Perfect School

Michael:

I squeezed her hand in return. I wished there had been more pictures to see than the one offered to us. But that thought had passed when Kira started talking to Jonah and mentioned Marie. That she was alive at all was it's own horror, that I had failed in killing her appalling. A dark stain on my record, but also on our lives.

Kira:

I didn't need to look at my parents to feel the undercurrent of displeasure. I changed the subject for Jonah and I. Instead I talked about our team, if he'd had any news on what everyone was currently doing at the school and any personal training he'd left them with.

Jonah:

Kira’s momentary focus on me was pleasing. I had not contacted the team as I didn’t want to give any information as to where I was. I was sure they were doing fine.

“The twins are with Kyle,” Krissy spoke up. Her reaction was delayed. No doubt due to the mention of Marie.

"Are they? Paublo should be fine on his own by now then." I brushed over him and his situation without a second thought. Instead I focused on the floor, wondering what Kyra would say if she knew I'd slipped out to visit my parents without telling her anything.

Krissy:

“Kyle usually brings the kids here for the second half of break. I know we decided not to tell them that you were here yet… but I know they would want to be here with all of us together…” I said. I couldn’t outright ask her to extend her trip. I didn’t want to pressure her. But it had been going well and I hoped she would want to stay longer.

I tucked my chin. Just one week was dangerous in it's own right. What would Marie think if I was gone for two? I glanced at Jonah for a moment then back at the floor. "I don't know if I can stay another week..." I hesitated. How upset was Kyra going to be if she knew that I'd been here without saying anything to her?

Krissy:

I gave Michael and anxious look. I had messed up. I brought it up too early in the trip, now it would be very unlikely that she would stay.

Jonah:

I could see how Kira was conflicted. She wanted to stay. But her worries of Marie were keeping her from accepting. “We might work something out,” I said. By ‘we’ I meant Zero and I. Together we were certain to make a plan to keep Marie off the trail. I was rather curious to see how the whole family interacted together. The last time they were together was when Kira was in the hospital and it had been rather brief.

Kira:

I looked up at Jonah with a small frown then I stood up. "I think I'm going to go turn in. Thank you for taking us to the hot springs. I enjoyed that a lot." The directed the comments towards Krissy and Michael before padding down the hallway.

Michael:

I watched our daughter walk away, a blank expression on her face. I turned my attention to Jonah then, gaze thoughtful. "Jonah...what is holding her back so much?"

Jonah:

I turned my eyes to Michael after I watched Kira leave. “Kira thinks she is nothing more than a weapon. It’s been ingrained in her since she was an infant that she belongs Marie. Even if she goes against the woman’s wishes she still feels guilty. There was a time when she would do nothing without Marie knowing. Now she does so reluctantly. It’s a mark of what she truly wants that she is here now with the two of you. I worked with an associate of ours to ensure that Marie would not find out about this trip. I believe Kira thinks that staying any longer would risk being found out. She’s scared of displeasing her,” I said. There was some gratification to explaining their own daughter to them.

Krissy:

I leaned against Michael more now that Kira had left. Listening to Jonah talk about it settled a pit in my stomach. Michael had been a weapon too. But Kira seemed so much more fragile than him. How could anyone use her like that, let alone my own blood?

Michael:

I wrapped an arm around Krissy's shoulders as I listened to Jonah. Marie had tried to make me all over again. But I was unique, a fluke that shouldn't have come to be. The calm, collected, cold appearance I put off was just my natural state. I'd been born like this. From what I could tell of Kira...she was something different all together. "Thank you." I bowed my head to Jonah while I tried to process what I now knew.

Jonah:

I nodded and stood up. “I think I’ll head to bed now too,” I said. It was more that I could tell they were done and less that I was tired.

Krissy:

When Jonah was gone I turned into Michael and pressed my face to his shoulder. I tried to keep it at bay but the tears came too readily. A quiet sob broke loose.

Michael:

I wrapped my arms around my wife and sighed through my nose. The rollercoaster of emotion from Krissy was a constant grate on my nerves. But I knew I couldn't fault her for it. She was an emotional creature, she felt deeply and when wounded she went for the closest available source of comfort. Me.

"It's alright love. It will be alright."

Krissy:

“I can’t stand that Marie has her. That she controls her. That she had her as a child when we couldn’t. She ruined her,” I mumbled into him while I wound my arms around his middles and curled up against him.

"Do you think she's ruined? I don't. I see a girl who has done the best she can with what was laid before her. I see a girl who puts on a mask to keep everything at bay. Because she isn't what Marie had intended. But she tries. She put so much on the line just coming here. Because she wanted to meet us, to learn about us." I kissed the top of her head. "She isn't ruined. Not if we can help it."

Krissy:

“She could have been so much more if she had been raised by parents who loved her,” I murmured with a sniffle and looked up at him. “I love her, Michael. In just a couple days of knowing her. It’s impossible not to. I can’t bear the thought of sending her back to that woman after this.”

Kira:

I had taken a moment to calm down, to collect myself while laying in bed.  But doing something for them, to give them a way to connect with how I'd grown up kept coming out to me.  I started to pat around for my phone, hoping to talk to Zero about an idea.  But Krissy still had my phone and I stepped out of my room to go get it from her.  I froze in the hallway as Krissy's words washed over me.

At first I hated her words, I hadn't picked who raised me.  It wasn't my fault.  I did everything I could to survive in the world Marie forced me into!  But as my hands started to form fists, she continued.  I didn't know what to think then.  She loved me?  Krissy loved me.


Michael:

"She is special. She would be even if she wasn't what she is. Kira is our daughter and that makes her all the more precious to us both." I murmured. "But we can't pick her path for her, we can only show her how it can be better. We have to love her all the more fiercely." I raised my wife's face out of my shoulder letting my lips find hers for a brief kiss.

Krissy:

I sniffled as I kissed him back. We held each other for another few minutes on the couch before we got up to go to bed.

In the morning, I noticed Kira’s door was open and she was out of bed. For a moment, I was worried that I had scared her away last night. I went to get Michael and he said she might be in the basement with Jonah. It was reasonable, and also true.

I tiptoed down the stairs and saw the two of them training together. I stood still for a moment watching before they saw me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” I said quickly. I wanted to watch her, but I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

Kira:

When Jonah slowed and I followed his gaze to see my mother standing on the stairs I waved while working on getting my breathing to a calmer rhythm. "You can watch. It doesn't bother me. I'm used to it. So long as you don't interfere you can watch and talk as much as you want." I looked to Jonah to see if he had something else to say or if he even minded at all.

Jonah:

I shrugged. “It won’t bother me either,” I said. If Krissy was watching then perhaps Michael would be behind her shortly. Today could be the day that I could get Michael to spar. I held back slightly with Kira now. Not enough to alert her. But I kept some of my more skillful moves to myself.

With Jonahs permission I motioned for him to resume. Having people watch my every move was nothing new. But having Krissy watch made everything feel different. It was more of a spotlight than even Marie made. But that was eclipsed as the heavy steps of michael came down the stairs.

Krissy:

I sat on the steps with Michael and we watched to two train. They were incredibly good. Even at my peak I was nowhere near their level. I rested my hand on Michaels leg and squeezed lightly. Was this what he could do before I met him?

Michael:

I sat beside my wife, watching the two kids before me train. Both of them were great, in fact if I had to admit to it both of them now were better than I ever was at my peak without the soldier syrum. With that trump card they still had some ways to go, but I couldn't think of anyone who would be more skilled than that now.

Placing my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped together I watched them both closely. Jonah was clearly the better of the two, but I sensed that he was holding back just a bit. Looking at Kira was like gazing at a water. She flowed through the moves and reacted no matter what Jonah did. Both had some flaws that I could see. Jonah had better strength and reach, but he had a pause before each action. He thought to much. While Kira had too many different styles. They clashed sometimes and made her attacks lack depth. But I was impressed.

Jonah:

We broke to get water and catch our breath. After I drained much of my water bottle I moved closer to Michael and Krissy. “Perhaps you could give us some critique,” I said looking to Michael. I had seen him watching us. I knew how he analyzed us.

Kira:

I looked up from the floor where I'd been laying, giving my body a chance to rest. When Michael crooked a finger in my direction I got up with a soft groan and went to join Jonah. He motioned us both to sit and like students we sat at the base of the stairs on the edge of the mats. Michael's gaze was heavy on us both as he watched us and when his eyes moved over me his gaze met mine.

"Jonah, you hold back. Do you not trust your partner?" His gaze slid away from me. "Kira is perhaps the most perfect sparring partner I have ever seen. She is like a book with dozens of styles all ready for you to practice on. But you are also flawed in that you fight her only at her best." His head cocked to the side and a faint smile touched his lips. "Tell me Jonah, when Kira is tired or weak do you slow yourself down to match her level? I think you do. You want the fun, the desire to push someone and still prove you are on top. You do both yourself and her a disservice. Your most vulnerable moment isn't going to be when you are tired, or at your worst. It will be when you are at your absolute best, when you stand before an opponent who you assume is strong enough to give you something of a challenge. And they will crumple too soon, beaten too early. And after you over extend, if they have someone else in the wings. You will lose."

Michael held Jonah's gaze for a long moment before returning his gaze to me. "Kira. You know more fighting styles than probably anyone I've ever met. I can only assume that Marie brought a teacher before you and sent them away after you achieved some form of mastery. Then onto the next. This places the building blocks of an amazing fighter, almost peerless in the world. But you have had the misfortune of neglect. On your own you have built up the styles, and brought them together in your own kind of style. That being said..." His mouth turned into a frown, "You blend too much. The stance of one style doesn't lend itself well to the movement of another. Finding that balance is going to be your best option."

His gaze swept from one to the other and he unclasped his hands and stood for the first time since joining Krissy on the stairs. He moved over and crouched before us both. "I was called the best of my era, and while I still had some major tricks that are unique to me and aided me to be better than you are now." Michael's gaze softened and he smiled at us both. Setting a hand on our shoulders he nodded to us both, "The two of you have surpassed me without those tricks. You both are better assassins than I have been. But this isn't the limit of where you can go. Push farther, be better. The bar you set now is of your own doing." Squeezing our shoulders he stood then. "Good luck."

Jonah:

I listened with undivided attention. I couldn’t help but grin when he finished. His assessment was nearly flawless. I had never met a person who could so accurately read people, apart from myself.

I glanced to Kira. She came from quite a family. I wondered how much of her was natural talent she got from Michael or whether Marie simply tried to recreate Michael.

“Thank you,” I said with a nod to Michael. Krissy was looking at him with pride and stars in her eyes.

Kira:

I settled back on my hands, my chin to my chest. I was used to having people watch me, test me, evaluate me. But they only ever went two ways with it. Either it was harshly critical where every flaw was magnified to where any accomplishment was buried, or it was sugar coated and gushing. Both had varying degrees of service to me in getting better.

Michael's words however gave me something to strive for, a way to really improve and get past the walls that lay in the way. That he had come up with it all after watching us for so little time spoke volumes of his skill and knowledge. It wasn't a boast at all that he had once been the best.

My gaze raised to look at Michael and Krissy and I nodded to them, "Yes, thank you."