Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on the first two 
chapters of 'Declaration that I have posted to the FFML. Here are the
next two chapters in the story. I hope that you enjoy them.

Chapter 3

"Kick like this," said Ryu and he demonstrated again. "If you kick like
that, you won't generate any speed or power, and you will leave yourself
vulnerable to counter attacks that much longer. Remember this: to defend
yourself you must be able to respond to what your opponent is doing. If
you are caught like that," he said, suddenly lashing out with his leg
and dumping her onto the mat, "you will be placed in a position of
weakness."

"Yes, Master," she replied, rubbing her sore bottom and rising to her
feet.

"Don't call me Master," he said and, moving too quickly for her eyes to
follow, he knocked her down, though much more gently and almost
playfully, onto her stomach.

The first day had been exactly as Ryu had said. He'd roused her at four
in the morning and announced that practice would begin. After a few
sparring matches, which he had, of course, won and gone untouched, he
told her that she had a few good qualities. She was reasonably quick,
had good reflexes and was pretty agile. She had already 'mastered' the
basics of several different styles and she breathed properly--a fact
that had pleased him.

Unfortunately, Sakura also had a number of bad habits that would need to
be corrected. He told her that she was extremely lazy with most of her
techniques, not completing the motions or using short cuts when she
shouldn't. She also had the tendency to restrain herself, rather than
use the required amount of force. Ryu had said that while restraint
needed to be learned, especially in order to conserve strength during
battle, one also had to be able to strike with as much power as
possible. Besides, he also thought that it would build up her endurance,
another thing in which she was woefully deficient. She also couldn't
fall worth a lick, her sore bottom attesting to that fact most cruelly.

Around noon, Ryu told her that she could take a break and, not wishing
to be around in case he should change his mind, Sakura hurried into the
kitchen to make a snack to take the edge off her hunger. Finished, she
walked back into the practice room with her sandwich, her thoughts
already upon the tender deli meats and thickly spread cream cheese.
Sliding upon the shoji, she was astonished by what she saw. Ryu was
standing, his side towards her, with a blue sphere of glowing fire held
between his hands. Noting her presence, he lunged forward and sent the
blue sphere crashing into a large boulder with the cry, "_Hadoken_!"

"How did you... What was that?" she asked, stuttering in surprise.

"It is one of the more advanced techniques of my art," replied Ryu.

"Can you teach me how to do it?" asked Sakura, her stomach all but
forgotten.

"I don't know," said Ryu. "Some people do not have the right mind set to
focus their energy and their concentration on forming the sphere. Even
if you do have the focus and concentration necessary, it may not take
the same form."

"Do you like, always have to say '_hadoken'_?"

"Actually, I don't really know," answered Ryu. He wiped some of the
sweat away from his forehead. "I was taught by my teacher to do so, but
I'm not really sure. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it seems a bit silly to always warn your opponent about what
you're going to do."

"I guess..."

"But anyway, do you know any other cool tricks? Can you fly through the
air, like in those bad Chinese _kung fu_ films? Or maybe you can
disappear and reappear, or something."

"I cannot. I have heard..."

"That there are people who can? How did I know you were going to say
that?" finished Sakura with a grin. "Anyway, could you teach me how to
do that?"

"I could but I do not think you're ready. This is a very powerful
technique, a technique that could seriously injure a person," he said,
indicating the cracked rock face. "I did not use my full power on that
rock and you can see the damage done. Also, it takes time to summon or
gather the energy needed to perform the technique and that is something
you may not have."

"Well, yeah. I guess that's true, but it's such a cool move! Please
teach me how to do it, pretty please!" she begged, putting on her most
winsome smile and flashing him her dimples, which in her case were more
deadly than her most advanced technique.

"Very well," answered Ryu with a sigh. "I will teach you."

The remainder of the day was spent partly in deep meditation and the
other part in practising the basic movements to summon and catapult the
energy ball through the air. Needless to say, for Sakura it was a
frustrating afternoon that turned into an equally frustrating evening.
When the sun had finally set, the distractions of her stomach and her
repeated failures caused a wide frown to be evinced across Sakura's
lips.

"How the hell do you that?" she asked, after her thousandth or so failed
attempt.

"I just do it," was the answer. "It isn't a matter of trying again and
again. In a fight, you can't afford to try and fail. You have to do it
the first time and every time." He looked at her closely and sighed.
"Look, you're hungry and probably thirsty. Let's take a break. I
'cooked' last time so it's your turn this time."

"Okay," she answered despondently.

She slipped off her wrist guards and followed him into the dining room.
He set himself down by the low table and quickly distributed the bowls
and cutlery. Reaching into the hidden cupboard she pulled out the kettle
and the food and set both down hard on the _tatami_ mat. Ryu raised his
eyebrows though he offered no comment. She then extracted the hot plates
and, plunking the packages of noodles down in front of her teacher, she
began pouring water into the kettle. In her haste she spilled most of
the water and she burned herself when she placed her hand to near the
hot plate.

The meal was not much better as the package of noodles that she had
drawn was missing all of the various condiment packages. Ryu, who was
oblivious to the small calamities that had been going on, offered no
condolences and, worse yet, any of the contents of his packages. When
she had finished her tasteless meal and had bandaged her burned hand,
Sakura was bid good night and was promptly left her to her own devices.

She wasn't very tired, though. She was sore and stiff from all her
bruises but not tired. Heading back into the training room, she sat in
front of the large boulder, running her fingers aimlessly through the
collection of rock dust that had collected at its base. "How come he can
do it so easily?" she asked herself. "All he does is pull his hands
back, concentrate and shout _hadoken _while moving his arms forward
and... Whoa!"

A small flash of blue leapt from her palms and struck the boulder with
an audible crack. Holding her left palm up in front of her face in
disbelief, she touched a finger to the rock. It was rapidly cooling down
but was much warmer than it should have been and a bit smoother, too.

"I did it. I did it. I DID IT!" she shouted, rapidly shooting another
blue ball of flame into the rock. Racing through the house, she rushed
to find Ryu and found him sleeping on his blankets in the living room.
"Ryu, I DID IT!" she laughed, grabbing his shirt and shaking him. "I DID
IT!"

"That's good," was his response.

"You don't understand," she said rapidly, the words slurred by the
incredible speed with which she spoke. "I. DID. IT. I lobbed a fireball
at the rock. It was so easy, too. All I did was move my hands back and
say the words and..."

"Sakura, go to bed. Now."

"Oh. Okay."</P>

* * * * * * * * * *

Rows and rows of fluorescent fixtures hung above, revealing the office
beneath in its soft white light. The office buzzed with activity as
phones rung and were answered, fax machines received and sent their
important data and computer keyboards clicked with use. All in all, the
building appeared like any normal office. There were a few differences,
however. Those people manning the fax machines, answering the phones and
keying in or retrieving data all carried a single, regulation magnum in
an equally regulation shoulder holster. The Asian woman passing quickly
through the throng of her fellow employees was not regulation, not
regulation at all.

She was Chinese and stood out in the room that was dominated by
Caucasians. Her hair, too, was a striking feature. It wasn't the normal
midnight black of most Chinese. It was instead a very lovely chestnut
which, while dark, could not possible have been mistaken for black hair,
especially under the warmly scattered fluorescent light. Last and
certainly not least, her spectacular beauty turned quite a few eyes as
she passed, even impressing her fellow investigators. She was the
youngest person to be numbered among them.

Her youth was apparent in the spring in her step, the lilt of her voice,
and the gestures she used. Her eyes, large and dark, were the most
important of these indicators, however. Young and not having yet learned
to hide her emotions, they shone her feelings like halogen headlights
and, at this very time, if one could not tell by the insistence with
which she moved and the uncharacteristic silence issuing from her lips,
restlessness blazed like beacons from her shiny orbs.

Opening the office door without asking, she walked imperiously close to
the large mahogany desk and asked, "Well? Do I go or not?"

"Look Li, I'm not entirely prepared to send a rookie like you out like
this. You got pretty lucky with the last couple of busts and your luck
has gotta run out some time: it's the law of averages. Problem is, if
your luck runs out now you're bleeding and bruised or dead. This whole
operation means you go in alone: there won't be any back-up."

"I know that, Chief. I've read the briefings, too, but I still think I'm
the best person for the job. Just about every one else capable of
getting in is dead or busy. That leaves me as the best and last choice."

"Last yes, but maybe not the best. I could still send in that
American..."

"Him?" she asked with a laugh. "He wouldn't last a second. Americans
don't take part in things like that and it doesn't help that he's been
plastered on a million and one Vietnam broadcasts. Trust me, Chief. I'm
the best one for the job."

"Look, the last time we tried something like this we lost a lot of good
men and women. Interpol has enough problems picking up the pieces after
that without having to deal with losing you, too."

"Chief..."

"Okay, okay. I know when I'm beat," sighed the Chief. Reaching into his
desk drawer, he removed a large envelope and a smaller envelope, both of
which were placed in front of her. "This is a plane ticket to Iwaki,
Japan," he said, indicating the smaller envelope. "You'll be staying at
the Imperial Kyoto hotel and the rest of the information about your
cover, money, and a few credit cards to cover expenses are in this
envelope."

"Great! Thank you, Sir. I won't let you down."

"Chun, I think you're cute and I like you. Try not to get too bruised,
okay?"

"I'll try," she replied, fixing as serious an expression that she could
manage in her moment of victory on her countenance. "But no promises."

The chief only sighed in response.

Chapter 4

"This is so cool!" squealed the young teenager. The soreness in her
limbs forgotten, the young teenager stared out of the large windows and
out at the rapidly approaching airport and runway. "I mean, the farthest
I've ever been from my house was like two blocks away but this is a few
million miles!"

"You were at my house," he answered, dully. "That was a few prefects
removed from Ayukawa prefecture."

"That doesn't count," answered the girl. "I mean, I took a train to your
house. We're flying to Iwaki and Iwaki is like, a million miles away or
something."

"It's only a thousand kilometers," was the curt answer. "Sakura sit
down. People are staring."

"Oh you're just no fun at all, are you Ryu?" said the girl, teasingly.
Still, she obediently sat down, though she had not lost a whit of her
enthusiasm. Instead, she asked, "So do you know who you'll be facing yet
in the tournament?"

He shook his head, no, and answered, "The opponents faced in the
tournament are all drawn by lot and the names drawn aren't always
announced. I've simply been given my plane ticket and am heading there
as per instructions. I can make a few guesses about the person that I
will face but I know of no warriors living in Iwaki. Except for the
_sumo_ wrestlers of course."

"_Sumo_?" she asked, interested. "Do you suppose the _yokozuna_ is
competing there this year?"

"Honestly? I don't know if Honda will be competing there. Maybe we'll be
able to find out."

"Cool," she said as she gazed out the window, suddenly lost in thought
and disinterested.

"Teenagers," he muttered to himself. Unbuckling the infuriating seat
belt, he rose from his seat and proceeded down the slim aisle to the
rear of the plane. The facility, unfortunately, was in use, a fact that
was advertised by the telltale 'occupied' sign. He sighed and waited.
His patience grew thinner and thinner as minutes passed by until finally
the stewardess' voice came over the intercom and pleasantly directed
them to go to their seats and to buckle their seat belts.

"Hurry up in there," he said, knocking heavily on the plastic door. "I
haven't got all day."

"Hold on already," was the reply. "Just a few more minutes."

"Just hurry up."

"Thanks!" she answered, putting the transceiver back safely in her
purse. Flushing the toilet, she took one last look at herself in the
mirror, just for appearance's sake she told herself, and unlatched the
door.

"Finally," said Ryu in his soft voice. He looked at her and made to pass
when he stopped, as if realising something. He looked up again and
stared at her. It wasn't an uncommon experience for her. She had often
felt the gazes of those interested in her and she was quite used to the
feeling. Usually she felt irritated, sometimes even flattered, but
mostly irritated. The irritation passed when she realised she recognised
him.

She walked past him, graciously apologising for the time she had taken.
As the door closed behind her, some time afterwards, she removed an
envelope from her purse. The envelope contained many small black and
white photographs. Flipping through the sheets, she found the picture
she was looking for. The caption read 'Ryu'.

"Found you," she said, smiling.

* * * * * * * * * *

"What was all the fuss about back on the plane? You didn't have any
trouble with the toilet, did you?" she asked with a large, innocent
smile painted across her lips.

"No, Sakura, I did not," he answered, somewhat uncomfortably.

She grinned, obviously enjoying his discomfort. "So we're here. What are
we going to do now? And don't you dare say train."

"I suppose we could do a bit of sightseeing. Take in a few of the sites,
figure out where the match is going to be held..."

Sakura had already procured a camera, a Polaroid, and was swiftly
dragging him from their room and out into the hall. Together, they
proceeded down the elevator, the teenager chattering all the way, and
stepped out into the lobby. This was a packed area as Iwaki was in the
throes of the _sumo_ season and waves and waves of Japanese and other
tourists travelled to the city to take in the regional _sumo _wrestling
championships. Many people of all shapes and sizes mingled around the
front desk and the little reception area. Ryu and Sakura were lost and
jostled in the crowd and it was many moments later when they had pushed
themselves free and out onto the streets.

Before the hotel lay a large shopping centre and it was clear by the
glassy eyed appearance in the teenage girl's eyes where their next
destination lay. Later on, laden down with packages and souvenirs, the
couple had stopped at a small dingy bench in the mall's food court. She
had begged a few more yen and had purchased herself a small cone of the
American novelty mint chocolate ice cream.

"Don't look but we're being followed."

"Huh?" she asked, startled. Comprehending and looking around wildly, she
asked, "Where?"

"Don't look!" he ordered sharply. "Our shadow is over behind the potted
tree and bench. You won't be able to see him, so don't even bother
looking. I only caught a glimpse of him when I had to go back and pick
up the _Sailor Moon_ _manga_ that you dropped and I couldn't see what
his face looked like because he ducked into a crowd so quickly."

"So what are we going to do? Can we go and kick his ass?" she asked, a
dreadful hint of eagerness in tone. She absentmindedly took another lick
of the green mint and chocolate chip studded ice cream.

"No," he answered. "We'll continue on and act as if nothing had
happened."

"Huh?" she asked again, even more confused. "What was the point of
telling me if we're not going to pound his face in? I mean, why bother?"

"I told you so that you would be ready to defend yourself."

"Oh. So, do you think this person is going to attack us?"

"I'm not sure. Anyway, we can't afford to just worry about it: that will
do us a lot more harm than good. Just keep it in the back of your mind
and be ready in case anything happens. By the way, while you were in the
book store I found out where the match is going to be."

"Cool. So when exactly does it start?"

"Tonight at 10."

"Great! That gives us a lot more time to shop."

* * * * * * * * * *

"So do you always put on that white get up?"

Ryu ignored her questions, as he had ignored the last 50, and carefully
tightened the black belt around his waist. That secure, he looked to his
wrist guards, readjusting their position till he was comfortable with
their fit. To Sakura, it appeared that her master--teacher--was fussing
over his clothing, something she could easily understand, having spent
hours selecting the right jeans and blouse for the evening. Ryu,
however, paid only scant attention to the actual state of his dress.
This was more of a ritual, a ritual that he'd been performing for years
to aid in calming and focusing his mind on the battle.

Tightening his head band, Ryu gestured towards the battle ground and
Sakura, who was carrying the bag containing Ryu's gear, bounded and
skipped her way to the raised platform of hard packed earth and sand.
Small and thin bales of dried rice stalks formed a ring about 3 metres
in diameter. In the ring's normal use, mammoth sumo wrestlers would
attempt to force each other out of the bounds of the ring to determine
the winner. In the less ceremonial and certainly more violent world of
the fighting tournament, however, being forced out of the ring had
little to do with the outcome of the battle. Unless, of course, one was
thrown and knocked out... But that would be an entirely different thing
altogether.

Sakura reached the ring first and stared about in awe, dropping his
gear. She had only been to one sumo event in her life and she and her
family had been well back in what would be a sea of seated fans. This
was the closest she had ever been to the battleground and her
imagination wove images of the various _yokozuna_ that had fought and
triumphed on the packed dirt.

Behind her, Ryu stepped lightly on the packed dirt and waited. At the
far end of the stadium, a door opened and his challenger passed on
through. He was a smaller man than Ryu, much slimmer and not as heavily
muscled. He was also much more flamboyant, the bright red of his garb
and the arrogance in the set of his jaw attesting to this.

"I'm Guy," he said, pointing to himself. "You Ryu?"

"Yep!" answered Sakura excitedly. "You bet he is and he's going to wipe
the floor with you!"

"Who the heck is the kid?" asked Guy, a bemused expression on his face.
"A fan of yours?"

"A friend," said Ryu.

"Really?" asked Sakura, her eyes beaming. "Oh wow! Wait till I tell my
friends at school! This is so cool!"

Guy smiled wickedly as Ryu sighed and stared up at the ceiling, Sakura
chattering on.

As they spoke, the far doors opened one more time to admit a black robed
man and a woman. The robed man paid no attention to the woman following
in his wake. His focus was on the two men in the ring. Approaching, he
intoned in a hollow and toneless voice, "The victor is the one who
forces his opponent's surrender or renders him unable to continue. There
are no other rules. You may begin."

Startled, Sakura landed on her bottom when Ryu pushed her out of the
ring. He was forced to flip backward in order to avoid Guy's flurry of
kicks and punches, and then he ducked under a kick designed to crush his
throat.

Rolling forward just as Sakura regained her feet, Ryu grabbed Guy's out
flung leg and yanked it forward, startling the other warrior and pulling
him off balance. Ryu then launched several rapid strikes to the other's
head, whipping it back and forth with repeated punches and then capping
it off with a kick that he linked to another of his art's more advanced
techniques: the _tatsumakisenpuu_ _kyaku_ or hurricane kick. He leapt
several feet of the ground and began spinning, his leg stretched out in
a lethal kick which struck once, twice, three times before he righted
himself and landed easily on his feet.

Guy, his vision flashing and the blood pounding in his ears, vainly
tried to shake himself out of the damage induced stupor. Stumbling, he
futilely leapt forward, arms outstretched to grab his opponent's
shoulders and somersaulting, slam him down into the ground. His
injuries, however, prevented him from executing the manoeuvre with the
required precision and he found that he'd hurled himself far too high to
land in the right place. The mistake would prove costly.

Gathering his strength, Ryu leapt up, once again spinning as he brought
his arm up in a strike that hit like an explosion. Ryu's rock hard fist
caught Guy directly in the chest, cracking ribs and forcing air from
lungs, and vaulted the man up with the force of the blow. Sweet oblivion
claimed him from the pain in his chest as Guy began his rapidly
accelerating descent to Earth. Fortunately, Ryu caught the falling man
and laid him carefully down upon the dirt.

"Ryu wins, Guy loses," said the black robed man. Then, he turned and
left as a stream of medical personnel swarmed around the fallen warrior,
their concern evident in their expressions.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" asked Sakura. "I mean, you hit him pretty
hard and he didn't even touch you."

Ryu nodded, untying his white headband. "I think so. I beat him as
quickly as possible and with as little force as possible. He was an
honourable and skilled warrior and I was honoured to have met and fought
him."

"Great," she answered. Brightening, she said, "Speaking of which you
were great! You've just gotta show me that kick and that uppercut thing
of yours. Those moves are totally cool! I mean, you must be able to beat
anyone with those moves!"

"Maybe some other time," he answered. "We have a day or two here before
we have to hop on a plane so we might as well get a good night's sleep.
You want to be awake to shop tomorrow, right?"

"Right," she answered happily.

Sakura skipped out of the arena and past the locker room doors. Ryu
sighed, noting that she had forgotten to pick up his duffel bag of gear.
Slinging the tan duffel over his shoulder, he noticed a long shadow on
the floor. Turning, he recognised the woman from the plane. She was as
tall as he was, at least in heels, and her unusual dark brown hair was
slung in a loose braid over her left shoulder.

She smiled and said, "Hi. I think you'll remember me from the plane
trip. My name's Chun Li and I'm a reporter from _MAM--Martial Artists
Monthly_. I was wondering if it would be okay if I could interview you."


Regards,

DucThe Truong
DWC @ <http://welcome.to/dwc>
Thinkin' different.