Gotham Tournament [Batman x King of Fighters Harem]

CH1: The Iceberg Grande (prt 3)

The dojo's long age was apparent. Some of the training equipment has fallen into disrepair, the furnishings were becoming undone and there was a musty smell that wouldn't go away. Still, the young man wearing an orange gi with a black under shirt swept away the insistent coat of dust on the floor. After a while he stopped and exhaled, his blonde hair which he inherited from his mother getting damp with sweat, it would seem for Ryo Sakazaki that the upkeep of his father's old Dojo was just as taxing as his training regime.

It had been over a month since he'd come to Japan. He wasn't sure if it had been the best idea but since the disaster in South Town, he was left with little options. His father was roaming around the world being Mr. Karate and his sister Yuri was now with Robert. He was happy for them, Really, but being the overprotective brother that he is made letting her go hard and left him with a void in his heart. Lately however, that void has been slowly closing.

"Sakazaki!" a young girl's voice called out.

Ryo chuckled. She was right on time, like clockwork. Ever since she found out where he was staying, this had become a routine of theirs; one which annoyed him at first but he later became accustomed to it.

He turned around to see Kasumi Todoh, a young girl with shoulder length dark blue hair which she decided to let down today, she was dressed in her usual navy Hakama and white Gi, separated by a red waist cloth, as well as the blue guards on her forearms and white Tabi on her feet.

"I've come to avenge my father's honor! Prepare yourself, Sakazaki!"

Ryo shook his head with a smile.

"Don't you think it's about time you changed your intro?"

The young Kubodo girl huffed.

"Enough talk! Are we doing this, or what?"

After letting go of the broom, Ryo approached her till he was of appropriate distance and then took up his stance.

"Alright, let's see how much you've improved."

Their session lasted almost twenty minutes this time. During the period of them exchanging blows and kicks, Ryo admitted that he enjoyed sparring with her even though Kasumi claims it's not sparring and she's fighting for keeps. Her strategy normally involves baiting and countering and through fighting him over and over, she was slowly becoming a master at reading his moves and reacting. Ryo personally liked it because it forced him to think outside box and in the end, he beat her own game; all it took was a Jodan Uke to catch her off guard and a throw to flip her hard on her back.

Kasumi panted while lying there, feeling embarrassed that she was beaten by such basic techniques. Ryo hovered above her and lowered a hand to help her up.

"I'm impressed. Your reaction has become much better though you need to work more on your foot work. With improved mobility, you should be able to avoid surprise situations."

Kasumi frowned, swatted his hand away and helped herself up. Although she was acting defiant, Ryo could've sworn he saw her cheeks tinged with red.

"I don't need you to patronize me, Sakazaki! I swear the next time you will face a different outcome!"

"So same time tomorrow?" Ryo nonchalantly asked.

Kasumi gave a loud "hmph!" and began to march out of the dojo when Ryo called out.

"Wait."

After the girl turned to look at him with an irritated expression, Ryo scratched his hair sheepishly.

"Do you want to have something to eat? The thing is, I ordered some grub earlier and they kinda messed up my order so now I have way too much food without anyone to share it with."