Uvo

With the fight finished, I practically dragged Ant out of the ring. His eyes were glazed over as if in some sort of trance, a few snaps of my fingers in front of his face after we exited brought him back to full consciousness.

“Uvo?”

I raise my eyebrows slightly.

“I can’t believe we won!”

He managed to gasp out. I smiled what I thought was a rather good smile and slapped him on the back.

I knew the manager would come down any minute so I took the opportunity to pull my t-shirt back on. When Antony saw this he did the same, we removed the masks as well.

I heard footsteps coming in, the rooms were on the same level as the ring so you had to take stairs down to get here.

Finally, the manager came in, looking briefly at both of us, now fully dressed, our masks and gloves lying on our respective benches.

Her entrance choked the air in the room, I could hear Ant inhale but never exhale, it took me a while to realise I was doing the same.

My heart was in my mouth, what I was nervous for, I had no idea.

“Well done boys. I could make fighters out of you yet. Come.”

Caught by surprise, it took a second for us to recover but we immediately snatched our things and followed her retreating figure.

“I do want to talk to you but it will have to wait till we get back, I refuse to have such a… Well, this kind of conversation in the aiv.”

The aiv, more specifically, the airborne intelligent vehicle, that we climbed aboard took us swiftly back to the gym.

The AI was prattling on about the weather in the coming weeks, apparently, some sort of storm was on its way. Not that it ever affected any of us, city defence was built to thrive in this environment.

When the AI finally pulled up, the doors recognising the location and rolled apart, revealing the front of the dusty gym.

As the aiv parked itself we headed into the office, the manager taking a seat behind her desk. Ant and I patiently waited, she exhibited all the airs of someone in the middle of deep contemplation, while we were impatient and more than a little nervous, we were not rude and stood silently for what felt like half an hour but was more likely under 5 minutes.

She opened her eyes with a snap, they were much clearer now and looked at each of us with a steely stare that bound our feet in place.

Unable to move, talk or even think straight, we listened, intently.

“How would feel about becoming a student of the martial arts here at Taijitu?”

Students?

I thought that we had performed well but this? This is beyond what I was expecting.

Ant was the first to speak up.

“What would becoming a student entails Mrs…?

He clearly dragged the last word, attempting to coax an answer out to finally reveal her name.

“You will know my name when you accept my tutelage.”

She looked expectantly at me.

It’s true, I had nothing to lose. No home, no job, no skills worth speaking of. This was an opportunity someone like me would only have once in their lifetime.

“I accept your tutelage!”

I practically screamed. She nodded her head resolutely.

“Bow.”

She hinted.

I bowed.

She coughed.

“Like this…”

She demonstrated, her back becoming rigid and straight, her arms were parallel to her torso and she kept her legs straight.

I nodded my head and tried again, earning a nod of approval from my new teacher.

When I looked up I found Ant looking at me, I could see willingness and excitement but hesitance and doubt were mixed in too. I know nothing about him, he probably has a lot going for him. I nodded my head to display a simple message - it’s up to you.

He swallowed and bowed as I did. “I accept your tutelage.”

The lady cracked a large smile. Without noticing I did too, I was happy that Antony decided to stay on, of that I was sure.

“Welcome to the martial arts school of Taijitu. In my presence, you will be referred to as the 2 components of Taijitu. Yin, Antony you will take up this mantle. Yang will be inherited by Uvo. You will refer to me as Master Wen.”

We both looked at her in awe. What was all this about inheriting mantles? Besides that, she didn’t even tell us her full name.

“Your training starts tomorrow, on weekends you will arrive at 8 o’clock, on weekdays you will arrive as soon as school is finished.”

Antony nodded his head, I, on the other hand, was confused. I did not go to school and yet she was giving this instruction to both of us. Before I even managed to bring it up she carried on.

“Yang, no student of mine will be uneducated, you will start at school on Monday.”

What? What school? I have no money, no possessions and no prior education. I can’t just walk into a lesson and expect everything to work itself out. Yet again I was about to speak up and yet again I was beaten to the punch.

“You will attend Afalorey Secondary School. A fine public school, not too far from here. I know a teacher there who will sort you out with the proper funding, there are Government run schemes to help kids like you, although, I’m sure you were unaware of that. You do have the right to attend school, no matter how hard on cash you are.”

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Free schooling? Not only that but regular training from the most legendary school on Earth. This has all become a little too much for me.

I paced backwards, feeling behind me for a chair. When one was found I perched on it. Breathing a little heavier than before.

The other two patiently waited for me to calm down. I could have said thank you but I know that she is not doing this for thanks.

“I will make you proud!”

I stood back up, she smiled. Bullseye, exactly the answer she was waiting for.

“Yin, Yang, I will see you tomorrow after school.”

Before leaving she handed me a note detailing my contact at school, I could only read a little so I happily pocketed the note and moved on. I would have to find the location of the school through the old fashioned method.

I arrived home covered in bruises from the fight and sweat from the mini adventure I had locating the school. It took me getting lost 3 times and 5 strangers consulted before I found it tucked away in the corner, surprisingly only a few streets away from where my current residence is.

My hands clasped the door knob and I let myself into the shabby little room I call home. A pleasant sight greeted me.

“Hey there Darling!”

Tracy. As beautiful and happy as ever. I tried to remember that I should be angry at her for letting me worry the whole week but the relief of seeing her safe washed it away immediately.

“Trace!” I walked forward and brought her close to me, the laughed and returned the hug, he arms around my lower back and mine around her neck and shoulders.

“I’ve missed you Trace.”

“Not as much as I missed you, lover boy.” We broke off the hug and stood a little further apart for a proper conversation. “I have some good news and some bad news.”

“Bad news.”

“Okay, I got fired.”

I tilted my head sideways and looked in her eyes. She was smiling, her chin up and shoulders back, the very picture of a confident woman. Her eyes betrayed her inner turmoil, and as someone that has known her for significantly longer than most others, I could immediately tell. I brought her close to me again, this time stroking her head for extra comfort.

“It's alright Trace, you're safe now.”

I managed to whisper, not intentionally, just, with her ear right there I felt it would be unnecessary to shout. She choked back a sob but I felt my shoulder become damp and she let a few silent tears escape only to be immediately absorbed by my t-shirt. I'm sure she's not telling me the whole story but I won't force it out of her.

After another minute she patted me to signal she was okay, I let her out of my vice like grip. I hadn’t noticed but I had become slightly angry towards whoever pushed her to this level.

“And, the good news?”

I gently reminded her. She smiled at me.

“I… Get to spend… More time…. With you.”

She said, in between sniffs and sobs, trying her best to recover from her emotional outburst.

I laughed, quietly, as she no doubts intended the comment to be a joke, however, she probably did not expect me to notice her suppressed loneliness.

“Thank you Uvo.”

“Stay here as long as you like Trace, you don’t need to do anything, not for now. Rest till you recover, meanwhile…” I said, making my way to my bed. The aching that I had forgotten about thanks to Tracy came back with a vengeance. “...I’ll do the same.”

I saw her eyes finally look at me for real, taking in everything. The cuts, the bruises, the sand and dust. While I had done a lot of fighting before, I rarely came home with anything more than bruised knuckles. The guys that I was used to brawling with were several levels below the quality of our opponents today. Her mind switched into overdrive and she rushed around my room getting anything she could, food, bandages, some alcohol for cleaning the wound. I laughed and allowed for her to clean me up, grateful for the companionship.

For now, I decided against delving any deeper into what happened to Tracy this past week, I sensed the wound may still be open and I dare not aggravate it further. Most I can do is let her sort things out when she deems it necessary.

We fell asleep and woke up. The sun peeking over the buildings, the sky a muffled grey, the same colour it always is. I took a deep breath, only to be choked by something. I spat it back up and identified the mysterious culprit. My hands came up and I finally realised that my aggressor was a stray strand of Tracy’s hair.

I rolled my eyes and began the arduous task of getting every last strand out of my mouth. Being careful not to wake Tracy up in the process, I was up, almost unnecessarily early, thanks to my nerves about attending school for the first time.

I picked up the clothes Antony had given me yesterday. Smarter than anything I had ever worn and a lot more comfortable than my usual scratchy outfit.

As I got finished I looked at myself in the dirty mirror set up in my room thanks to Tracy, scavenged from a room along the hall that was luckily vacant.

A white t-shirt and black trousers. Not much could go wrong with this kind of outfit. Thanks to my more regular bathing schedule at the facilities the gym provides I also smell and look clean.

I raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise at myself. I stopped myself from waking Tracy up and showing her how I looked but I could just show her when I got back, there was no hurry to wake her up and it was probably the first proper night sleep she had in awhile.

The walk was, as I already found out, short and painless. On my way I spotted several other students, all carrying bags and most chatting away with fellow students. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to not look like an outsider when I took my first steps into the school.

I headed straight for the reception, a small desk that was on the left as I walked in. The man at the desk smiled as I entered and beckoned me forward immediately.

“You must be Uvo?”

I nodded.

“Nervous?” He asked. I nodded again. “No need to be, we have plenty of students like you, we had one join us just the other day so you have nothing to worry about.”

I wasn’t sure if he was lying but either way, I was grateful for it, a long inhale through my nose and I quickly realised that I had my shoulders and back tensed up beyond belief.

I quickly relaxed my body and felt instantly more calm in both body and mind.

The man smiled and got up from his desk. “Follow me, I’ll show you to your class, and introduce you to the teacher. If you have any questions you can ask me now or wait and ask her.”

I nodded but realised he was walking in front of me and had no intention of looking back.

“Okay.” I managed to say. The corridors that he brought me down passed quite a few classrooms that were just starting to fill up. None of the students was paying any attention to me, most were absorbed in either idle chatter with classmates or using their various screen devices. Some had them on their wrists, other had them on a tablet. I could understand the attraction. Instant access to information and entertainment, how convenient. The holographic screen that floated in front of their faces were, for the most part only viewable by the user making it easy to use during inappropriate times. Like during class.

My eyes snapped back to the man that was leading me to the class I was going to belong in.

On the way, I spotted something, or rather, someone. Her hair was the first thing I saw as she had her back turned to the window. But it was the most jet black hair I had ever seen. Long and sleek, perfectly straight and slightly glossy. I saw a hand come up and tuck a stray strand behind her right ear.

I blinked and moved on, the man had stopped outside a door, by chance or by some miracle, it was the door the mystery girl was behind.

“Thank you.” I gave him a brief nod as well just to make sure. He smiled.

“Good luck, Kiddo.”

Whilst I didn’t appreciate him calling me Kiddo I felt no desire to confront him about it. I stepped into the classroom, currently inhabited by, black haired girl and a stern looking woman with her hair in such a tight ponytail I thought she must be in terrible pain. She was undoubtedly the teacher.

Other than them there was a group of girl and a group of boys, on opposite sides of the room, all had stopped to look at me. Before the silence reigned any longer the teacher stood up.

“Ah, you must be Uvo, please, come over here.”

I did as told and, navigating my way through the scattered desks, found my way to the front of the classroom. “It’s nice to finally meet you, we have been looking forward to your arrival.” Whilst she said that I scanned the reactions of the room and clearly none of them was aware of my existence until I had walked into the room. I nodded at the lady, knowing that in front of all these people my voice would betray me. “You will find all your necessary stationary in your desk drawer, which is there.” She pointed towards the black haired girl, I went into brief shock and it took me a while before I realised she was pointing to the chair in front of her. I sat down, still silent, bear in mind all the other students were practically spearing me with their stares. It was quite an intimidating atmosphere for one as unused to it as I.