Perfect School

Jonah:

“Would you perhaps be willing to spar with us later?” I asked. “I think we could learn a lot from you. We’ve had a lot of teachers, but never someone like you,” I said. It was flattery, but it was also genuine. I wanted to know what he fought like. I also wanted to watching fight Kira.

Michael:

My brows rose at Jonah's question. "Perhaps I can...but I want you to do your best when sparring with me. And I will be sparring individually without anyone else in the room. So if you have anything you've been holding back, bring it out." I smiled faintly, "I have work to do but I'll use it as a chance to warm up myself."

Jonah:

I was disappointed that he wanted to do it without an audience but I nodded respectfully anyway. My wish of watching him and Kira Fight was denied. Now I was determined to draw the match out as long as possible to get as much as I could from Michael. Winning wasn’t my goal. I would be ignoring his advice, but it served my purpose.

Krissy:

We went upstairs afterwards and left the kids to finish their routine in the basement. “Can I watch?” I asked Michael in the kitchen. I would respect his decision either way, but my curiosity was burning. I pulled out the pancake mix from the pantry.

Michael:

I looked at my wife and smiled fully at her. "It's your house, I can't exactly tell you to stay out. I'd ask the kids to see if they mind. If they don't then you are welcome to watch." Moving to stand before her I tapped her nose with a finder, "So long as you don't interfere no matter what happens."

Krissy:

My brows furrowed at his last words. “Well… If something bad des happen I can be there immidiatly to help. But I won’t interfere.” I put my arms around him and kissed his neck lightly. “Just be careful.” I had faith in him, but it had been a long time since he sparred with anyone near Kira and Jonah’s ability.

Shifting my head to give her more room at my neck I chuckled softly, "I know my beloved. I will be careful." Wrapping my arms around her I held her close to me. Depending on how the fight with Jonah went I knew I might have to reschedule my spar with my daughter. I could very well get seriously injured today.

Krissy:

I held onto him for another minute before I pulled back. I smiled slightly. “Do you want to start breakfast or let the sheep out and feed the dogs?” I asked. Usually I made breakfast and he tended to the sheep, but occasionally we traded off.

"I'll take care of the sheep. Will give me a chance to warm up." Pecking her nose with my lips this time I gave her an adoring smile. "I love you Krissy." I never tired of saying those words, even after all these years.

Krissy:

I couldn’t help but grin back at him. “I love you too, Michael,” I said softly. I went about making pancakes once he went out the back door. Angel came in to lay at my feet while I cooked. I was trying extra hard to make the pancakes perfectly.

Kira:

I trained with Jonah, but neither of us were pushing now. I did take the time to try and learn from what Michael had suggested, but it felt stiff with what I tried. "Why did you want to train with him?" I asked Jonah suddenly during a brief rest where we watered up.

Jonah:

“Don’t you want to?” I asked, looking over at her. “He’s not like any instructor we’ve had. He’s not from Marie. I want to learn everything I can from him. Your father is a remarkable man, Kira,” I said with a smile while I watched her closely. I wondered what she thought of him. Was she proud to be his blood? I doubted it. Kira wasn’t one for pride.

"He certainly is...unique...in terms of an instructor." I fiddled with my water bottle, watching the liquid slosh and swirl around. "He is knowledgeable, can read how we think and act, and while I'm sure he isn't as skilled as he once was he can give us a decent challenge." Raising my green eyes to the stairs I nodded more to myself than him. "I do want to learn from him."

Jonah:

The rest of the day went quickly enough.  I was looking forward to the match between Michael and myself.  I played out many scenarios in my head.  I analyzed everything I knew about the man to determine his fighting style.  I even attempted to find something on him in the dark web.  Now that I knew more about him than his name I could feed off rumors of other people.  It was clear someone, possibly Michael himself, had done some clean up work to remove any mention of him.  But nothing is gone forever if you know what to look for.  With Zero’s help I could have gotten more information, as it was I had a few stories to go off of.

Kira:

I made sure to help Jonah warm up before the match, though I doubted he'd need it. Jonah was more skilled than I was, and from what Michael had been saying he wasn't nearly as good as Jonah was. Add in age and it seemed obvious who the winner was going to be.

And so when Michael came down the stairs in clothes made for sparring I frowned a bit. Who did I want to win here? My closest friend? Or the man who was my father? I nodded to them both and shot Jonah one last look before I went up the stairs and out onto the porch.

Michael:

"Has Krissy talked to you?" I asked Jonah as I did a few stretches at one side of the match. Kira's face had given me the impression that she was gazing at a puzzle with a mix of pieces. I had wanted to ask what was going on in her head, but she left before I had the chance. That left me alone with Jonah, who seemed ready and eager.

Jonah:

“Yes,” I said returning my gaze to him after I had watched Kira leave. “She asked if I would be okay with her watching our match. I told her I didn’t have a problem with it. Most of my training has been observed by others. It doesn’t bother me.”

Krissy:

I almost decided to sit with Kira instead of going to watch Michael. But his words from earlier stuck out to me. He told me not to interfere no matter what happened. That made me anxious about what might happen and I had to be there in case something went wrong. I went to the basement a couple minutes after Kira came out.

Michael:

I nodded and finished warming up while waiting for my wife to join us. "We fight until a clear loss happens. Let's avoid anything permanent shall we?" I moved to the center of the mats, body relaxed as I waited for him to join me so we could shake hands then begin. "We'll begin after Krissy gives the count."

Krissy:

I went over to Michael and gave him a quick kiss before stepping back to watch the fight. I counted to three then watched the two of them move into action.

I had always thought that Michael moved like a big cat. But now watching the two, it was clear that Jonah was much more like a cat toying with his prey. He didn’t try to do anything that would end the fight. He wanted the fun to continue as long as possible. His talent was clear. He was good at analyzing Michael’s moves. But Michael was good at being unpredictable. He was extremely talented at hiding his thoughts. And his goal wasn’t to show off. His goal was to finish it. He was a deadly snake that took his prey down in as few strikes possible.

Michael:

The fight had lasted all of a minute, much of that just us slowly circling each other for an opening. I had made the first move. I was now crouched over Jonah, his head pinned under my knee, one arm trapped between my calf and rear, while his other was bent over the opposite leg. I could have held him there almost forever and at any point it would have taken a simple few extra movements to dislocate the arm bent over my knee or to raise up and drop my full weight onto his temple to knock him out. It was his utter and complete loss.

My breathing was deeper than I expected when I released him. I stood up and shook my head slowly, "I'm disappointed Jonah. It would seem you didn't take my advice at all. This should have been easily your win. I would have fought you over and over and over if that's what you wanted." Dusting myself off I pressed a hand to my shoulder to roll the sore muscle. "I don't appreciate being shown disrespect by you not performing your best. We are done here." I walked past my wife, taking only a moment to place my hand on her shoulder and squeeze before I went up the stairs.

Krissy:

I hurried up after Michael and caught up to him in the bedroom. I went up and hugged him from behind. “I’m proud of you,” I murmured and kissed the back of his neck. I had rather enjoyed watching him move. Usually I only experienced it first hand while sparing with him. This had been a treat.

"That wasn't a fight to be proud of...he held back." I rubbed her arms slowly as I let out a long slow sigh. "I shouldn't have won the fight Krissy, it should have been my loss."

Krissy:

I moved around so I was in front of him. “What he did doesn’t matter. You fought and you won. That’s all I care about.” I kissed him softly then took his hand. “Let me massage your shoulders.” I took him to the edge of the bed and sat him down.


Jonah:

I laid on the mat for a few minutes after they had left. I was disappointed in the fight. Not because I lost, but because I couldn’t keep it going longer. Michael was right about it. I stood up and shook my limbs out.

I heard voices from Michael and Krissy’s room as I came out of the basement. I spotted Kira on the porch and went to join her. She wouldn’t be sympathetic. I sat down next to her with a sigh.

Michael:

I sighed softly as her hands set to work. With the process of time, my dangerous past lifestyle, and the soldier serum my muscles had taken a brutal toll. If I worked too hard they screamed at me. It was hardest during the winter months especially when the cold played a factor and I couldn't just send the sheep out to the pasture for food.

Kira:

I was bundled up with a blanket and I was sitting on the porch steps with a dog head in my lap and the other two playing with a stick that they seemed to enjoy keeping away from the other and wrestling for.

"Well? How was he?" I asked with a glance up at Jonah. I assumed he'd won. It didn't even cross my mind that he wouldn't have won.

Jonah:

“Very good,” I answered. “He ended the fight quickly and efficiently.” I looked at her. She assumed I won. Her confidence pleased me and I couldn’t help feel a sting that I was about to let her down. She would be annoyed. She would call me a fool. But she would understand why I had done what I did and what I wanted to get from it. She knew me.

I shook my head at him, "You should have won. Why did you try playing with him? Did you think his words were just suggestions?" I focused my attention on petting the dog in my lap, earning a pleased huff of air. "I know you. You probably wanted to learn from him, but that wasn't what you asked of him. You asked for a spar."

Jonah:

“Yes, I did. But it’s different learning form an instructor than it is fighting someone face to face. If he had instructed me, he would have chosen what I learned, but it may not have been what he himself practiced. As it is now, at least I know how he acts in a fight. I wished it had gone differently. But I’m not sad that I lost,” I said with a shrug.