The Kobayashi Household

The next week, Saturday morning..

Rubbing his eyes, Kenji awoke and looked around. This had been crazy lately, with his teacher deciding he should take an IQ test to place out of fifth grade and Musou returning. He had that test later today after school. Good ol' six day Electopian school weeks. Well, it wasn't like he had ever known any different so it didn't matter.

He was a bit slow getting dressed as he remembered the netbattle with Musou. Had been pretty fast and fun. He could see the appeal, when he wasn't being so strict. Let loose and have some fun, right.

Getting himself together finally he grabbed his crutches and headed down to breakfast..

He saw a note on the table and breakfast in the fridge. Something about his father had a meeting and his mother had to go shopping. He didn't know what to expect but he couldn't let it hurt his performance later on. He patted his PET and glanced down into the screen. Seemed Musou was still chatting on with Delta or something.

Passing through the park on the way to school, he met up with Gin and Yuki. He waved to them and Yuki gave a nervous smile, saying "Morning Ken. So today's the big day, huh?" Ken nodded back and said "Yeah.. Well I'm sure it will be fine." Gin pipped up "Hey, its not like these are entrance exams or anything. No big deal." The others gave him a sideways glance and Yuki said "Gin, these are more important than entrance exams, and in a way they are. Think about it, if we do well, Ken and I could be placed into a middle school or even into high school!"

Gin blinked and said "Wha? High school? No way they would put you guys ahead that far. And besides, what if you don't even place the same and we all get split up.." Yuki bit her lower lip and Ken looked around nervously. They had apparently been thinking the same thing. Ken tried to push the idea away and said "Anyway, there are still some middle schools left in this country. Yes a lot of schools are joined middle-high schools but..", he stopped and mumbled something. Yuki finished it for him "I hope we don't have to move and leave each other.."

Gin tried to be cheerful and said "Hey guys, do your best. It's for your future right? Ken, you want to be a net agent or savior or something right? And Yuki.. Uh.. What did you want to do?" Yuki blushed furiously, she had really only wanted to be by Ken's side and help him succeed. She had never really thought about it. She was smart but people had always told her she wouldn't have to decide her future untill high school, maybe that was one reason Ken's dream appealed to her so much. She looked down and said "I guess.. I hadn't thought about it. But I suppose being a net scientist would be neat. Try to push humanity's limits and save the world from a less hands-on approach." The boys looked to her in amazement "Wow.. Yuki.." She tried to put a smug smile on her face and waved her hand idly "Anyway, first thing's first. We finish this school day then we take the test. I'm sure we won't even know the results for awhile.

And so with heavy thoughts in their minds, Ken and his friends headed to school...

If it wern't for the crutches, Kenji would be trying to tip-toe into the house but even then it wouldn't have mattered. As soon as he closed the front door behind him, he noticed his parents sitting at the dinner table, from across the living room, staring at him. He looks down in defeat and silently makes his way to the bathroom to wash up.

The boy sits at the dining table and lays his crutches down beside him. He looks to his plate and sees there was foot served for him but it's cold now. He looks to his father, but the man burries his face in the day's newspaper. His mother however, clears the silence "Kenji Kobayashi". The full name, great. "Young man, where have you been? Your father and I were worried sick", she states calmly. Kenji looks up at his mother's face and notices signs that she had been crying, but had apparently composed herself for this. "I'm sorry, I-", the boy starts but is cut off by his mother "No, you aren't sorry yet, but you will be. I think being grounded for a month will give you an idea of how worried we were". He looks over to his father, in near panic but the man senses his sons eyes on him and just pulls the newspaper up higher.

"B-but mother-", he starts but is again cut off. "Was yours or someone else's life in danger?", his mother said. This threw him off but he stammered "N-no". Mrs Kobayashi frowned then said "Then you could have called, at least. I would have listened to your explanation then. Now finish your dinner. Cold or not, you need it to keep healing smoothly. Then You will clean up the dinner table, bathe, then to bed". It was not a request, nor was it up for discussion. Musou spoke up loudly from his PET, strapped to Ken's arm "That isn't fair, we-", but even he could feel the heat of her glare and went silent. She rose and pointed at the PET, before adding "You too, mister. Your grounded for a month too. Neither of you bothered to even send a message. And I called the Seiko household, to find out Yuki and Daigin had left hours before you. Trying to get something back for some old man in an antique store. That does not excuse you". She crossed her arms and said "Maybe next time you till think. Think about your actions and how they effect others. No television, no friends, no net, no games or computer time. For either of you".

Kenji blinked back tears and bit his lip. It wasn't fair, he was just trying to help. He had lost track of time but it wasn't like he was gone for a year or something. His mother looked him over and said "Good, I can see your getting the idea". He spoke up quietly, not for himself but for his navi "M-Musou needs to train". Mrs Kobayashi scowled but motioned towards her husband "We've already discussed this. Your father will take over that for the next month. You worry about school, housework and your punishment. Nothing else". Ken glanced over to his father, but the man merely slinked a hand out from behind a stifly-held paper to get his tea, and took a sip.

Kenji nodded quietly and cleaned up the table and cleaned up as he was told, before bed. He plugged his PET into the charger before heading to sleep. From across his room, Musou said "Good night Sensei. This month will go by before you know it". Ken didn't feel like commenting but at least said back "Night Musou".

A month later...

The boy sat in silence, only breaking it to let out a sigh. He wasn't grounded anymore but he just didn't feel like doing anything. His parents had been holding back the results from his recent assessment test and even called into the school to make sure they did the same, as part of his punishment. He was dying to know. Yuki had placed two years ahead, in the seventh grade. That would put her in either a middle school or a joined middle-high school. At any rate, she had been busy going afterschool every day to a prep school to study for entry exams. They said assigning IQ was too old a concept and often backfired as it put too much pressure on the student or their peers, but hers would be at 185, legally at genius level.

Kenji knew Yuki was gifted, and deserved to advance. She cruised through their lessons with the bare minimum effort but always took them seriously. She kept herself occupied with extra credit and personal research that wasn't even for school credit. Kenji felt a pang of jealousy, he knew she was smarter than he was but he put in so much more effort. Not only did he have to understand the work but he also fought hard to keep up with Yuki. In many ways there were best friends and rivals, always pushing each other to new heights. It wasn't fair though, she was going to soar past him and he would always be sitting bitter in her shadow.

He punched one of his pillows and bit his lip, holding back tears. He could hit things, big deal. He was expected to run the family dojo when he was older, his future had been sat in front of him already. Sure his father would tolerate him seeking other things like joining the Net Police or whatever he wanted to do, but that was only untill the man wanted to retire or became too old or infirm to continue. His choice was just an illusion. He took the assessment test because getting ahead here gave him one or two extra years to chase his dreams..

Musou was also silent. He had learned little he didn't know in the past month of extreme training from Mr Kobayashi, but he could easily say he was a master of the basics. He had been told that living a healthy and pure lifestyle and staying not only in shape but constantly limber and trained was the ground the foundation was sat upon. The 'foundation' was the basics of their school, the stances, the forms and their correct execution. The navi had tried to cheer up his operator but it wasn't much use. The boy was in a dark place and for the time being he just wanted to be left alone. The two friends sat, just a foot between them but appart in a span far greater than just the window between the networld and the real world.

A knock at his door finally broke the silence. Kenji didn't bother to move, still spread across his bed and staring at the ceiling. Another knock came and this time Kenji said simply "Come in". His mother opened the door and stepped inside, followed by his father. The Kobayashis headed over to their son's bed and Kenji's mom sat on the edge of it while his father stood and looked around the room akwardly. Obviously they had rehersed this and as usual it was mom's job to do the talking.

"Why are you looking so down, Ken? We told you last night you wern't grounded anymore. We thought you would be excited to get back on the net with Musou or to go play with your friends". The boy's face betrayed a pained expression when she mentioned 'friends' and she wrinkled her brow before asking "Kenji, did you get into another fight with Yuki and Daigin?"

Kenji shook his head furously then closed his eyes as he sighed. His father spoke up sternly "Tell us what is bothering you, young man". Mrs Kobayashi gave him a frown and he fell silent as she turned her caring smile back to their son. She cooed as she said "It's ok Kenji, your all good friends and you'll get through whatever is going on". The boy opened his eyes again and just said "Yuki placed two grades ahead. She'll be taking entrance exams soon and... Leave. Any school would love to have her. We might never see each other again".

Mrs Kobayashi reached out and pulled her son into a hug. She could tell he was fighting back tears, not wanting to cry in front of his father. He was stronger than that. She said "Kenji it's ok. You can always visit when you have time and your just a call or homepage link away". She gave his head a pat and continued, "And, I think it's time you found out how you did on your evaluation". She looked up to Mr Kobayashi, who slid an envelope out of one of the big sleeves on his gi. He handed it to his son, who sat upright and took it with shaking hands. Kenji looked it over, it had already been opened, of course, as it was meant to be his parents' copy. He took the letter from the envelope and held it still folded shut for a moment as he braced himself. "Go on, read it", his mom said in a caring voice. The boy bit his lip and opened the letter, quickly going over it.

To the guardians of Mr Kenji Kobayashi:

As you may be aware, recently your child has voluntarily submitted him or herself for educational assessment. This assessment was designed to evaluate logical, creative and emotional levels when compared to his or her peers on a national level. We are pleased to announce that your child has placed within the top twenty percent of his or her peers in the nation. intelligence quotient tests were discontinued long ago, to be replaced by such assessments as your child underwent but if such tests were still taken your child's IQ score at this age would be 160. It is recommended that a further test be given in four years to-

Kenji stopped reading and he looked up at his parents in a state of half-shock. He stammered "I- Uh- I've uhh". His father said sternly "Do not think this means you can get lazy. If anything, you will have to work harder now than ever". His mother agreed with the concern, if not for her husbands delivery, but said "It's alright Kenji.. You need to start studying after school to get ready for placement tests. We are going to make sure you have the best opportunity you can get to advance".

Looking at his mother dumbfounded, the boy just gave her a nod. She cracked a smile and said "Don't worry about cram school, I'll be guiding your studies". Kenji knew his mom never talked about it but she had been pretty smart when she was in school, herself. His father broke the moment though by adding "Besides, we cant afford to send you". Mrs Kobayashi gave him a scowl and her husband just shrugged and walked off and out of the room. What had he done wrong, he wondered, just speaking the truth.

"I went out and bought a prep school study course to install to your computer and your PET. That way you can study whenever you get the chance to before the tests. Oh and we've decided to give you the next month to study, then your scheduled for entry exams the last month of school".

Kenji glanced into the camera on his PET and gave a helpless look to Musou. The navi, for his part, gave an akward grin and chuckle and said "Uhh congrats Ken. Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us huh? Eheh hehh". Mrs Kobayashi nodded and added "Oh yes you both do. You will be studying too, Musou and in addition it will be your job to make sure he sticks to it". The navi finished off his aukward chuckle with a groan. He was a fighter, not a scholar. Still, he knew her statement was an order, not a question so he just said "Understood".

As she stood, the woman added "Go out and get some fresh air before we start all this after dinner. Besides, your father said Musou was ready to learn more and I noticed you've built up some zenni from your net adventures. Why don't you treat him to some upgrades? Your bus pass will get you to SciLab". Kenji nodded and grabbed his crutches from the floor and used them to help him stand. His mom watched as he made his way across his room and to his door. She added as he was leaving "And that cast should be off soon. I'm sure if you don't run yourself ragged with training, you father will". She chuckled and shook her head as her son left with a grin.

Kenji arrived home and in an excited bustle passed by his mother with barely a greeting. For her part, she was happy to see her son had finally cheered up, so she just smiled. The boy made his way into his room as fast as his crutches would allow and sat at his desk. He unstrapped the PET from his arm and plugged it into the charger on his desk. Even though his PET had infrared functionality, he prefered to directly connect it to his PC via it's jack-in cable, and he wasted little time doing so.

In a flash of light, the cozy world within the PET vanished and Musou found himself standing again within thw world of Kenji's PC. It looked pretty bland and empty, with a few Mr Prog running about, finishing the PCs' startup processes. With a few keystrokes, Kenji activated the dojo training program and got things set up for Musou. The navi waited patiently, waving at a couple of the busy Progs, untill finally a transfer point appeared next to him. He stepped into it and vanished as his body traveled into the simulation.

This time when the light cleared and Musou's vision returned he was in his beloved karate dojo. The familiar sights and smells filled his senses, he even heard the running water of the bamboo fountain outside one of the wooden slat-covered windows, along with the occasional CLAK noise it made as the tube filled to the brim and it fell to strike the rock below it before swinging back up to fill again. His homepage on the net was similar to all this but because he spent most of his time here and the program he was in now was bought and already customized for this sort of thing, while his home page was left to Kenji to try and code, it lacked the sophistication and attention to detail.

Kenji spoke up to his navi, and it came in through both the PC's microphone and the PET's microphone for a nice real-world sterio effect, "Alright Musou, we got those upgrades installed on the bus ride home, now we can try them out". Musou grinned and spoke up "You got it Sensei! What's first?" Kenji dragged his mouse around the options and finally saw what he was looking for. He CLicked it in, typed in a few things to set parameters and several large rocks appeared on the floor of the dojo, the largest as tall as the navi himself. Kenji grinned and said "Try these out for starters".

Musou nodded and took a fighting stance "Hai Sensei!", he shouted as he struck out a punch quickly to the smallest rock with his new break-enhanced fists. A noticible chunk fell the object and the navi paused a moment to gather his energy, building up for a powerfull charge attack. He struck out with his other hand, accompanied by a loud "Kee-Yah", and the rock shattered. He grinned and approached each rock in turn, pulverizing them one after the other, some with rapid blows, some with one or more charged attacks and the last few by adding in his inner might powerup effect to the blow.

Musou grinned a pumped his fist in the air with triumph "This is awesome, Sensei! Not only so I feel stronger but my blows are going clean through and sometimes even damaging the floor". Kenji grinned a bit, as he was excited too, but he wouldn't be the operator or sensei he was if he got too carried away. "Very good, Musou. Now I'm going to drop a few rocks on you, try out your new move. Trust in it", the boy said. Musou gulped and nodded. He wasn't too fond of just standing and letting things hit him but he too wanted to know the limitation of his new shield.

The navi calmed his mind and opened himself up to the data flow of the area as he had done numerous times before both here and in the net. As usual, he preferred the data stream in here, as the net was full of viruses, bugs and distortions that were capable of making him feel ill when he opened himself up and caught a wave of them. He breathed deeply and pulled data towards himself, as much as he could muster as once, then opened his palms in front of him, paralell with his chest ad he pushed out like he was doing a kata. The data swirled within his body then became tempered energy as it seeped out from him then surrounded his body in a golden halo of light. He couldn't exactly explain it, it wasn't a flame, it wasn't electricity, it was just calming and safe energy that felt like a reflection of himself. It surrounded him and he felt calm and safe. At least untill the first rock fell.

It was as big as his head, it appeared directly overhead and fell with surprising force. Fortunately for him, as soon as it struck the shield it glanced off. Musou could feel some of the energy in the shield diminish, but it held strong to protect him. Another rock appeared overhead, this one as large as the navi's body. After the first, he was expecting this one and it took all he had to not try to evade it. None the less, it glanced off the shield as easily as the first had. It flickered and waned afterwords but still held. The navi gulped as he braced for another, and another did indeed come, this one quite a bit larger then the navi. It fell and he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he waited. Again the rock glanced off the shield and slid to the side, leaving the navi safe. On the third and final strike however, the shield fell, the remaining energies spreading away from him as they fled back into the surroundings.

Kenji gave a 'Hrmm' and said "Looks like it will cover you for three shots. Doesn't seem to matter how big or small they are either, thats handy. It should help a lot for when you get in over your head.." The navi nodded, still a bit nervous and looking above him, just in case Kenji decided to drop another rock on him. He said "Yeah it's awesome, and I felt myself attuning to my surroundings quicker and easier too. Looks like that upgrades really payed off". "Yes, the upgrades reinforced your training but without your constand practice and training they would have been pointless", the boy said.

Musou bit his lip and sighed, he wanted to say something but they had talks on the subject before and he knew it would probably just upset his operator. Kenji could tell something was up though and said "It's alright, go ahead and speak freely Musou". The navi hesitated and looked around sheepishly, was he that obvious? At any rate, he finally spoke up "Ken, I have to uh.. Wonder? I mean, we've drilled and practiced so much that I think by now I've pretty much got all the basic movements, stances, attacks and such mastered". Musou went on "So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that now that I'm past the basics and can do all the forms and everything you and your father have taught me, and I've had experience using them in combat.. I uh.. I don't see what the point is anymore".

Kenji raised an eyebrow, torn between being offended and surprised, all he said was "Huh". Musou quickly tried to clarify "W-What I mean, Ken is that in all the training we have been doing, I've been busting my butt and only getting more familiar with my attacks and getting more confidant in battle. I know that's a good thing but after installing some simple upgrades I feel much stronger. And my results are obvious, with breaking the rocks and others glancing off my shield. No matter how much training I did and practice, I wouldn't have been able to do those things without the upgrades".

Kenji sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to hold a headache back. Yelling and punishing only got a teacher so far, and he liked to think Musou and he were past that point. "Musou. Let me put it this way.. If, in a fight, you are moving with a supreme confidence, conserving every motion and striking at an opponents openings to maximum effect, would you say you stand a good chance of winning?", the boy said. Musou nodded and replied simply "Hai, Sensei". Kenji went on "Alright, now imagine instead of doing that you had a bunch of upgrades and were literally standing still because you had a powerfull shield and were throwing out your special moves and the chips I sent you as fast as you could". Musou wrinkled his brow, not exactly sure where this was going and said "Uh.. O-Okay".

Kenji raised an eyebrow and said "What happens when you fight a very challenging opponent who focuses on defense while you are wasting chips, barely even trying to hit them? How about they focus on weak but rapid attacks to bring that shield down before hitting you with thier heavy attacks?" The navi looked down, starting to feel ashamed. Kenji finished up by saying "I don't care how powerfull upgrades and chips make you, it is only potential power. If you do not train hard and practice to fight at your absolute best then you will only be at a fraction of your effective power. That shield is there to guard against attacks you either fail to or cannot avoid in the first place. And you may be stronger but you still have to fully charge your attacks before they are of much use". Musou finished the lecture up by saying, before his operator could "I still have a lot to learn. I see that now".

Kenji gave a nod and said "I'm glad you understand, Musou". The boy thought for a moment and asked his navi "Why do you think a Sensei passes on their art to others?" This sudden question threw off Musou, who gave a 'Uhhh' as he thought about it for a moment then said "So it doesn't get lost?" The boy nodded lightly and replied "That is one reason, but it's not so simple. There are many reasons to teach and each Sensei may have different ones. For every Sensei that wants to spread tradition the is another who just wants to pay the bills. For every one that loves teaching and being admired there is another who wishes to learn in a new light from watching their student's interprit the moves and come up with their own. And the reasons go on and one, some pragmatic, some noble, some twisted. It's not a simple question, even if it seems like it at first".

Musou scratched his head and said "Wow, I never really thought about it before. Why do you teach, Sensei?" Kenji pursed his lips as he thought about it and replied "Well, you know one of the reasons I teach", as he pointed to the cast on his foot. Kenji smirked and said "There is an old saying, some take it as an insult, others as sage advice, that goes 'Those who cannot do, teach'. In this case it seems appropriate. But if I had never been injured, we may have never met and I may not have come to realise a lot of the things I have for years, if ever at all. You speak your mind and questiont hings, which makes me think. Some students just want to get the belts or will follow with blind obedience and thats not good in a student".

The navi raised a finge in objection "But every time I have challenged you, it almost always leads into some kind of arguement. And I've never seen you challenge your father". Kenji snorted in amusement and said "After the arguements we both learn, grow and reach new levels of understanding. They are healthy. And I used to challenge my father all the time, many of our talks have mirrored ones Father and I have had. I finally accepted that he had my best interests in mind and knew what he was doing. I'm sure he feels both proud and sad that I don't really challenge him anymore, like Mom always seems sad when she says her little boy is growing up, or something. They miss it, I guess".

Musou cocks his neck to the side and ponders for a moment. He finally says "Ken, are you sure your only Eleven? Sometimes you sound like an adult when you have wisdom to share". The boy shrugged and answered "Part of it is good, strict upbringing. And thanks to this cast, and our talks, I've done a lot of introspection lately. And I'm not a teenager yet, I've heard teenagers get really unruly". Musou pouted "Hey, you know I'm supossed to be a teenager right?", he asked.

Kenji grinned and went back to typing in a few commands and clicking a few more options on his PC untill a link appeared in the room, like a swirling energy portal. Musou recognised the colors and the feeling he was getting off it though, it was to Kenji's homepage. Looks like they were going to get into the net. His question still unaswered, Musou let it go as he transfered in a flash of light to their homepage, modeled after a karate dojo.

Glancing around while Kenji typed in commands, Musou noticed a link leading to his friend's home pages, Flower and Awesome Man. Another general link appeared, this one heading back into ACDC net. Musou raised an eyebrow and questioned "This place again, Ken?" Kenji nodded and replied "We've never made it all that far through here, lets see just how far it goes, eh?" Musou nodded and stepped in for some virus busting..

A few weeks later...

Kenji hobbled into the house, flanked on either side by his mother and father, who held an arm and helped him stay upright. "I-I'm fine, really" the boy said but his parents weren't taking chances. "When you are offered assistance and you need it, young man, it is proper to thank those who help, not backtalk them" his father said sternly. His mother cracked a concerned smile and started to say something but thought better of it and in the end only added "Mmm Hm. What your father said".

The boy sighed as he was basically carried into the house and sat down on the living room couch. He looked down at his leg, finally free of the cast with mixed feelings. On the one hand he was very pleased to see the offending thing gone but his foot felt weak, looked sickly and smelled the part as well. He hadn't even been able to convince his parents to bring his other shoe to the doctors so he sat in one sock and the other foot bare.

His father returned from the car, carrying his crutches and his book bag, from school, beside him. He eyed the crutches and almost said to not bother with them but he knew better. The hard part was over, he had healed. Now he just had to get his foot and leg used to moving again and get the strength back in it. As if on cue, his father said "Young man, starting tomorrow, after school and your mother's tutoring, you will begin rehabilitation exercises. I have several fine balms and herb rubs that will numb the area out" Mr Kobayashi nodded solemnly, to himself as much as his son and headed off to the dojo adjoining the house to get things ready and see if any of his other students needed help.

Yes, he actually had other students. This wasn't his main dojo, just the one he used for private work outs and small groups. The karate club from Kenji's school, that had to stop practicing and give up their room when their president got his foot run over by a car had been invited to move things here and they were ecstatic. At least until they realized, much to their horror that the tough training they had endured under Kenji was merely inspired by and watered down from his fathers. It angered him that his son would dare to teach a lesser form of his dojo's karate, even if it was just for an after school club. Kenji tried to tell his father they hadn't lived the life of discipline and couldn't take extreme training and his father merely told him he would change that.

A week later half the members had left and the other half were struggling but better off for it, they hoped. In the months that Kenji had been hurt, the club members had finally diminished to only three but they were amazing, if they did say so themselves. Of course if they dared to say so themselves, they had to do so many laps and push-ups they regretted it.

School would be getting out soon and the master hoped to pick up some new students. Paying ones would be nice, but he always wound up making deals or adding in a couple students as favors or charity cases. Really he just wanted them to learn and pass on his legacy, and he wasn't about to be one of those stuck-up teachers that charged huge fees and refused to help anyone otherwise.

Kenji already had an idea how things were going to go, it was pretty much the same every year, and he got put under the magnifying glass like no other student. After all, he was the master's son and was going to inherit the dojo and the Kobayashi-do karate his father taught. If he wanted to or not, it seemed.

The boy flexed his toes a little, experimenting with the alien feeling of them being tingly, sore and clammy. The doctor told him the muscles were just unused and would all regain their strength with slow and gentle work. If he kept to it he could even look forward to practicing karate again within a month or two. Heh, silly doctor didn't know much about Mr Kobayashi, it seemed. He planned on having Kenji performing flying kicks and backflips in a month or two. For his part, the boy was too weary of the whole situation and the tests coming up and the thought of loosing his friends to argue.

As his mother worked away on dinner, humming her version of some old Electopian song, Kenji glanced down at the screen of his PET and cracked a smile at Musou. "You'll be practicing again in no time, Sensei" the navi said. The boy nodded and added "Just wait Musou, Gin is letting me borrow one of his 'special' cameras, for modeling".

The confused navi blinked and said "Er.. I don't understand.. special camera? Modeling? What does that have to do with.. Well, anything?"

Kenji grinned and gave his ankle an experimental turn or two. He felt odd little pains and could swear he heard it almost.. Squeak. Or maybe it just felt like it did. Interesting. Looking back to the PET, he said "Yeah, they have these cameras that people can focus on stuff in the real world and it projects a 3D image in full of it in the net space. It's handy for art, or using it as a guide to build pretty much anything or even.. Martial arts lessons firsthand"

The navi blinked again. All he could say was "What?"

Kenji snickers at the dumbfound expression the navi wore and said "You will see. We won't be able to interact or anything, though I've heard of stuff like that existing somewhere in the world. But you will be able to see my whole body, in 3D, sized properly and follow my movements. I might even be able to whip up a bit of code in the PC's dojo program to light up spots on our bodies if we connect with each other".

Musou blinked. Again. But said "Uh. Sensei, it's not that I'm ungrateful, and I'm sure your all fired up to be practicing again but.. Is it even fair to try and spar against me? I've been training under your father too and I'm a navi, built for battle. I'm stronger and faster then you could ever be. Er, not to mention that I can channel energy and shoot stuff. Kinda hard to do that in the real world".

Kenji snorted and said "I'll give you that I am a bit out of shape but I've only been sitting on my butt, doing minor exercise for the last six months. I've been training under the guy who has taught you for a couple months now for around nine years" he thought for a moment, counting in his head, thinking as far back as he could. "Um yeah nine sounds right. I couldn't train in anything when I was one and Mother wouldn't let him near me with that stuff till I was at least two. And I've been in his hands ever since. I knew my first katas before I could even write all my hirigana. I didn't want to go to school because it meant less time for training".

Musou squinted, trying to imagine it all, still not really buying it but willing to give his operator the benifit of the doubt. "Alright, alright fine. But don't expect me to go easy on you just because your recovering. You've put me through a lot of pain and exhaustion and I look forward to returning the favor" He grinned to Kenji and the boy laughed. Some people would be shocked at such a statement or angry but he just said "Good. I wouldn't have it any other way".

Mr Kobayashi headed back inside, a bead of sweat on his face along with a grin and Kenji just knew someone was in terrible shape in the backyard dojo.. He automatically reached for his crutches to stand and narrowed his eyes for a moment, looking at his foot. He stood, letting little amounts of pressure on the limb at the crutches supported most of his weight and decided to just stick with them for now. He made his way over to the table and sat to a steaming plate of spicy curry with tofu and Half a bean bun for desert. Grinning, he grabbed his chopsticks and with a bow of his head, clap of his hands and a solem "Itadakimasu", he was off.

The following week...

The eleven year old martial artist turned the corner of his family's small, home dojo. He slowed and bent over, resting his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. Sweat flowed down his brow, soaking through the headband he gladly put back on now that school was out. He coughed a couple times, trying to regain his composure. Man, he hadn't realized he was this out of shape.

Before the accident, he would have been able to jog half the day but he could barely move after half-jogging, half-limping some number of laps. He lost count eventually and his father had only told him to run until he couldn't anymore, apparently for back-talking the Master. Apparently a spark of his old rebellious self peeked out from all his interactions with Musou in the past six months.

Speaking of the navi, Mr Kobayashi held the PET in his firm hand, barking out commands and techniques back to back and criticizing the navi's shortcomings that came frequently after he lost his composure to the treatment. "Keep going! And no back-talk, I know you don't need sleep Musou", the Master shouted. The navi took a moment in the middle of his form, assuming a wide legged stance and holding his hands, index fingers up and thumbs out, the rest of his fingers clenched into a fist. He focused his energy and his breath, trying to pull in all the unease and chaos that he had let in when he lost his cool to the string of orders. Mr Kobayashi quietly watched, as this was also part of the training. Knowing ones' limits and when to step back and start anew was a valuable lesson.

The navi's body began to glow as golden chi flowed across him, leaping almost like living electricity. It focused from his legs, his shoulders, his head, everywhere to his extended hands. It built between them and as he pushed away from his body and exhaled, the excess flew away from him, scattering around the datascape of the PET. Finally calming himself and gaining his focus back, the navi began the last form from it's start, his motions much more crisp and precise. The old Master just grunted, something Kenji and Musou knew to mean approval in this situation.

Kenji rounded the corner and headed into the dojo, his stride broken and difficult by the difference of muscle strength and tenderness from his now-cast-less foot. Mr Kobayashi gave his son a sharp look as the boy entered the room, discarded his training shoes carefully into a wooden shoe holder, and bowed at the edge of the place the stone entryway and wooden floor began. He made his way around the side of the training area and dropped into sit-up position, immediately resuming his work out as he tucked his legs up and began a series of crunches.

Several moments later, the Master called out for one of the karate club students to prepare to spar. Though the club had let out, these children were still valuable students and club mates of his sons and they deserved to learn as long as they wanted to. Sooner or later though, he would insist, more and more firmly that they sign up for and attend his actual dojo, downtown.

The boy approached the large tatami mat in the center of the room and stood, toes on one of the stripe of tape that marked his spot. He made the final adjustments on his gear, making sure the padded protectors on his head, chest, forearms and shins was tight and good to go. Flaps from the forearm and shin protectors protruded to keep the backs of his hands and the tops of his feet safe, respectively.

Mr Kobayashi barked out "Kenji. Center ring now. And begin" The boy rose as quickly as he could manage and hobbled quickly over to the large mat and his own line of tape. He dropped his hands to his sides, gazed at his opponent and paused only a moment, for the two to bow. He snapped suddenly into a fighting stance, left foot forward and hands raised in open palms. The other boy recognized the stance and switched to counter with his right foot forward. While he was raising his hands, Kenji stepped forward, not exactly light on his feet and he was aware of it. In fact, he was telegraphing it to the other boy.

Everyone knew he was recovering and his right foot was tender and the other boy, mostly due to how the old Master taught his style, immediately went for it with a low snap kick. Aware of his weakness and not nearly as helpless as he would appear, Kenji stooped down in the blink of an eye, dropping to his left knee and catching the kick as what was his rear-positioned hand now rose and gripped the boy's ankle. The boy had been expecting some kind of reaction but not this and his hands could only fly out to his sides to try and maintain balance as Kenji gripped won hard enough, even for him to feel it through his padding and yanked as he turned.

Kenji put his whole body weight behind the maneuver as he pushed off with his rear foot and his left knee, while he held on tight to the boy's foot. The result was a tuck and roll, forward and to his right, which whipped the boy down on to the mat hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. His hands clapped down hard a moment later as he tried to break the fall he sensed too late. As Kenji's motion continued, however and he finished his somersault, the other boy had been flipped and his leg was drawn almost to the point of hyper-extension as he splayed out awkwardly.

It had all happened in the span of a second or two and all the boy could get out of his mouth was a "Gahh", as Kenji had spun his leg completely and the boy's body had only flipped halfway, resulting in a very painful lock. Kenji moved to deepen his kneel again, to apply more pressure but the other boy had already had enough and found himself long enough to slap the mat quickly and rapidly, tapping out. Instead of twisting further, as Kenji was in the process of doing, he simply let go and dropped the boy's foot as he stood again, stepping away from him in a fluid motion.

He wobbled for a moment to secure his own footing and then reached down and helped his friend up, who was now also limping, though his foot's tenderness would wear off in a little while, he hoped. They bowed to each other again, and reached out to clasp forearms in a sort of handshake. "Good match" Kenji said, but the boy in full padding just gave a pained chuckle and said "Don't you ever go easy, Sensei?"

Kenji shook his head quickly as Mr Kobayashi grunted his approval. The boys both turned to the Master and bowed to him. He said in his gruff voice "That's enough for today. Meditate, wash up and apply balm to-" he pointed to Kenji's friend's freshly tender ankle "Sore spots". The boys were joined by a girl from Kenji's karate club, a real tomboy but she was only ten so nobody really said anything. All three bowed again and said "Domo arigato gozaimasu, Sensei", before breaking formality to take casual seated positions near each other.

The girl sat on her knees while the boys with tender feet sat cross-legged. The whispered to the boy that Kenji briefly threw "Took that fall like a champ, Sempai". He smirked to her before they all closed their eyes, sat up strait and began deep breathing exercises to calm themselves and slow their heart rates. In through the nose.. Hold it.. Out through the mouth.. Calm, deep.

Kenji rested his hands in his lap, one in a loose fist and the other a palm over top of it. He preferred the posture because it served to remind him always of peace over war. The other boy sat with his hands on his knees, palms up and finger and thumbs touching like he had seen on a movie. He found it surprisingly calming because it helped remind him it was time to relax and calm down, like some kind of ritual. And speaking of ritual, the girl had apparently either read too much manga or studied some qi-gong and kuji-in on the side.

She had her hands folded together in the Pyo seal, meant to focus the mind for energy direction. Her hands were folded together, facing outward in front of her chest. He pinky fingers were extended and pointed at a downward angle while her inxed fingers were extended and pointed at an upward angle. The effect was similar to the 'horns of the beast' gesture, but both hands were in on it and the fingers that wern't the 'horns' were interwoven between hands.

My Kobayashi certainly had his own karate style and tradition to uphold but he had long ago realized the wisdom that flexibility is the path to true power. If his students weren't black belts, his just showed the the basics and drilled them into them to the point they were perfectionists. At that point they were shown all the forms and techniques they wanted to learn, weapon-wielding styles included. They were free to mix in anything they wanted, be it qu-gong, judo, taekwondo, even ninjutsu. Anything they could bring to the dojo and wield competently not only helped them grow and develop their own style but also trained the other students, and the Master, to recognize and counter any number of techniques.

A lot of his peers turned their noses up at Kobayashi-Do Karate for what they imagined was turning it's back on tradition but he had won enough tournaments and survived enough street fights in his younger, hot-blooded years, to prove his point.

Later...

Kenji slumped into his computer chair and leaned forward just long enough to to hook his PET up to it's charger and the jack-in cable to his PC. He looked at the screen and groaned as he saw Musou still working through katas. "Hey Musou.. Want a change of pace? Something to throw around and hit maybe?"

Musou completed the form he was in the middle of and returned to his ready position before calming himself and bowing to the front wall of the dojo in his PET. He bowed to a black and white portrait of Mr Kobayashi, then turned and bowed to collection of flags in the corner, signifying Electopia, ACDC Town, and Kobayashi-Do. Kenji waited patiently, although to be honest he would rather just head to his bed and fall asleep.

He had already taken his admission exams and still probably had a few more days before their results came to his house. Meanwhile, he had finally installed the upgrades for Musou, who said he had a much easier time now feeling everything's energy and data flow. Gee, another case of 'throw money at the navi and he instantly gets noticeable results'. It was like steroids or something. So yeah Kenji was a little bitter. Just a little.

In a swirl of light and energy, Musou appeared in the datascape of Kenji's PC. He glanced around as his senses adjusted and waved at a couple Mr Progs. They hopped and chirped a "Hellooo Musou", before going back to work loading up the dojo program.

Everything swirled and shifted for several moments around the navi before setteling down into the dojo he liked much more. Sure, he had a dojo in his PET, and one here, and his homepage was a dojo.. But he WAS a martial arts navi after all. He lived for this kind of stuff. Besides, he had the most liberties here, as anything Kenji could cook up using the scripting programs, he could fight, train on or do. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of frech pine and clean tatami mat, while he listened to water over roks outside. Eventually a clack sounded as the bamboo cup filled and poured over, then struck one of the rocks on it's way back upright.

Kenji gave a loud yawn and mumbled "Tell ya what Musou.. I'm beat. I'm going to bed. I'll transfer in an interface for you to mess with your own stuff. At least the stuff we have coded already. You've been working out all day, just relax if you want to, buddy"

Musou nodded as Kenji typed in a couple commands and a Mr Prog materialized beside him. It looked like a regular Mr Prog except it wore a white headband with a symbol of a fist atop a rising sun. The Kobayashi-Do icon and his own navi symbol. He raised an eyebrow and said "Interesting.. interface" but it wasn't acknowledged by his operator, who he heard turn the volume on the PC speakers off and click the monitor into sleep mode. "How may I serve you, Sempai?" the Mr Prog asked.

One sweat-bead later, Musou requested 'things to hit' and the Prog responded by calling down several blooks that looked like solid steel. Musou raised an eyebrow as he rubbed one of them to get a feel for the thing. He cracked a grin and gave a bit of a shrug as he charged energy into himself.. Feeling the flow going in.. Once.. twice.. And then with a loud "Keyaaahh!" he struck the block solidly, which showed visible damage. Not only did he have that old break effect added to his hits but now Kenji had gotten him a PowerUP for his charge. He hadn't actually hit anything in so long, since it seemed like a much better idea to use chips or his special moves.. He almost missed it.

And the night went on, with Musou relaxing.. By punching steel blocks and breaking rocks. Gleefully. Yeah, even he knew he wasn't quite right in the head, but he loved it anyway. He was actually pretty normal, for a navi. *rimshot* Normal type navi. Get it?

A day or two later..

Kenji was pretty excited. Not only had he got some of his old mobility back. Not just because he finally got to hang out a little more with Yuki. Not even because he had started receiving a flood of offers from various schools. No, it was because the present his buddy Daigin had got for his birthday had arrived. And man was it awesome, not that he expected anything less from a guy who called his navi Awesome Man, but still. Awesome.

At first it looked like some kind of wireless headband but he realized he was meant to strap it to his face, right over his eyes. It had a black plastic band that covered both his eyes and his ears and a mesh helped the thing sit on top of his head like a ball cap or a bandana. The adjustable rubber strap in back made him think more along the lines of some kind of night vision goggles though.

He patiently charged the.. Rig.. And synched it to his PC. While this was going on, Musou jacked into the thing to get himself acquainted with the Progs and dataspace. It seemed pretty plain and unremarkable from inside, though a bunch of large monitors floated in one corner of the place. Two large chairs sat before the things and a pair of Mr Progs were chatting away, idly monitoring the slowly growing battery bar that was being displayed across all the screens.

All Musou could get the the very unhelpful Progs was he should read the manual or to just wait and see what it did. With a snort, he thought to himself they must be from Netopia.

When everything was ready and Kenji placed it on his head to make adjustments he immediately noticed that the black band had somehow managed to pretty much cut off his senses from the outside. He was seated at his desk so it didn't bother him so much but he noticed that there was some sort of noise cancellation going on through what he realized was also an audio headset. More then just noise cancellation, he could swear it was generating some kind of white noise effect outwardly, just barely detectable. The inky blackness didn't help much, but that was before everything turned on.

Light almost blinded him as it flashed in front of his face, almost blinding him. All he could do was close his eyes, since the device apparently had subtle rubber molding around his eyes to keep all other light out and whatever he was seeing in. He blinked several times and saw.. A dojo before him. He could hear water flowing over rocks from somewhere nearby and the loud, sudden clack of a bamboo pitcher dumping and hitting a rock when it returned upright.

He looked around wildly and saw Musou, standing in front of him. He seemed pretty tall, as Kenji's point of view only seemed to be about up to his waist. Wait, maybe.. The boy slid his computer chair backwards and slowly stood. His perspective, likewise, backed up a bit then raised. He looked around from his position and found when he moved his head, his perspective actually changed.

"Whoa.. What is all this? Accelerometer driven maybe?" he said aloud as he gawked in amazement. Musou stepped forward and raised his hand slowly, extending it towards Kenji's point of view. The navi paused and almost pulled back but he reached out and passed it cleanly through Kenji, or so the boy thought.

Musou breathed a sigh of relief and said "That's good. For a minute there I thought you somehow got yanked into my world". Kenji blinked and said "What do you mean? Wait.. What are you seeing? From me, I mean"

The navi scratched his head and said "Well.. You. Mostly. I mean, I've been looking at your through a camera for awhile and now I think this.. Um. Present of Gins has synched up with that camera you borrowed from him. I can see you. Everything looks scaled correctly, as far as I can figure.. I mean, I cant see your feet or half your legs.. I think your desk is blocking the camera"

Kenji gave a "Hrmm" and backed up a bit more. He slid his computer chair well out of the way and looked down at himself. Sure enough, he could see a ghostly blue body scan of himself. It was far from perfect, but he noticed quickly as he made some movements that the image was processing and loading fully in real time. The boy mumbled "Huh. My.. Uh.. Avatar, looks pretty grainy but it's got no delay. That's what's important anyway".

"Hey Musou, I'm gonna back up a little.. You step forward towards me. I don't want to break any of my furniture, if I can help it" His navi stepped forward and automatically took a fighting stance, hopping on the balls of his feet ad a grin formed on his face. Kenji took his own fighting stance, firmly rooted in place and said "I'm going to have to do some scripting on the dojo program. Maybe see if there's any extra software for this headset-" He ducked a slow kick his navi launched as a test. "At the least-" He broke off as he raised a hand to slap one of Musou's incoming punches aside but the two just went through each other.

They both stood back up, amazed but at the same time disappointed. "Well, at least to see if I can get a light or something to show up when one of us connects. Or some kind of scoring system". Musou nodded and looked Kenji's avatar up and down and said "It's still pretty awesome, Sensei. I mean, it will take some getting used to but.. It's sorta like your right here with me.

Kenji mumbled "I wonder what happens if I-" He steps forward a few steps, arms at the level he would expect his desk to be at and once he reaches it, puts his hand up and clicks the off button on the camera atop his monitor. He moves his head back and forth and his perspective still changes.. He takes a few steps backwards and notes that everything still synches up with his movements. "Huh. Interesting. So it's all in the visor. What do you see now Musou?"

Musou had been looking around wildly since Kenji turned off the camera. He felt his presence, knew he was there.. But he imagined most navis weren't as perceptive as he was. "Hey, I want to try something, Sensei" The navi spoke up before calling out the the Mr Progs that worked in the background to stop the dojo program. Sure enough, when everything cleared up and he was in the PC's dataspace he saw a Prog standing where he figured Kenji was standing. Or at least his point of perspective. The Prog wore a replica of the headset with one exception, though he could tell it was more of a lens over the eyes and not a solid black band to block vision.

"What can you see now, Sensei?" Musou asked as Kenji looked around again. "Looks like.. The area your in. Seems pretty bland though". He looks down at himself but doesn't see anything "But I don't have a body. This feels pretty strange.."

Musou walks forward and gives the Prog an experimental push on the shoulder, and sure enough he encounters resistance, as would be normal for a navi pushing a Mr Prog. Of course the Prog, who had been silent this whole time suddenly spoke out with "Hey, watch it". Musou just blinked and stared a moment before taking a few steps back "Er.. Sorry. This is all very confusing" The navi said. The Mr Prog smirked and said "Really? Have you guys bothered to read the instruction manual? I can load it into your PET if your too lazy yo do it yourself, Mr Navi"

Musou frowned but didn't say anything. Though he was definitely thinking "Rude.. Netopian.. Prog...".

Kenji undid the strap on the back of his head and removed the headgear, carefully placing it on his desk. He rubbed his eyes, letting them get used to regular light once again. "Hmm. this has a lot of potential, I think. Yeah, Musou can you hop in there and bring up the manual and whatever software suites it came with ready to go, just in case?"

The navi nodded and with a quick "Hai, Sensei", following the Prog back to it's home device, a wireless leap away.

A quick flash of light and energy and the navi was once again the head datascape of the headset. Sitting in front of him was a pair of floating blue data cubes. One of the Progs quickly said "Here, just take 'em and get out" One of the navi's eyes twitched as he fought with the urge to punch or at least yell at these guys. He settled for grabbing the data cubes then hopping back across the wireless link strait to his PET. He dumped the data off to one of his own, much friendlier Progs, who bowed graciously and took the files to load into the document viewing system and the software suite into a position to be run if it was needed.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the navi said "Thanks" to the Progs before heading to the hardline jack-out port exit, once again, and headed back into Kenji's PC. "Well that was quite a little trip", he mumbled as he got back and at his request, the dojo program was up and running again.

Meanwhile, Kenji sat and started reading the nearly textbook-sized manual. Or at least he did until there was a knock at his bedroom door. "Yes?" He called out, to have his father open the door and step in. The Master had a frown on his face and said "You were supposed to just come in for lunch. Play with your toys later. Meet me back in the dojo in five. For goofing off, your going to be sparring with me for awhile" Mr Kobayashi turned and walked back out without another word. Didn't even close the door behind him.

Kenji groaned "This is so not fair. There's so much to read about this thing and so much to try to script and work out.. And after he's done with me I'm only going to feel like sleeping" Musou shrugged helplessly and said "Sorry I'm not any good with all this stuff. Your the brains, after all"

Kenji smirked and said "Gee thanks. I think. Are you implying I'm lacking in brawn?" He got to his feet and issued the jack-out command to Musou.

The navi sighed. He was going to get some kind of whiplash from all the hopping back and forth between links. After he appeared back within his PET, to be run ragged by Mr Kobayashi again, he was sure, he said "Nah. You've got plenty of brawn for an eleven-year-old who has been on his butt for months. But I'm telling you, the faster you get all these things set up, the faster I hand you your butt. If I weren't a fighting navi, or maybe wasn't drilled with your own school's martial arts then maybe you could get in some hits. But like I am now? No way you'll even touch me"

It was hard to tell if Musou was being arrogant or just matter-of-fact, but the challenge was beginning to get Kenji's blood boiling. But he knew if he went to his father with an attitude he would get it knocked out of him just that much harder, so he let it go, with a mumbled "We will see. If I ever get this stuff read and if I ever get anything set up".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several grueling hours later...

Kenji groaned, for what had to be the hundredth time, just today, and plopped down into his computer chair. "Ugh.. Let's try to do something constructive with our time. Father was 'kind' enough to let us out a couple hours early tonight" The boy said as he held an ice pack to his forehead.

"Ken, he let us out early because he knocked you unconscious. I think you scared him. His face was pretty shaken until you responded to the smelling salts" Musou grumbled. It's funny how in a typical family, the father beating his son out cold would be a terrible, immoral, illegal thing. But in the Kobayashi household, it just meant Kenji forgot to duck or block at the right time. Probably had something to do with his father sweeping his weak foot from behind him and bouncing his head off the mat and into one of the walls though. Yeah he would have to watch out for that crap in the future. "Be aware of your weakness and be prepared at all times" he imitated his gruff father and grunted in disgust at the end.

Musou snickered and said "Hey that was pretty good. How about this-" He got an exaggerated, serious look on his face and crossed his arms before grunting loudly. Then he said "Drop... And.. Give... Me.. Infinity.." He couldn't hold the guise though and following that, he cracked up.

Kenji flashed a grin back "Heh, not bad Musou, just don't let him hear you say that or you just might be given that order" Musou's face paled as he realized that the possibility was pretty real. He silently nodded.

The navi tried to change the subject, following yet another leap through the PET's jack-out cable and into Kenji's PC. "So what do you have planned for tonight? Want to try to gather more info on the Officials? Maybe try to find out that the Neo Shogunate's stake in this faction war is?"

Kenji shakes his head and says "Actually, I'm going to read more of this manual and support you while you go and post on the GNA board and sit tight" His navi raises an eyebrow and says "Ohh I get it, you want me to go call them out on their scheming and plotting right? The whole 'running weapons for both sides' thing they are doing?"

Kenji shakes his head and says "Actually.. We are going to try to pick up a support program. We usually fight alone and we could really use the help, I think. It would be nice to have someone watching your back that we didn't have to worry about connecting to the net on.. What did it used to be called? Dial-up?"

Musou snorts and mumbled "More like connected by a cup and a string. Anyway, I have to have heard you wrong, you want to do a mission for the GNA? Why? I mean after our talk with Officer Cabal, I was sure you were set on unraveling their big nasty corporate scheming or something"

Kenji gave another light shrug, scrolling within the PET's textbook viewer back to where he was. "I don't want to sound like a hypocrite or like I don't have any conviction, Musou, but right now we aren't strong enough to be all that choosey. And remember, Officer Cabal brought up a valid, if annoying, point at the end that there is another way to look at the GNA. A way other then sneaky corporate misers that may or may not be pumping psychotic viruses into the net. They are actually doing a lot of good."

Musou just.. blinked. But eventually he did come up with the ever-witty "What?"

The boy sighed and said "Look. No matter what we decide, right now they are the only ones able to get us a support program. And we aren't strong enough or experienced enough yet, according to, well, whoever decides these things.. To approach the Net Police or anyone else and ask to join, let alone ask them for a support program"

Musou crosses his arms and says simply "Then we should just do without. What happens if these support programs are just ticking time bombs made by the GNA to spy on navis or even turn on them at some point? I mean, they DO get stronger by eating bug-frags, right? I know when I ever get a whiff of that kind of corrupt data, it makes me sick. I'm a lot more attuned then most navis, I don't really want that kind of thing next to me all the time" It was hard for Kenji to tell if he had a point or was just making excuses.

"Look at it this way, Musou. Everyone else on the net, as far as I know, is accepting armaments from the GNA. Every bad guy we bump into will be equipping themselves from where ever and however they can. We need to at least do this one thing and get a support program. And anyway we will be doing a mission for an actual person, that's my understanding. They just broker it".

Musou frowns again "And that's another thing that bothers me. They demand payment just to help people with stuff. I mean sure, some of it is probably time-consuming and difficult, but it's just not right. We are out to join the Net Police right, not to become some kind of net mercenary? Highest bidder and all that garbage?"

Kenji grumbles again "Musou. Please, I already have a headache and I sincerely hope I do not have a minor concussion to go with it. For every reason the GNA shouldn't be helped I can come up with at least one more it should. I have no intention of lining their wallets or progressing any of their schemes. But it's a fact that we need help. I know you ran around with Delta, and we both can't forget Rook, but support programs are linked to you. It's just another extension of you. And it can be whatever you want or need most. Your a great fighter but your support program could be.. I dunno, a sniper? A medic? A freakin' Metool? Anything"

The boy goes back to reading and mumbles "My conviction is not weakening, Musou. I just don't think trying to tear them down is the way to go about eliminating their corruption. They provide useful services to all navis and people. They sell chips and train navis and operators. The broker missions and deliver help to those who couldn't get it otherwise. Those things are facts. And those things are what we should try and preserve about them. They are the same things the Officials did. If we can stop the fighting, end the wars and somehow bring peace to the net.. Their money-grubbing corrupt ways will come to the surface. They have to, they will panic and do anything to keep their power and wealth, even if it means becoming the next big threat".

The boy finishes up by pointing a finger at the camera sitting atop his monitor, Musou's current viewpoint of him. "And that is the GNA we will put down" The navi scratches his chin and says "Your either really good at making excuses.. Or you have this thought out a lot more then I imagined. Either way you make it sound.. Ok I guess. Alright I'm in. Doesn't look like I would have had a choice anyway-"

Kenji shakes his head "Don't be like that Musou, you always have a choice. If I'm asking you to do something you feel is truely wrong, immoral, or just plain stupid, your welcome to challenge me on it, or just don't do it. I won't be happy but I value your free will and individuality just a bit less then you do, I imagine".

Finally set in motion, the pair buckles down and gets ready for the night ahead of them. Musou stepped into the link in the corner of the PC's dataspace to his homepage on the net and from there hopped into Internet City to get his 'request' on.

A few days later...

"I've read all the files but I don't get what it's talking about, interfacing with your Link-II. I have a Link-II right?" The boy studied his PET, flipping it over and around and removing the batter cover to check for anything he missed. "That's what it says, doesn't everyone have one of these?", he concludes, in confusion.

Musou stays silent for the most part, just giving an elusive "Uhh I dunno, Ken" Kenji sighs and slumps back in his chair. "I'm being told to bring up menus I don't have.. Musou, do you know anything about this? Is your PET in some kind of demo mode or are some of the features gone?" The navi swallows and says "Um, about that Sensei. You see.. Well, yeah, actually. See, I wasn't-" The boy cuts him off and says "What, you knew? Explain!" Kenji doesn't seem amused.

The navi clears his throat, annoyed at being cut off but expecting his operator to be mad. "First off? I'm trying to tell you, just let me finish. There was a good reason I couldn't tell you" The boy sighs, defeated but just looks into his PET's camera, waiting. The navi nods and continues "Alright, so yes our PET has had some functions disabled. Your parents listened to the store clerk when they were making the purchase, they asked him what a kid needed to get by with a PET in school. So they turned off a few of the advanced features. Things like the hologram projector and-" The boy cut in again "H-Hologram?! Why didn't you tell me?"

The navi crossed his arms and frowns, waiting in silence a moment. "Er, go on Musou" The navi smirks and says "Anyway, I couldn't tell you because that's part of the deal of shutting off features. I didn't even know they were shut off at first, that info had been blocked to me. As far as I knew, we could do anything a regular team could. But after talking a bit to Flower and AwesomeMan, I realized I was being blocked on some things. So I questioned a few of the Mr Progs in the PET but they wouldn't tell me anything. But instead of acting clueless, they denied things mostly and finally told me access was denied and why. But I couldn't tell you because every time I tried, the program kept me quiet. Wasn't fair really, or comfortable"

"Sounds like some lame kind of mind-control. Why would they do that to you?", Kenji asked. Musou shrugged and said "Yeah well, I didn't like it either but there are certain rules to the whole system. We navis get a lot of freedom. I could honestly just run off into a link and go away if I wanted to, never come back" Kenji grunted and quickly added "Again" The navi grinned sheepishly "Well, we are past that point. Anyway, I couldn't tell you because I couldn't tell you. In fact, until just a minute ago, when you asked me directly if some stuff was disabled, I couldn't even talk about it or.. I dunno, really dig up any info on the issue"

Kenji frowned, annoyed and asked "Ok, so It's not your fault, I get that. Mind telling me how we get those features turned back on?" Musou bit his lip and said "Well, it's sort of in 'school' mode right now. Kind of like a child lock. I'm not allowed to do anything to it and none of the Progs can help either. You either have to get another navi to help you and figure out how to hack and.. Jailbreak your own PET, which cuts you off from the network in general and denies you updates and stuff.. Or you go ask your mom or dad for the password. It's a sequence of words, and it has to be started off with some kind of command so I haven't got the slightest clue, even if I was allowed to help you figure it out"

The boy snorted and said "Well, that's easy. At the end of summer, I'll be going off to a new school, I need all your features turned on. I'm sure they will agree" He gathers his PET and heads out. He straps it back to his arm, using the holder he had for when his foot was broken. He got used to it and just likes the hands-free approach. Heading into the living room, he sees his mother had finished cleaning up after lunch and was just watching tv and sipping iced tea. As he formulated a way to approach the situation, Musou was busy watching the latest development in his world.

They had completed the mission for the GNA, working along with Holley and some of the NetMafia to entertain a bunch of less-than-fortunate navis who had no operators. He felt guilty that they had taken data from what would have been extra toys for some of the orphans to make his SP, but it was what he had set out to do in the first place so he tried to push it out of his mind. Various Mr Progs had set up some kind of glass tube on top of a platform and the data from the SP program had been swirling around within it for a couple days now, slowly taking form.

The Progs greeted Musou and went back to reading screens and managing interfaces, making a tweak there and there as they all waited. Within the last day it had begun to take on the image of some kind of golden wolf. Musou wondered what it was going to turn into, it wasn't really big enough to ride like a mount. It would be cool to fight alongside of but part of him followed Kenji's thoughts that a medic or sniper would have helped to balance him out in combat and a wolf sounded like neither. Oh well, it would be awesome and he would love it, no matter what came out.

"M-Mom, can I ask you something?" Kenji said as he stood by his mother, whom was seated on the couch. "I believe you just did, Ken" She grinned and took a sip of her tea. Kenji tried hard not to roll his eyes and started again "Alright, so I need to talk to you about something" Mrs Kobayashi raised her eyebrows and asked back "Yes, Ken. What's this about? Do you have any.. Questions about your body or-" The boy had a sour look on his face and quickly cut in "N-no. Nothing like that"

His mother looked a bit disappointed but turned it into a serious expression quickly "Alright then, what's this about?" Kenji sat down by her and began "Um, so I found out Musou's PET is in some kind of.. Uh 'school' mode. Some of what it can do is turned off" His mother nodded, taking another sip of her tea. The boy blinked and waited a moment or two before adding "So.. I'm going away to a new school and all. I might need some of those features. I think I need some kind of password to open it up"

Mrs Kobayashi shook her head and said "I don't think so. I used to have a PET when I was your age, though it was a Link-I. But I remember reading all about what the Link-II PETs could do. It was a big, exciting development. But over the years there have been all kinds of stories of security leaks, breeches and, well, things that weren't supposed to happen. You call it 'child safety' but I asked exactly what was being shut off and it's to maintain the highest levels of security"

The boy gave her a doubtful look "B-But Mom, Musou said something about a hologram emitter and all kinds of stuff. Anything that lets us interact better would be great for training and.. I dunno, just being friends" He struggled a moment, trying to come up with other reasons "Besides, you talked about security but the infrared port was enabled and.. Uh stuff"

His mother tilted her head to the side slightly and tried to say gently "Because you could barely move without crutches. You didn't need something else to keep your hands busy. Besides, not everything has a jack-in port and most things that are missing that, unless they are really really old, have an infra-red port. It was out of necessity, really. I'm not going to disable that now that your up and about, just keep out of trouble" Kenji bit his lip, trying to find some way to win out with logic but his mother seemed very confidant in the way she talked, and both the boy and his father knew that attitude meant she wasn't changing her mind.

He thought for a moment of his father. Maybe he could help him? It would mean extra training today, just for showing up around the man but, surely he would listen to reason? Or fists. They had that kind of relationship of mutual understanding.

Kenji ran into his room to get changed into his gi and black belt and as he ran out the back door with a "Bye mom", his PET strapped to his arm, she had a good idea of what he was doing. But her husband had very different ideas of what traits Kenji had to display before he was ready, so she would let it be. She sipped her tea again as she clicked her tv program back in, rewound it a good ten minutes and picked up where she left off.

Making his way into their backyard dojo, Kenji wasn't surprised to find his father there training. He had counted on it, in fact. It didn't seem as though anyone else was in the dojo that afternoon and that was fine. Mr Kobayashi finished the form he was working through, with crisp and precise movements, and didn't acknowledge his son's presence until he was good and ready to. For his part, Kenji had bowed at the edge of the floor and sat in meditation, waiting. When he heard his father's movements change from fast to slow and casual, he opened his eyes and looked up to the man. "Kenji. Come for more training? I'd thought you had enough after this morning. You whined like you were crippled. Your not even limping now by the look of it, good good"

Part of him was glad his son was recovering quickly, and part of him guessed that meant his son was nearing a growth spurt. He would have to adjust training to a more spiritual and emotional control, because if he didn't give the child's body time to recover properly, his growth would wind up stunted. Maybe it was time to break out some of the traditional herbal concoctions his family had used for generations. As the man rubbed his chin in thought, Kenji looking rather uncomfortable at his stare.

"Father. I found out my PET's been limited, put into a kind of.. Child safety mode. I wanted to see if you could unlock it" Kenji was strait and to the point, which both of them preferred. But just as strait, Mr Kobayashi gave a 'Hmph' and said "Did you ask your mother?" The boy gave a sheepish grin and bit his lip. Clearly that meant yes. And the fact that he was still asking meant she had said 'no'. The man narrowed his eyes and took a fighting stance "I will give you the password if you can beat me in a fight. That will mean your not a child any more and I can step down with no regrets" Kenji began to panic, he wasn't afraid to fight but he knew the kind of chance he stood against the man that had been in a barely-declining peak condition now for most of his life.

"Er, uh. B-But I'm about to go to a new school. What if I need one of those features turned on.. And.. And one of them is some kind of hologram. That might help Musou and I train-" His father deepened his stance and said "Unless you can beat me, you will be in my shadow. You will just be a child going to a new school. Your birthday is next week and you will be twelve. In some cultures that would be a time of entering manhood. Time to go find a wife. Mankind has grown too soft with convenient tools and devices and coddling. They forget how to fight for survival" He raises one of his hands and waves his fingers at Kenji in a 'come at me' motion, adding "Fight for what you want. Or stop asking. That is my answer"

The boy unstrapped the PET from his arm and sat it against a wall, tilted so the camera had a full view of the fight. Musou chirped up "Good luck, Ken" The boy narrowed his eyes and turned to look at his father as he took a fighting stance "Luck is for those with no skill", he said. Mr Kobayashi smirked and took his stance again "Well said, but you would be wise to use whatever you can in a fight. Your foes will rarely be karateka. They will break rules, they will use weapons, their friends will hit you from behind or they will throw dirt in your eyes. Don't fight me as one karateka to another, fight me like you want your PET unlocked. Do whatever it takes"

Kenji growled and ran at his father, giving a loud "Keeeyaaaa", springing off the ground into a flying kick. His father turned to the side, raised his forward-facing arm and caught the boy's leg with minimal effort. Not giving him time to stabilize himself and bring his other leg about, he spun around and flung the boy into one of the dojo's nearby walls. The boy crashed into the wood, unable to believe that both he could be so damn predictable and that his father would knock things off walls and risk damaging the building to beat him. This really was serious.

The boy blocked out the pain in his shoulder from where he hit and bounced a couple of times on the balls of his feet, resuming his stance and focusing himself.

He ran again at his father but stopped just short and dropped down, hands planets on the ground and threw a quick sweep. The older fighter had an idea of what he was doing and distributed his weight to his back foot, assuming a cat stance. Kenji's sweep flew right under his front foot as he raised it and much to the child's dismay, he stamped down quickly right atop the boy's foot. As Kenji's body was responding to the pain and his weight and technique was completely thrown off by suddenly being in the middle of a rotational move and now no longer able to move. He gave a 'Gahh' and fell to the floor, trying to quickly recover.

The older man was having none of it though and pulled back the foot he had stomped with, on the next time Kenji tugged at it, throwing the boy off further as resistance he was expecting was no longer there. He brought the same foot up and sent a kick to the boy's nose. To his credit, Kenji sensed a blow coming to his face and raised one of his arms in time to let it take the blow. He took the momentum from the kick and tumbled backwards, rolling and tucking to get back to his feet and to his stance.

His father snorted and said "Is that it? You run at me and fall down? I may be older but your wasting all your energy in these stupid attacks, I'm still fresh" Kenji growled "It's not fair, you have me beat in range. By a lot" His father gave another snort and resumed his front stance "So? The world isn't fair. If I were trying to kill you, you would already be dead" Kenji growled but tried to not let his father make him too mad. He knew the man was both trying to teach him a lesson and to get in his head. Make him loose what little control he still had. The boy adjusted his stance and hopped on the balls of his feet as he looked around. Win any way I can, huh, he thought as he noticed that he had earlier knocked several fighting staffs, or bo down when he hit the wall. Fine. That should work.

He flipped backward, hands planted atop the middle of a bo as his feet swung over top him. When he landed he took an offensive stance, holding the staff. He took a step forward and swung the thing around his body in a flashy display before holding part of it behind his shoulder. Mr Kobayashi rolled his eyes and said "I was about to give you credit for the weapon. Make up the reach difference. But if your just going to waste movement and try to show off I'll have to break it over top your head. I taught you everything you know"

That was it, the boy had had enough. He ran at his father, staff held behind him and stopped just short of where he knew it could strike. But just as he began to swing it forward, Mr Kobayashi surprised him by quickly stepping forward and intercepting the middle of the staff with one hand, while sending a punch to Kenji's stomach with the other. The boy grunted and released the staff as he fought the strong urge to hunch over and hold his midsection. He had to overcome.. One of his father's hands was occupied with the staff now so maybe if he.. But the boy took too long in trying to think of what to do and Mr Kobayashi not only stepped backwards to where he started, but indeed brought the staff down quickly and forcefully atop his sons' head.

Kenji realized too late that he was still on the defensive and tried to tilt his head to the side and raise one of his hands to catch the staff but all he managed to do was deflect the blow from the center of his head. It went down the side of his skull, struck his ear is it went and crashed into the side of the boy's neck. He fell down to one knee and managed to grab the staff somehow, maybe is father was leaving it on the boy's body to try making a point. He realized that he was being forced down hard, and knew the man was trying to pin him to the floor. The boy leaned to the side and slid his body out from under the staff, letting his father's motion make him lean forward, off center.

Or so he had hoped. Apparently the man had been holding back when he pushed and merely had to shift his weight, which took a fraction of a second and he was back on guard. Kenji threw a quick punch at his father's chest, hoping the man's hands were too busy with the staff to guard, but the man turned with the blow, to the side and dropped his now-leading arm over top the boy's wrist. He flexed the muscles there to tighten his grip and spun further to the side, behind him, sending his leading foot out while he did so to knock the boy off his feet and throw him in an impromptu hip toss, without even using his hands.

Kenji flew back into one of the walls, this time merely knocking down one of the black and white pictures. At least now the boy knew why his father, who always talks about tradition and the past, had plexiglass frames over them. He brought himself back to his feet, finding it harder and harder to numb the pain as one of his feet, his neck, an arm, shoulder and now one of his elbows were crying out in agony. But he had to win, this had gone past fighting for Musou, his father was making a point. He had been called a child and humiliated over and over thus far. He had to find a way to win...

The boy took his stance again and began looking around frantically for something to use, anything, when his father rushed towards him, holding the bo like a spear, he stopped several feet from the boy and let the momentum and his powerful muscles carry one end of the weapon forward. Kenji narrowed his eyes and rolled to one side, rolling closer to the man, but this had been a mistake apparently, as Mr Kobayashi stepped back at the same time and slid one of his arms further up on the bo, to give him some of the handle back. He then whipped the end closest to him upward as he crouched, striking the boy as he ended his roll cleanly in the chin. Mr Kobayashi put enough strength and torque into the blow, even standing as he delivered it, to send the boy back into the wall.

When Kenji landed in a pile like a rag doll, the older man stopped a moment and waited, watching the boy's movements, his breathing, looking for any trickery. And then he became worried. He hadn't killed his son and heir, did he? He dropped the staff and bent down over Kenji, inspecting him and opening his eyes, to see him unresponsive and his pupils different sizes. Ugh, great, a concussion. At least he isn't dead, the man thought to himself as he gently picked up his son and carried him back into the house.

Mrs Kobayashi saw the condition her son was in and scowled at her husband "I know the two of you brutes like to fight but really? He's just a boy. Do you have to beat him so badly? Is he even alright?" Mr Kobayashi frowned and looked her in the eyes "He's fine, just a concussion. A good heat wrap and herbal-" His wife crossed the distance between them and stood, her gaze burning a hole through the back of the man's head. He had to look away as she said "Just a concussion? This isn't some game or movie. Being knocked unconscious ever is a serious thing. It's our bodies responding to shock and intense overload by giving up all but involuntary control! What in the world caused this?"

Mr Kobayashi sighed and said "He wanted me to take the lock off his PET. I told him if you wouldn't do it then he had to beat me in a fight. To show he had grown up" The woman sighed deeply "Dear, it's just something he doesn't need. I plan on giving him the password when he has graduated school. Your bigger then him, stronger, know more about fighting.. What chance does he have of beating you, even when he is older?" The man gave a shrug and added "I just want to make sure the dojo is in good hands. I told him I'd do it to give him some more inspiration to get stronger. And fight smarter"

Mrs Kobayashi sighs and shakes her head "I know your trying to make him tougher, but if you kill him with your silly training, your going to follow him to the afterlife" He gave a frown, they have had similar talks in the past and he knew when she is being serious. It's not that he is afraid of her in a fight, it's that he knows she is fully willing to cut his throat in his sleep or something. Her dedication was one of the things he liked so much about her but still, he would rather avoid that all together.

"Yes dear. Don't worry, I'd rather not seriously injure him either. I was making a point. Letting him know what he had to work to overcome" He tried to be logical about it but it obviously didn't change her mind any "Uh huh. Let's just try and keep him out of casts and intensive care if we can. Surely those months you couldn't train him should remind you what will happen if he gets too hurt" Mr Kobayashi clenched his jaw and said "Physically? No. But that made him stronger in other ways. Everyone should get a taste of what it is to be powerless and mortal. It keeps heads level and helps us learn to master our fear"

She just shook her head and walked away. She didn't need to say it again, it was understood. Mr Kobayashi gently lay Kenji down on his bed and brought the covers up to his head. He looked around to make sure nobody was looking and remembered Kenji had left his PET in the dojo. He bent down and gave the boy a kiss on his forehead and said quietly "Don't worry boy, I couldn't be prouder of you for trying" That done, he regained his serious composure and headed back out to resume his own training and of course run Musou through some katas. Mrs Kobayashi, meanwhile, was preparing a cold compress for her son.

"He looks like he is going to be fine, Mrs Kobayashi" The doctor said as he finished looking over the young boy, Kenji. "It was a relatively minor concussion, by the looks of it, though I would tell him to avoid headbutting any more sidewalks or trees or whatever massive blow must have his this youngsters' thick skull" The woman threw her husband, standing nearby, a dirt look and looked back to the doctor "We will see that he is more careful in the future Doctor, thank you. Is there anything else we should know?", Mrs Kobayashi asked, concern apparent in her voice along with a minor twince of annoyance.

Standing from the boy's bedside and placing a few things back into his bag, he pulled out some paperwork and motioned to the door "Young Kenji needs his rest, we should talk in another room" Mr Kobayashi frowned and said "It's alright, he can hear whatever you have to-" But another dirty look from his wife silenced him. He cleared his throat and added "Uhhm, perhaps that is best"

The trio of adults headed out of Kenji's room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Kenji sighed and looked over to the PET, sitting near his pillow. He whispered "Musou, go find out what they are saying" On the view screen of the PET, his navi nodded and vanished in a flash of light. Kenji, meanwhile, had a migraine to nurse and closed his eyes to keep the waves of nausea away. It wouldn't be a fun week, according to the doctor. Great way to spend my birthday, he mused as he made an effort to relax and hoped for sleep to overtake him soon.

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Within the Kobayashi household network...
(Just a bunch of appliances really and a pair of PCs. Only Kenji's is modern or sees regular use)

It was so much easier walking around his home network. He didn't do it very often, but whenever they had any irregularities or hostile viruses popped up he kept things in order. It was like a toned and trained warrior walking half a block. Wasn't hard, would just take time. On that thought, the navi began to sprint. He didn't want to miss anything, after all.

Passing by a group of chattering Progs, who tried to greet him, Musou bound over them and gave a quick "Hiiiii. Sorry, busy" as he moved. They squawked in surprise and made an impulsive effort to move out of the way, though it wasn't necessary since the navi had cleared them with his leap. Several moments later, he came upon a few links, looked around at them for a moment as he thought Uh.. Lets see.. I gotta hear them.. What has a microphone.. Uh.. Ah, Mom's PC. I hope it's on. He didn't really need to ask since the link was lit up, meaning it was active. And the rule was (unless it had some kind of dormant mode with heavily reduced functionality) if it was lit up and active it was his to explore. Most of the time anyway, as legality was a whole other issue.

He appeared inside a simple and old data scape that was Kenji's Mother's PC. The Progs were situated in the middle of the area around what appeared to be a sort of digital tribal fire. And the one that seemed to be in charge was a older-looking Prog (older because his body was faded and he actually had a beard). "Good afternoon, Elder. Kenji asked-" The old Prog gave a "Ehhhh? Who interrupts our gathering-" He stops when he gets a good look at the young and dangerous (at least to your average Prog) martial artist navi. "Oh it's you, hoodlum. What do you want?" Disdain heavily colored his speech and he was clearly struggling to be polite.

Musou sighed and headed over to one of the edges of the data scape, glancing over as he thought I think it's around here... He held up his hand and moved it around in the air, searching for an inactive system. "Don't ignore me you whippersnapper! I asked what the hell do you want?" The old Prog had clearly lost his patience. Musou didn't even look back, finding it hard to give any respect to someone so consistently rude to him. It definitely wasn't the first time the two had met. "I need to access the microphone and hear a conversation in the living room. Then I'll leave"

The old Prog scowled in disapproval "Eavesdropping? That is so like you. No respect" Musou still didn't look back "Whatever, old man. Kenji got hurt and a doctor came to look him over. The guy won't tell him the rest. Discussing it in private. He sent me to find out" The old Prog seems to have ignored most of the explanation, though a few of the regular Mr Progs ran to the navi's side to activate the system he wanted, if nothing else then to quicken his passing. A moment or two later, they all winced as they heard loud voices and the volume quickly adjusted at the behest of one of the Progs "S-sorry", it said quickly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The doctor motioned to the tidy desk that had Mrs Kobayashi's PC and several of their important bills and documents neatly arranged. She got the gist and extended a hand to the desk "Oh please do, Doctor. Take a seat. Would you like some tea?" The doctor mumbled a "That sounds lovely" as he sat at the desk and fished out the paperwork he needed. He began to fill things out as he said "Now as I was saying. Medical science had advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few decades. In the past, even a minor concussion would have taken weeks to heal and anyone who fell victim to one was more likely to get them in the future. Bruising and scar tissue on the brain is quite serious. It can be fatal, in fact"

He wasn't doing much to ease their tension with his dry, matter-of-fact explanation and it was Mr Kobayashi who said "But? Is there a good part to this talk?" The doctor was int he middle of quickly writing out something and stopped. He glanced up at the man and said "Hmm? Oh, yes yes" He looked back to his paperwork and continued, talking idly like it was no dig deal. "Yes, you see that was the past. I've given him a couple pills that have some specially developed cultures and enzymes that not only cut it down to a week of rest but ensure this will have no impact on his body in the future. Normally you have to get a prescription for these pills and they are normally.." He struggled for the word "Regrettably expensive"

Mrs Kobayashi came back and sat a cup of hat tea gently by the doctor's side, atop an insulated doily and along with a tiny pot of honey. "Ahh thank you, thank you, looks lovely" The doctor said as he stopped what he was doing long enough to dump most of the honey in and stir it gently with a provided spoon, taking a sip and sitting it back on the doily. He cleared his throat and continued "Anyway, my boy is one of your sons classmates. They aren't the best of friends but they get along well enough. Anyway, we heard that young Kenji had placed ahead" He thought for a moment and added "Two years, was it?"

Mrs Kobayashi said "Kenji would have been going into the sixth grade. He is instead going into the eighth. So yes, Doctor. His best friend placed into ninth, we are all a bit sad that they may be separated" It seemed like unnecessary information, but the man did ask, and the Kobayashis' were nothing if not thorough. The doctor nodded as he took another sip and went back to work and his off-discussion "Anyway, my son heard I was coming over to take a look at his classmate and told me the situation. Not to mention Kenji's birthday is a few days away. So consider this a present from the both of us to you. I have several samples of the pill I can distribute, at my discretion, and I see nothing wrong with giving you enough for a simple week's supply"

Mrs Kobayashi was at a loss "Er, I.. I don't knwo if I can accept such a thing, I mean it's so very generous and thank you so much but-" The doctor raised a sheet of paper that has his scrawled recommendation, required, really, if Kenji needed extended medication, what a month's supply would cost. The man's eyes bugged out as she went silent and she changed her tone quickly "T-thank you so much, Doctor. I don't.. I mean.. Thank you, this will help us tremendously" The man gave a cheery smile and nodded. "Oh don't mention it. That's the problem with a lot of medication, you see you can't buy it in less than a month's supply most of the time. So even if you need it for just one or two days beyond the month, you would literally have to buy two month's worth. Shameful, really"

"Anyway! Let the boy rest. I would just let him enjoy his last week of being, eleven, was it? And Take it easy on him. Your son has an amazing ability to recover and spring back from things I'd swear would kill a lesser person. He must be made of very tough stuff!" Mrs Kobayashi had a thankful, if worried expression, while her husband had a thinly-veiled smirk of pride on his face. "At any rate, no sense bothering him with any of this. And like I said, no more headbutting sidewalks. Or breaking a stack of bricks with his chin. The bruises he has on his chin and neck will heal in a day or two, especially with the pills"

He stands and mutters something along the lines of "What's good for the brain is good for the rest of the body", as he hands them the paperwork. They all head to the entryway and the doctor slips off the Electopian house shoes, almost slippers really, provided to him and sits them neatly in one of the shoe boxes. He replaces his own shoes and turns to them. They all exchange bows, with pleasant parting statements, but it's too far for Musou to pick up.

"Happy birthday Ken!", an excited Musou yelled. The boy near his PET groaned and said in a whisper "Quiet. Head hurts" Musou bit his bottom lip and said, much quieter, sorry Sensei. So, how does it feel to be twelve now?" The boy shrugged lightly as he got up from his bed and made his way to his desk, PET in hand. "No different than eleven felt. I'm not a teenager, I don't have any extra privileges or restrictions.. Most children's menus and stuff say 'twelve and under'. It's kind of a limbo year"

He sat down at his desk and muttered "Maybe I'll finally start growing, this year" The boy looked over to the door frame of his room and eyed the tick marks made over the years indicating his height. They didn't go up nearly as quickly as he had hoped they would, but his parents kept telling him he had managed to dodge puberty so far. Gee, lucky me, he thought.

He plugged his PET into it's charger and the jack-in port to his PC. "Hop in, Musou. Let's do some exploration. I think it's time to head elsewhere. All we ever do is wander around ACDC net"

The navi nodded and said "Well yeah, but look at all the stuff we have found, just in this place. Ancient temples and warehouses with bionic viruses and stuff. There has to be a lot of stuff we haven't seen yet, still" He walked over to the jack-in link that appeared within his PET and in a flash of golden light, transferred into Kenji's PC. They weren't hanging around here today so he wouldn't get to see his beloved dojo program, but that was fine.

"So, it's up to you really, Musou. Go where you want, I'll support you. More ACDC? I've done some research on the forums and it seems a lot of people start in SciLab or Electown. Plus, we get to break in your new friend"

Musou grinned at that, he was looking forward to fighting alongside his new SP. Of course, keeping in mind that this would be the first fights ever that his SP would be in, sorta made his decision for him. "I almost forgot about him. Yeah, we better just jump back into ACDC. Again" The navi sounded disappointed but quickly got over it "We never have gotten all that far into this place, you know? Seems like the stronger I get, the stronger the viruses get. It's pretty scarey actually. Does it mean I'm attracting tougher fights? Are the weaker ones hiding from me, even though I've been working on improving my senses and detection skills?"

Kenji shrugged "I dunno. But can you just try to keep the noise down? If I'm holding my head in anguish I'm not going to be able to pass you chips" On that note, he reached out and adjusted the speaker volume a bit lower for his PC and it's suite of helpful programs for busters. Musou nodded and headed into the now-familiar ACDC network.

[To ACDC Net]