"Come my sons." Katsuo, the oldest son with black hair and hazel eyes, Keiji the middle son with brown hair and olive green eyes and Ryuu, the youngest with blonde hair and deep blue eyes came running along towards their father. "One day in the future one of you three will take my place as elder of this dojo and hold our tradition most high. We are funded by the Government and we need to start recruiting men for this country as it seems there is much trouble lurking behind the scenes." All three of the boys’ eyes glared at him as each of them envisioned their own rules and regulations for when they became the elder. "You are all still young and one day I will pick the strongest to take my place as I won't be here forever." He said looking at Ryuu. "Yes Sifu." The trio replied simultaneously.

10 years later

While in training the trio heard a crash inside the dojo and stopped immediately to rush towards the sound. "Sifu!" Keiji exclaimed falling to his knees in aid of his father. "You are weary and weak, you need to rest, not walk about." he said helping his father to his feet. "Brother please get his medication." Keiji asked Ryuu and pointed to the cabinet next to the basin. Ryuu rushed towards it and opened the door. "Which one?" he asked hastily. "The green bottle." Keiji replied. Ryuu handed him the bottle along with a spoon. Katsuo fixed his futon and helped Keiji carry him safely across the room.

"Thank you my sons." Their father smiled holding Ryuu's hand. Tomorrow I will announce my next of kin as I fear I won't be around much longer." He said coughing. "I am comfortable now so you may carry on with your training." Ryuu and Keiji headed outside again while Katsuo made his father a bowl of ramen. "Here you go Sifu." He placed it in front of his father, bowing slightly and walked out with a smirk.

Ryuu had to take a break and went to the bathroom when Katsuo came up with a plan.

"Listen, Keiji, Sifu will be choosing Ryuu as his next of kin for the dojo tomorrow, we both can see that Sifu favors him so I have slipped some valerian with a dash of california poppy in his ramen to keep him asleep throughout this plan. I'm thinking you should hold Ryuu down in a head lock and I will knock him out and hide his body so we can get rid of him and maybe Sifu will choose you by default." Katsuo tried persuading Keiji. Katsuo’s heart was filled with envy and malice. Katsuo knew it wasn't true because he was much stronger than both Keiji and Ryuu, yet their father favors Ryuu more. Katsuo could not understand why his father would want to choose the youngest as his next of kin when Katsuo himself was the oldest and definitely the strongest out of all three of them. Katsuo would have made a good strong leader & he knew Keiji was too soft and lacked the backbone to strike his target. Ryuu was neutral but he clearly remembered his father saying he will choose the strongest to run his dojo, so why Ryuu? What makes him so special? Keiji looked hesitant. "Katsuo, don't you think that would fail? What if Sifu finds out?" He asked worrisome.

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"Sifu is in a deep sleep. We will say that Ryuu has run away or backed out from the picking. I mean you were always by Sifu's side and you still see the way he treats Ryuu. We both know it's not fair on you." Katsuo retorted.

Keiji thought about it for a minute then nodded firmly and decided to go ahead with Katsuo's plan. When Ryuu came outside to continue their last bit of training, Katsuo challenged Ryuu to spar with him.

"Brother grab a katana, let's get one last session in before calling it a night." Katsuo said grabbing a katana from the rack. Ryuu picked up his own katana from its stand mounted against the wall. “Let’s do this.” Ryuu replied confident. Without knowing what lay ahead and with swords clashing and clanking Ryuu could see Katsuo was using a lot of force in this session as he was pushing harder than their usual training sessions, cutting and ripping Ryuu's clothes in the process. Katsuo jumped towards Ryuu with his sword firmly gripped in both hands and bringing it down towards Ryuus face with immense force. Ryuu immediately placed his sword horizontally across his head to block the blow & with a quick glance in his defense he saw Katsuo give a slight nod, before even being able to gather his thoughts Keiji ran & grabbed him from behind locking his arms behind Ryuu's head and restricting Ryuu's arms from any movement whatsoever. Keiji kicked one foot out from under Ryuu forcing him to his knees and with the force he pushed onto Ryuu’s shoulders leaving him to drop his katana.

"What is thi-" Without hesitation nor explanation Ryuu saw Katsuo glide his sword which was placed firmly against his forearm towards his throat. With impeccable skill and just enough force he pushed back against Keiji, nudging his head backwards.

Katsuo sliced Ryuu’s throat but only cut deep enough to graze & damage his vocal cords but not deep enough to sever an artery.

Katsuo knew he failed to pan out his hidden agenda, with a haunted expression he knew what the implications of his actions were. Keiji was frozen stiff at the sight of what just happened, his mind went blank and Ryuu grabbed his throat realizing he couldn't even make a sound and needed medical attention immediately. It was as if time had frozen for a few seconds and anything that had happened afterwards was in slow motion. Through the pain and blood Ryuu saw Katsuo run inside the house, glancing towards Keiji who was still horrified stiff, he couldn't believe he literally helped attempting to kill his own blood. Suddenly everything came to as Katsuo ran out and was never seen after that day again. Keiji immediately snapped out of his trance and ran inside grabbing the medical kit to aid his brother. He kept apologizing throughout the night all the way to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital Ryuu was taken to the Intensive Care Unit immediately while Keiji explained that an accident happened while training with his two brothers. They never mentioned what had truly happened to anyone.

After a week of Ryuu's release from the hospital Keiji explained what Katsuo's plans were and that he can’t believe himself for following through with it, so he sincerely apologized once again.

Ryuu forgave Keiji but told him that he should take their father and move to Tzaneen where the healthcare is pure in the mountains and it will extend their fathers life with at least 3more years and to never return in order to keep this incident a secret.

Presently

Ryuu ran the dojo with an iron fist regardless of his injuries and incapability's of speaking at the mere age of 19. Five years later he is the Master of the dojo, helping the government against terrorists and training new students to protect the country.