Springtime of Silver


 * A special one-shot chapter revealing the origins of Minato Kuramoto and his eventual tutelage under Master !

Act I
That familiar loud ringing that resounded in the air signaled the end of the school day. With the afternoon sun shining brightly over the springtime horizon, teenagers began to break out of the doors of in droves as they spread out; each moving off to pursue whatever it was they spent their time after school hours doing. One such individual was named Minato Kuramoto — Kagamino High, 3rd Year Student — who had been attending a well-known martial arts institution in the city.

Making his way out of the large flock of students, he casually began walking along the sidewalk; his face made it all the clear that he was in a state of mind isolated from the hoi polloi around him. He was a teenage male of average height, bearing rather unkempt brown hair along with a matching pair of light brown eyes. Everything about him, from the way that he walked to the distance he kept from most others that were beginning to split off into their groups to make plans for the afternoon, to the very appearance of his meager body frame, all suggested one absolute: no wonder he desperately needed to attend a martial arts class every day.

Of course, it wasn't for what most drama novel readers and television viewers would assume. Because he kept to himself, he wasn't particular popular nor was he ever bullied; it wasn't like he needed the lessons to protect himself from bullies. Sometimes, he'd make unnecessary comedic gestures in the classroom to spark a couple laughs among his peers, and his rather above-average academic achievements stood out occasionally, but for the most part, there wasn't anything about this boy that make him very impressive. So why did he choose to attend martial art classes at a well-known Taekwondo school in the city? Generally speaking, it was mainly to have something to do after school back during his junior high days. But as he continued, he found himself becoming more and more interested in the martial arts. Before long, he made efforts to learn more about other martial arts and the deeper workings of Taekwondo as well. And the more he came to learn, the more apparent it had later become to him... that the school he was attending all this time was nothing but a joke.

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The class usually began as always. Students gathered in four lines for drills, separated by rank with the low ranks on the left hand side and the highest ranks on the right hand side, led by an instructor at the head of the class, and proceeded to perform a medley of different techniques on command. For Minato, who had spent several years at this institute and had achieved a red belt, he had a bit of a glare toward those on the right lane beside his own line. Red belt was an advanced belt, that was true enough, but black belt was beyond that. The black belts in that line often practiced without care. They would often speak silently between one another in the lane when the instructor wasn't watching and only did the bare minimum of what they were asked to do. The black belts were often given more advanced drills to do during class while the others did standard set of drills, but they only performed them when the instructor watched; they didn't think it mattered much to put any effort when he wasn't observing them. And why did they need to? Everybody regarded them as the best at the school. Black belt was considered to be a rank of master to the students at the academy, and to have a black belt meant that you were a real Taekwondo master of incredible skill; well on your way to one day become an instructor yourself or even a future competition champion. Of course, this wasn't an easy task. In order to take the black belt test, you had to practice a high level series of forms and drills, but also, you needed to pay a rather exorbitant fee of nearly thirty-thousand yen.

Minato's parents had both died a long time ago. His sister,, mostly cared for him while she attended a corporate job in order to pay off their living expenses. Sadly, there was very little wiggle room in their finances, but luckily enough, Takara was able to squeeze out enough to pay his monthly Taekwondo membership fees. But there was definitely not enough spending money for a black belt testing fee, especially not one that was enough money to pay for an entire month's worth of groceries. Takara often remarked that the school was nothing more than a rip-off, but Minato chose to believe that obtaining a black belt was like attending college and achieving an advanced degree; the high price was well worth it for the quality of tutelage.

But as he continued training there, and doing independent studies on martial arts in general, his attitude began to spiral downwards tremendously. He began to feel as though he was simply spinning his wheels there. And his fears turned into reality when he began to feel that his instructor would never deem him ready for his black belt examination. But he had faith; his respect for his instructor was unprecedented, he always believed very highly in his master and knew that he would truly become a martial arts master if he kept training under him.

Minato spent every month after obtaining his red belt putting money aside for his eventual black belt test. He knew his sister didn't have the funds to pay for something like this right off the bat when he would need it, so she instead made him a deal of giving him a monthly amount of one-thousand five-hundred yen to save up for his test. It took a little over two years but he had finally saved up enough for it. About a year and a half ago, he finally finished his goal of making enough to pay for the test, but he was repeatedly told that he wasn't quite ready for the promotion. Instead of being depressed over it, he saw it as his instructor telling him that he still needed to train harder; in order to be worthy of a black belt, he had to reach the height of his potential. And he engaged the challenge, anxiously awaiting the day he would be able to finally test for black belt.

The class for the day ended, Minato had taken a towel to wipe off the sweat from his brow as he breathed in and out; regaining some composure as he relaxed against a wooden pole close to the dojang. He wanted to wait a bit for the masses of students around the place to disperse a little before he went to approach his head instructor at the front desk. And once he spotted his opportunity, quickly making a beeline for the desk, a familiar voice quickly stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Minatoooo~!" came the sultry voice of his older sister, Takara, who had entered the doors of the school in a rather joyous tone of voice. "Big sister got off early from work to pick you up!" she continued, drawing a rather annoyed expression from Minato as the other students quickly stared at the newcomer. She was a knock-out in her appearance; a body full of the right curves, the face of a goddess accented with a faint pink lipstick upon her lips, and long flowing hair like a soothing river. People often wondered how she could possibly be the sister to such a plain-looking teenager like Minato.

More coming soon...