A large smiling buddha greets me in the first room of the house, laughing his jolly laugh. Tapestries cover the wall behind him, and as Tanaka leads me further into the house, I find all kinds of different items from Japanese culture.

  Eventually, I’m led to the back room of the house. Mats cover a wooden floor, and weapons of all kinds line the wall, from bo staffs to katanas. In the center of the room sits an older man, his hair silver with age.

  Tanaka sits on his knees in front of the man, and I move to do the same.

  The man himself is wiry from years of martial arts, and a small beard covers his face. Many of his wrinkles are laugh lines, but his age is hard to garner from a glance.

  His eyes open, revealing striking blue eyes on the half-japanese man. “Why do you wear bandages to cover nothing?” He asks.

  “Sensei,” I greet him, “What do you mean?”

  His eyes narrow in on my shoulder. “Your father told me about your wound, but you do not look to be in pain, and your eyes are not clouded with drugs.” He throws something at me, and I instinctively reach out to catch it with my bandaged arm.

  I look down to see a small river stone. Where did he get this from?

  “You don’t look injured at all. So why are you wearing bandages to cover nothing?”

  “You’re as observant as ever, sensei.” I grumble. I don’t expand past that, not wanting to talk about the strangeness of the Beta Test.

  John Akiyama studies me for a long moment before speaking, “There have been stories of people suddenly gaining powers. Most disregard them, thinking them nothing more than lies or exaggeration. I do not disregard them.”

  “As is wise.” I say.

  He stands up, his movements flowing like water. Tanaka and I both stand up in response.

  “It’s been too long, Elena. I wish to see you perform the katas.”

  I bow, not daring to argue with the grouchy old man.

  I move through the katas slowly, my body more out of practice than I’d like to admit.

  The Sensei stops me almost immediately, and adjusts my left hand ever so slightly. The day continues like that as he has me perform the katas again and again until I’m doing them perfectly.

  Tanaka follows me, performing the katas as well.

  Grudgingly, I admit that his form is more fluid than mine. Slacking in my practice has given him a lead that he didn’t have when we were younger.

  Even after I’ve performed the kata without adjustments, Akiyama Sensei has us perform the katas twice more before he motions for us to stop.

  We bow to the sensei, and I notice two other students watching from the doorway.

  Akiyama gives Tanaka a look, and the older student turns to me. “Would you spar with me Elena? It has been too long.”

  I look at Akiyama Sensei, who looks back at me expectantly.

  “Of course.” I say.

  We move to the center of the mat, and bow to each other.

  I stand on the balls of my feet, my hands raised in preparation, my gloves safely stored in my inventory. I was once as skilled as Tanaka, but this last year, he has been training every day with the sensei. Something tells me that this will be more of a challenge than it used to be.

  Both of us circle each other for a few seconds, looking for weaknesses. We both move at once.

  Tanaka kicks forward, and I step into the kick, blocking with my forearm. I follow up with a strike towards his chest.

  His arm moves, almost gently pushing my strike to the side. I move forward putting my foot behind his heel.

  He attempts to grab me, but I duck under it, and shove him with my shoulder.

  He trips over my foot and falls. He quickly turns the fall into a backflip, sending a kick towards me with the flashy maneuver.

  I catch the kick, and jump backwards, attempting to absorb the momentum as I slide back on the mat.

  Tanaka watches me several feet away, a smile on the edge of his lips.

  I forgot how much Tanaka enjoyed being beat up, the crazy bastard.

  Our fight continues. I’m steadily put on the defensive, his reach and power making me twist and turn as I do my best to use his advantages against him. It’s not easy against a fighter that knows my tricks as well as I do.

  He lands a kick that sets me off balance, then he rushes in, grappling me to the floor until my face is against the mats.

  I tap the mat, signaling my surrender.

  He lets go of me, and offers me a hand to stand up. Once I’m on my feet, we bow to each other and I finally notice the sweat that’s covering the both of us.

  “Thank you Elena, our fight was informative.”

  “Likewise, Tanaka.” I respond.

  A quick glance to the two other students shows them looking at both of us in awe. I recognize them as Tanaka’s younger siblings, although I can’t remember their names. Both are young, the girl around twelve, while the boy is thirteen.

  They both run up to us, the girl handing me a towel, while the boy hands Tanaka one.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I wipe the sweat off, then Akiyama Sensei leads us into another room where tea has been set out.

  I move to the table, and sit on my knees. Sometimes I forget how much I like chairs.

  The girl runs over to us and pours the tea for Sensei, Tanaka, and I.

  “You are out of practice.” Akiyama Sensei says.

  “I am. I wish I had more time to train with you.” I respond.

  “You know you can come here whenever you wish.”

  “Thank you, Sensei.” I take a sip of the tea, considering the questions I want to ask. “Why did you call me here, sensei?”

  “I had thought to help you with your injury. But I see that is no longer needed.” He sips at his tea, his eyes watching my every movement.

  I smile into my cup as I take another sip. The old codger was just worried about me.

  I place my tea down, and look at the clock in the room. “I don’t have much time left. I have an appointment with a friend.”

  The sensei bows his head. “Safe travels, Elena.”

  I stand up and bow to him. “Thank you for your instruction, sensei.”

  Tanaka follows me to the door as I leave the house. He stays quiet until the door is closed behind us and we’re standing on the front porch.

  I wait patiently, recognizing that he is struggling with how to say what he wants to say.

  “Sensei says the world is changing. He says that he feels it when he is meditating, and to be honest, so can I. I feel an energy inside and around me, something that wasn’t there before”

  I hum softly in thought. That might mean that the energies The Game Of The Gods give me aren’t just accessible to Beta Testers. “Thank you Tanaka. It’s good to know.”

  There’s silence after that, so I take a step towards the garden path.

  Tanaka grabs my arm. “Be careful Elena.” He says, his eyes serious. “I know that whatever is going on, you are involved. So please, be careful.”

  I turn around and surprise the boy with a hug. “When am I not careful?” I ask into his chest. “Except for that time with those karate kids. Oh, and the time with that MMA guy.” I pull away from him, thinking, “I almost forgot about that time with the gunman at that cafe.” I squint, as I examine my memories. “I think that covers all the times I wasn’t careful.” I take a full step away, smiling wide. “At least while I was around you.”

  Tanaka laughs, “Be as careful as you can then.”

  I give him a mock salute. “Aye aye Captain.”

  Cadet?

  Not you.

  I wave goodbye to Tanaka as my ride arrives.

  I step inside, and watch the house as we drive away. It’s a strange place in the middle of the US. A foreign place that feels more like home to me than a lot of places do.

  This time the driver is a lot more chatty. By the end of our ride, I know more things about being an entrepreneur than people that go to college for it.

  You see, the key is image. You can have the worst product in the world, but if you give it the right image, you’ll be rolling in money.

  I actually feel a little sad when my house comes into view.

  I hurry up to my room and make my way to the shower. Then it’s time to reapply makeup.

  I look at my phone, and thankfully it’s a late dinner. I have time to actually get ready.

  My room quickly becomes a mess as I pull out outfits and throw them onto the floor or my bed.

  Eventually, I find a nice enough dress. Green highlights on a purple velvet with an open back. It’s my nicest dress, and I am going to a mansion for dinner, so it seems appropriate. I match it with a black clutch and some heels that look like they could stab someone.

  I’m not trying too hard, am I?

  Nah.

  Elizabeth is in the living room when I come down. Her mouth opens in shock as she sees me. “You can dress up?”

  “Shut up.” I walk over to her, and ruffle her hair. “I’ve been known to look nice on an occasion or two.”

  “You’ve got to let me wear that dress.”

  “Never.” I smile as I walk to the door, my ride already here.

  “Come on!” I see the smile playing on the edge of her lips as she says that.

  “Nope. I gotta go.” I wave goodbye, and close the door behind me. I walk up to an older car that looks well taken care of, and step in.

  This time it’s an older woman driving, and she gives me lots of space for my own thoughts.

  As the driver pulls up to the mansion, she lets out a whistle. “That’s a nice house.”

  I nod in agreement, although she probably can’t see it. “Thanks, you can drop me off at the gate.”

  She shakes her head, mumbling something about “kids these days”.

  The car pulls up and I step out.

  The gate is completely repaired, without a single blemish compared to the broken state I’d found it in when the boys and I came by.

  I wave at the security guard at the gate and tell him my name. He opens a small side gate that I step through.

  The security guard greets me on the other side, and motions for me to hand him my clutch. I hand it to him, and he examines it closely before handing it back.

  “I’m going to need to check you for weapons, if you could please put your arms up like this.” He briefly moves into a T-pose before lowering his arms.

  I smile at him. “You aren’t going to be touching me,” I turn towards the house, “Just call Rose or Mr. Demor, they’ll tell you I’m fine.”

  He grabs my arm, “I have to insist.”

  I look down at the hand on my arm and smile up at the security guard.

  In a single quick movement, I grab his arm, twist it behind him and trip him to the ground. My knee presses into his other arm, stopping it from reaching the gun at his waist.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen.” I tell him, pressing his face further into the ground. “I’m gonna call Rose, and have her meet us out here. She’s going to tell you that I’m fine, and I won’t have to break either of your arms for touching me after I told you not to. Capiche?”

  The man nods into the dirt and mumbles “Can you get off of me?”

  I look at him, not moving. “You were the one that couldn’t take the time to call your boss. We’re going to stay like this for a moment to give you some time to reflect.” He tries to move, but I twist his arm, telling him that I could break it if I wanted.

  Using my free hand, I pull out my phone and call Rose.

  It rings a few times before it picks up.

  “Elena?”

  “Hey Rose. Could you meet me at the front gate? Your security guard and I had a small kerfuffle.”

  A few moments later, Rose is walking towards us, doing her best to hide a smile as she sees our position.

  I take the moment to admire what she’s wearing, a light blue dress with butterflies traveling up and down it in captivating patterns. I’m glad I dressed up.

  She looks at us from a moment, clearly trying to hold back laughter and failing terribly.

  She gets herself under control and with her best serious expression says, “Elena, you can get off of him now.”

  “One moment.” I say, then lean down next to the ear of the security guard. “Be more careful next time.”

  I let go of his arm and get off of him.

  The man picks himself off the ground with a surprising amount of dignity, then he bows to me. “I’m sorry for the way I acted. I should’ve just called them.”

  “Wow.” I say, blinking as I absorb his apology. “Uh, all is forgiven.”

  “Come on,” Rose says, motioning for me to follow her. “My dad is waiting for you.”

  She turns around, heading towards the house. I throw one last glance towards the security guard, then follow her inside.

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