Kulipari: Attack of the Rouges(slow progress)

Chapter 1: Best Friends

Everyone has that one friend that just stands out from all the rest. They're the one you do everything with. The one you have the most fun spending time with. The one who is like a brother to you. For me, that person was Michael Killian. I had known this Scottish - Australian buck since kindergarten. He always had a positive attitude and a witty sense of humor. We would make each other laugh all the time, telling jokes about each other. He'd make fun of my curly aboriginal hair. I'd make fun of his freckles. Then we'd make jokes about whatever came to mind.

We would also go over to each other's houses alot. You could bet that during the weekend one of us would at the other person's house. I especially enjoyed heading over to his house because of the pool. He liked going over to my house because of the ping-pong table. And, after the fun was over we ended up crashing at each other's house. Or if we didn't want to sleep, we would watch cartoons with the volume all the way down so the adult's wouldn't know that we were still up. And that was life for me when I was young.

As I grew up, nothing between Michael and I changed...except for one little detail. When we were both six years old, our parents decided that we needed a new hobby. That hobby was kickboxing. We were both skeptical at first. But as time went on, we began to really enjoy punching and kicking heavy bags, other kids, and even each other. Now we had a new hobby and a new way to have fun. As we both progressed in our new favorite hobby, our friendship grew stronger. And as we became better at kickboxing, we started to compete in tournaments. Those tournaments were some of the most fun we had ever had. Him and I had been competing ever since we were 11. We never actually won any of them, but it was still fun to fight for a chance to win first place...

And now we move on to a couple of weeks ago.

Michael had just turned 14 the week when the listings for the final tournament of the year were up. Him and I had trained like never before and it paid off. We were both tied for first place and this one match would determine who the better fighter was. That Friday, we were sparring with each other at the gym. He knew my every move and I knew his every move. We blocked every kick and punch we threw at each other. Eventually, we decided our sparring match was going nowhere and decided to stop when we both locked eyes and began laughing. We then both sat down on the mat we were sparring on. He sighed before he started talking, "Next week, mate." "I know," I replied with a smile. There was then a pause. I then asked him, "Who ya' think's gonna win?" "I honestly don't know. It could be you, could be me." "I guess..." There was then another pause, a little longer than the previous one. I was thinking about whether or not I should ask him the question I was pondering. Eventually, I decided it wouldn't hurt to do so, "You wouldn't be mad if I won, right?" He gave me a stare before he said, "Mate, I'd be going bonkers for ya'! All that training would pay off for ya'!" He ended with a smile. He then asked, "Would you be mad if I won?" "Mate, I'd be happy for ya', too. Either way, I got to fight my best friend. No matter who wins, I'll be happy." "Me, too," Michael replied as he got up. He then got his sandals from out of his bag and slid them on his bare feet before asking if I wanted to head over to his place for the night. I told him, "Is that even a question? Ya' already know the answer!" I smiled as I got up and slid my sandals on. I then called my dad and told him that I would be at Michael's house for the night. He gave me permission and with that we were off to my friend's house. We were having a conversation about something along the way. I don't remember what it was about but I do know that it was a hilarious one. We got to Michael's house around 7 pm. We decided to go swimming before his parents called us in for pizza around 8. We then decided to head up to his room and play some video games. At around midnight, we decided to call it quits and get some rest. Before I closed my eyes to sleep, I thought about how great I had it. I lived in the greatest city on Earth, I had an awesome family, and I had the best friend a guy could ever ask for. Everything was as it should be.

Little did I know, everything was about to change...