DOJOLAND (Elementary)

Chapter 1 - The happy boy from the mountain

Hei drowsily opened his eyes as his ever-loving mother tussled his hair and whispered "Wake up now, dear. Your father is waiting for you at the table". After processing this for a while, Hei snorted a bit. His mother was sent to rouse him but, loving mother that she was, she caressed his head and smiled for a long while and then decided to barely speak up as to not disturb him.

The 11 year-old boy sat up and yawned as he stretched, making snapping sounds in his joints that were completely unexpected in normal boys. He knew that the day had come to meet his destiny: elementary school. As much as his mother had loved home-schooling him (and the great job she had done so far), his father remarked that the boy needed to get in touch with other children his age.

After being lovingly groomed, Heiwa of the Marui household met his father, having what seemed like a bowl of cereal at their home's dining table.

"G'Morning, son", his father greeted casually.

"Morning, father", the son replied, on the way to the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of wild grain cereal and fruits. There was a clink as the boy struggled a bit with the unnaturally heavy bowl. He then grabbed an apple and squeezed it into juice into a small glass with his hand.

"It's a big day, for you, son", his father said to him.

"It is, Father", Hei replied as he sat down and ate quickly.

"Will you be alright getting there? Your mother will have absolutely no problem if you ask her to walk you there", Hei's father said, while pointedly looking at the entryway, where Hei's Mother, Ai, was peeking at them and pretending to dust around a hanging picture.

Hei smiled at his parents and his face looked determined. "Don't worry, I know my way now"

Pleased, his father asked, "Did you pack everything last night like we told you?"

"Let me see: Backpack (check), pencil case (check), Lunch bag (check), medicine kit (check), weighted wristbands and ankle bands (check), utility penknife (check). I'm all set"

"Good, son".

He left his home excitedly as his parents smiled at him. His school wasn't far away and the road was safe enough. There would be no problems.

After a good while, he slowed down to a stop. He sniffed the air around him. Slowly, he glanced to his sides. He was surrounded. He then pretended to tie his shoelaces and, now in a sprinting start position, leaped ahead and broke through the not-quite-ready-to-be-sprung ambush. He laughed, School was sure to be fun.

Upon arrival to the school gates, Hei noticed the other children were cheerfully mingling and hesitated for a bit. Narrowing his eyes he noticed the small, seemingly naturally-forming groups, were in fact children with similar disciplines. He shrugged and ran inside.

The welcome ceremony was a new experience. The principal briefly mentioned the school history and his optimism that all the children would end the year unscarred, she introduced the teachers and then quite grimly warned that unauthorized fighting in and out of school boundaries was very strictly forbidden. The vice-principal then took over and went over the year's scheduled activities: 4th graders would go on a mountain excursion, 5th graders to a Historical site and 6th graders would go on a fishing trip. Heiwa was just slightly disappointed. He had heard that mountain excursions were full of cool experiences like waterfall training and camping. Then again, he had lived his entire life until then on what could be called mountain training.

His classroom was nice, bright and airy. The teacher was a mature lady with bandaged hands and wrists who asked everyone to introduce themselves and advocated for a peaceful time but conspiratorially said that if anyone wanted to spar for a bit, she could arrange to it.

"I am Heiwa of the Marui household. I've been transferred to this school to integrate into society after living my life in the wilderness of the Marui mountain to the West", he introduced himself. Some boys and girls nodded approvingly. It was a fine thing to begin your life getting your family's tradition hammered into you early but it was fun to learn your enemies' weaknesses by mingling with them as well.

The next hour, the teacher provided the Ministry of Education's designated curricula for the year and asked the few students who had began their first year of education just like Hei if they had not covered any of the content yet. One of the boys explained that he had had a few problems figuring out the more complicated ideograms as his father had had extremely limited access to paper in the desert where he had trained him. The teacher smiled and promised she would tutor him after class.

During rest, the transferred boys and girls were surrounded by others asking them about their styles and training.

"It's mostly stamina and strength, really" would most of them say, as instructed by their parents as revealing any kind of secrets would be met with a severe punishment.

"My dad won't really tell me. He says it's to ensure my survival and longevity", Hei answered himself.

"Hah! I bet your family's style is so weak that unless you train every day you can't match the average!", dared one of the boys surrounding Hei.

Hei shrugged. The truth was his father hadn't shown him a single martial art skill. He had heard there were very secret styles which would not reveal the skills to their followers until after much later and after completing a physical preparation process to ensure loyalty. Climbing trees for fruit, diving deep for fish, running fast and jumping high were, simply put, everyday life for Hei.

"Since we kids aren't allowed to spar right away, how about we settle this at PE?", the arrogant boy asked.

"Sure, why not?"

The PE teacher heard from the other children how Heiwa of the Marui and Presto Ponche were planning on competing at PE to see who was better trained. He told everyone his Class was not to be used to prove anything but still left the two boys in the same bracket to measure their speed at the 200 mt. dash.

The instant the whistle went off, the boy Presto ran like never before, trying to show off his specialty: a long burst dash meant to close the gap between himself and an opponent. He made a face when he heard the Marui boy running right next (maybe just a little bit behind?) to him.

"Very good, boys! I can see the fruit of your training very clearly now!", the teacher complimented, making a note in his board.

Panting, Presto raised his thumb and tried to sneer at Heiwa who had come second.

"You're really fast, Ponche", Hei complimented with a smile and offered him a cup of water.

"Heck yea, I am!" he boasted, still panting, and took the water. He gulped it down and gave the cup back to Hei, who held onto it as they walked to the starting line. He noticed some of the boys were a bit pale and giving a nonchalant look toward them. He paid no importance and tried to flaunt himself to the girls. "yeah, you see that? Presto Ponche is second to none when it comes to speed!".

It wasn't until he was home later that evening when he realized "when did Marui fill that cup?"

He tried to recall. The water dispensers on the school courtyard were opposite to the starting line. After he crossed the finish line at 200 meters, it meant Marui had kept on running until he reached the other end and then walked ba... no, wait, there couldn't have been enough time after the teacher's compliment and Marui offering water... that means he ran all the way to the other end and then ran all the way back...

"Holly molly, that's some stamina!", he realized and went to bed.

It wasn't until months later that he realized Hei hadn't started the race with a cup in his hands.