because I’m angry with you.”

“For what?”

“For telling me that you know defense arts and you are only doing YOGA! So fight with ME!” I screamed as I pulled her in front of me. “Fight me!”

I made myself ready to kick her as I have seen in the movies. I was sure that I looked like a professional kick-boxer, ready to kick or even get a chance, punch her.I felt so anger rise within me with her to waste my first holiday!

Ariel was rooted on the spot where she was standing but her face was calm and a tiny grin appeared as I made my first move to kick her.

I lifted my leg the highest I could to kick her face, but in my mind, just to impress her by making it stop in front of her face.

I realized a small mistake as I made it. I lifted my leg to kick but I moved a bit forward which will end in kicking her face!

But to my surprise, she made herself lean back and make an arc by touching the floor. With the hands touching the floor, she made a graceful somersault as the tips of her sneakers brushed my nose and she stood in front of me with her hands raised, ready to fight.

“Okay. You want to fight, and then fight fair and square. Come on!” she challenged me.

“Alright then. Ladies first.” It was my turn to make a note of panic in my voice. I suddenly understood that she made the frightened voice to calm me, other ways; I’m gonna loose a fight with a girl.

“If you say so…” and a kick came forward. I felt a rush of energy inside me. I ducked and with my leg, I tried knock her down. But she was too fast for me. She did a cartwheel and punched me.

I was on the floor and the next moment I was up from the floor again.

“Good moves…” I heard her say as she tried to give me another punch.

But this time, when she punched, I cupped my palms and deflected it. Trust me. She is really hard and smooth as liquid steel.

We both fought for, maybe twenty five minutes until she defeated me fair and square in an unfortunate moment of mine. She stuck out her hand and took my own to pull me up as I was lying on the floor.

“Good fight. You know, you are pretty good in it.” She said admiringly.

“Thanks.” I blushed.

“You aren’t good. You are awesome! Howling Wolves! I myself defeated you in a lucky moment.” Then she looked at me angrily. ”If you knew how to fight so well, why didn’t you defend yourself all this time?”

“I don’t know what I did. It just came out like that.”

She looked at me curiously and fell into deep thoughts. Then, slowly, bit by bit, my bruises started to ache. It ached until I was on my knees. The wounds I had bandaged started to bleed after the fight.

I must have made some noise because Ariel was kneeling beside me when I looked for her.

“Chris, what happened?” She looked shocked. “You’re bleeding. Let me help you. Where do you stay? You need to change your dressing.”

“My dressing?! What do you mean?”

“You silly! Your bandages!” she pulled me up and made me put one arm on her shoulder to help me walk. “Now, tell me, where do you live?”

Soon, we were at my home. She was carefully bandaging my bruises. “Who dressed your bruises yesterday?”

“I myself did it.”

“Did your parents see the bruises?”

“My mom didn’t see it.”

“So you told everything to your dad?”

I felt my heart pound. It ached at the thought of my dad. “Yeah. I told my dad everything.”

She was looking at me. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Where is your mom and dad?”

“Mom went to work. She is a dentist.”

“And your dad?”

“He-” I closed my eyes tightly to clear away that dreadful accident. “He was a pilot. Fighter-plane pilot.”

“Oh.” I heard Ariel mutter. “Do you have any siblings?”

 “Yeah. I had a big sister.”

 I felt my throat dry. I sat there. My heart become heavier every time I breathed. It was a first time someone asked me about my family other than some teachers and old friends.

“What happened Chris? Christopher! What’s wrong?”

My eyes started to leak with tears. I was weeping. The thought of my dad and sister made me cry. And I couldn't even control my emotions.. It slipped out of my grip. 

“Hey Chris, calm down! Howling Wolves! Have I done something wrong?”

Oh well, another chap up.

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