Looking about the room, Laz couldn't help but sigh to himself.

'Unfamiliar ceiling," was all he could think.

Despite Jon acting rather pleasant with him and Kat's crazy hot and cold att.i.tude, Laz felt ill at ease. Maybe it was because it wasn't his place. Maybe because he was out of his comfort zone. His formerly empty brain tried to make some sense of it, but the answer just kind of alluded him until finally something clicked.

'It's someplace new. d.a.m.n, how long did it take me to get used to the shack. Bill, Grandpa and Grandpa Chu spent a lot of time with me back then, almost every day in fact. We would go eat somewhere, or just hand out at Bill's and do a BBQ and some fireworks. Those days were fun...' Thinking back on it, he never had enough time to feel bad since he was almost never alone.

But now? Now, he was doing this thing by himself.

Although he wasn't a far way away from home and he could reasonable drive himself back if he wanted to, he felt like that would be stupid. He's got a place to stay here and he has training to do.

'Besides which, it's not like they are waiting for me there.' Although Laz didn't want to think about it, he could help himself. Pulling out his phone, he noticed he had one new message.

'Oh yeah?'

'Your bill date is fast approaching, please make a payment soon.'

'You son of a b.i.t.c.h!' Laz threw his phone towards the pillow and laid back. It wasn't that he was expecting a lot, but he didn't get anything back from them. He had initially texted them both twice each. One to say have a safe trip and once to say what he was up to. So far, he had gotten nothing back. It wasn't that he was worried, but after everything that happened, he couldn't help but think about them. He could only help himself feel better by a.s.suming they were busy and didn't have time.

Knock, Knock.

"Oh, Laz. You going to sleep? Want some dinner?" Laz heard Jon's voice outside his door. Thinking about it, Laz didn't really feel up to it.

"No. That's ok. I'm just tired and want to get some sleep," Laz finally responded back.

"Ok. Get some sleep boy. Make sure you're up by 6 for breakfast," came the deep voice from the other side of the door.

"Sure thing. Thanks!"

"Ha ha, not a problem. We're going to take good care of you son. Just let me know if you need something. Sleep tight!" Listening closely, Laz heard the large man start to walk away. He couldn't help but sigh.

Picking himself up, he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower before laying back down for the night. Although he wasn't sure when, at some point he drifted off to sleep.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"GET YER a.s.s UP, TIME TO EAT!" Kat's voice came screaming from the other side of the door. Laz, still feeling groggy, finally opened his eyes. He was a bit disoriented at first, but soon the situation came to him and he remembered where he was. After throwing on a pair of sweat pants and a tee s.h.i.+rt, he went over and opened the door.

Kat was standing there in a tank top and short shorts, obviously having just gotten up herself. Laz didn't say much but just grunted at her.

"Not a morning person huh?" She asked while looking him over.

"Not when I don't have to be," Laz responded a bit shortly.

"Oh, that's right. You're still in school eh? Hmm... well, whatever. Follow me." Kat led the way for Laz who obviously hadn't been shown around the previous day. Kat gave him a general layout of the place and took him upstairs to where the father and daughter pair lived.

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The place resembled a normal, two bedroom American apartment. Considering the way the dojo looked, Laz was expecting something a bit more... ornate? But this place wasn't it.

As he sat down in the seat that Kat pointed him to, he noticed the breakfast was pretty normal as well. Bacon, eggs, toast and the like. Even though he said it was normal, what he meant was that it was normal for other people. It had been a while since he had gotten up and had breakfast waiting for him. He couldn't help but enjoy it.

"Alright. I'm not sure what you two idiots did yesterday, but no more of that, a'ight? You can both go for your run in the morning, but that's it. Otherwise, Laz needs to actually learn more than just how to get his a.s.s handed to him. Questions?" Jon looked back and forth between his spirited daughter and his new live in student.

"Ok, feel free to go for the run after breakfast. I'll clean up." Laz didn't understand why Jon seemed rather happy at the moment, but he did't think too much of it.

The run today was very different than yesterday. Laz and Kat ran together as Kat took the time to explain some basic things to Laz.

"Remember, the key to any sort of exercise is breathing. You need to control those breaths. And try to reduce your movement down to a bare minimum when your doing endurance training. The less energy you use for every moment, the more energy you will have for the needed movement."

"Training is like rebuilding a car. You can't just throw a new engine in it and expect its going to be ready to win races. You need to start with the frame and work your way up."

Kat kept spouting off metaphors and Laz kept listening intently. This was the first time that he had this kind of advice. It was very different than just reading it somewhere. Instead, he was able to take what she was saying as she was someone with experience.

Every couple of miles though they would stop and spar. Kat didn't use any strength though, nor did she use her abilities. Instead, according to her words, Laz needed to get a feel for the fight.

"You lack instinct on the basic level. All creatures have it. the problems with humans who live in a society like ours is that they don't need to use them on a regular basis. Because of that, they dull out over time. That's why the thing you need more than anything else right now is experience." This was a really big wake up call for Laz. Even though he had his sense ability, it didn't make up for the fact that he didn't know how to respond to an attack even if he could see it. For the sparring, he didn't use it as he felt that she was right. Laz needed to train his instincts and not just his senses. Of course this kind of training helped improve both.

By the time the run was over, both were sweating. They took it slow going in, but went all out going back, not even stopping to spar. By the time they got back to the dojo, it was already noon. After a light lunch, it was Laz's time with Jon.

Punch, kick, roll, throw... Jon gave Laz a break down on how to do the most basic of moves. As Laz was a clean slate in this regard, he didn't have any bad habits and was able to pick things up based on what he was shown. Around 3 in the afternoon, Laz was dismissed to do some exercises in the work out area while the first cla.s.s came in.

The first cla.s.s was all younger kids, from 8 to 13. Jon taught this one and as Laz was watching him, he noticed the middle age bear of a man seemed to enjoy himself. The kids were energetic and although they didn't get a lot done, it looked like everyone had fun just working on their basics. It was very similar to what Laz had been learning earlier.

The second cla.s.s was the younger adult group ranging anywhere from 14 to 18. Kat taught this group. It was interesting to note how the entire group looked like they hung on every word she said. Especially the guys. Of course, it could have been that all of them had a crush on Kat, but either way they seemed ready and eager to do as asked. The cla.s.s was actually around half male and half female, much to Laz's surprise. He just sort of thought this type of activity was more geared towards guys, but the proof showed he was wrong. It was also at this point that Jon brought Laz down some food and they ate at the desk up front while chatting about nothing important.

Around 7 was when the adult cla.s.s was going to start. At this point though, Kat came and found Laz to take him out for another run, repeating the morning routine except they had to use flashlights mounted to headbands. By the time they got back, it was getting on close to almost 10 as they shortened it.

Then it was off for a shower and bed and then a repeat the next day. The normal schedule at the dojo was cla.s.ses every night Tuesday through Friday and then some day cla.s.ses on Sat.u.r.day for the young adult and adult cla.s.s, with there being different groups alternating nights. As it was the beginning of November, everyone liked to talk about the upcoming holidays and plans. For Laz who was just mostly listening in, he couldn't help but get a bit jealous of the others. It had been a while since he had plans for the holidays with family, other than the old guys.

Of course, those feelings didn't last for long. Jon and Kat kept him pretty busy, whether he wanted to be or not. Every other day he would get free time in the afternoon and the evening if he wanted it but since he hadn't heard back from either Malene or Kennedy, he didn't really have anything to do so most of the times he would just look on in the cla.s.ses.

Time started to go by rather quickly and before he knew it, a week had pa.s.sed by already. Laz had gotten used to the pacing of his days and even started spending time with the young adult cla.s.s. When he was introduced by Kat, she didn't mention his age. Due to his rather large height and build, it was mostly the older kids who spent time chatting with him and getting to know him during practice. If there was a downside to anything, it was that Kat liked to use him as her human punching bag since he could take a hit better than any student out there.

He found that since he didn't know anyone and he wouldn't be around here or spending school time with them, he was rather relaxed when talking to others, something he had not felt before. He ended up being able to mesh well with everyone because there was so little long term commitment involved and therefore he didn't have to worry about making a bad impression.

After one session while Laz was sitting around and chatting with a group of guys and girls who went to the high school locally, Jon walked over to Kat and handed her a water bottle.

"He seems to have adjusted pretty quick," Jon commented while looking over at Laz chatting away and laughing.

"Yeah, I thought he would have been depressed or nervous or something," Kat responded back.

"When you look at him, it's kind of hard to see him as a 14 year old. I wonder when his birthday is."

"No idea, but we should find out."

"You also seem to be taking it easy on him since that first day."

"Yeah, well.. I don't know. He gives me this weird feeling really."

"What's that?"

"How to explain..? It's like, sometimes I feel like he's just normal. Other times though, especially that first day we fought, the waves he gave out were very different. Scary even."

"Oh? That seems weird for a kid his age," Jon pondered. He hadn't spoken to his daughter about it before as he thought she would bring something up. He was waiting for her constant complaints since she had never been interested in actually training with a guy before, but she was strangely quiet, which lead to him talking to her. He had had some weird feelings from Laz as well.

"It's weird. He's serious about this. Unlike those guys who kept pestering me in the past, he's actually trying. I still give him a hard time every now and then, but he's yet to even talk back. I'm sorta not sure how to act at times so I just go into super formal mode. It's almost a bit annoying really," Kat had finally found something to complain about which made Jon smile.

"It's because he's serious that he's just taking everything you throw at him. I'm not sure what he went through before coming here as old man Chu never mentioned it. But when he is really focused, I can feel that slight hint of blood l.u.s.t. I thought that maybe it was just me and I'm getting old, but hearing you talk about it now makes me realize that I'm right. That's not something a 14 year old should have."

Kat looked over at her father and could see that he had a worried look on his face. She wanted to ask something, but he cut her off with his next words.

"He's high strung. Very high strung really. Even while he is over there chatting, it's like he becoming more and more tense." Although Kat couldn't see it when she looked at him, she trusted her father's words.

"Anyway, I'm heading out after the Sat.u.r.day's cla.s.ses so maybe see if he wants to go somewhere or do something to relax."

"Should I ask the students if they want to go somewhere with him?" Kat asked, thinking out loud.

"No. Best if he takes that step himself when he's ready. Besides, if he does snap, you're probably the only one around that could do anything about it."

"Thanks dad. Glad to know you would have me be the one to risk my neck. Sigh. Whatever then. Maybe he will want to go bowling or something."

"That's the spirit Katie."

"And f.u.c.k you too dad!"