Untitled Ch. 7
By Blankman

The day after Christmas at the Masters Mansion...

Ryu slowly opened his eyes and rubbed the sleepiness out of them, before forcing himself out of bed.

The group had come home from the Christmas bash in the wee hours of the morning, leaving little time for Ryu to rest his fatigued body. After all, being the disciplined warrior that he was, he wasn't used to going to sleep so late.

But nevertheless, he forced himself out of the bed, and got into his gi. He picked up the infamous swimming trunks on his way out, then paused, before tossing them across the room. After tying on his red headband, he made his way out the mansion and towards the dojo.

He practiced a series of front and side kicks, followed by his renowned roundhouse kick, combined with punches and uppercuts. Each move was executed flawlessly; his form was imaculate and his breathing was steady.

After his basic training, he was perspiring a lot, and removed his gi top. He then got down and began to do push-ups. As he did so, he thought about all that occured the night before...

*FLASHBACK*

As soon as the clique had entered the ballroom, Chunli grabbed Ryu's hand and led him out to the balcony.

Ryu was rather puzzled by this, but did not resist.

After an awkward silence he spoke.

"Why are we lea..."

He was cut off abruptly, as Chunli took his face in her hands, and pressed her lips, firmly against his, then proceeded to kiss him with all the lust and passion she had been holding in, for what seemed like an eternity.

Ryu must have been yearning and craving the same feelings, because he held her body tighter against him. The intensity and passion of the kiss increased for a few moments, before Ryu pulled away.

He was breathing hard and his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. Despite the cool night air outside, the two felt like they were on fire. They were still dangerously close to each other, and were about to lean in for another kiss, when Ryu hesitated and shook his head.

"No," he started, "w we shouldn't do this, i it's not right."

"If this is wrong, then maybe I don't want to be right," Chunli replied quietly, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Chunli I'm sorry, but..."

Chunli turned her back to him.

"Chunli please listen to me, Ryu continued, "all my life I've been led to believe that the fight was all there was to life..."

"Surprise, surprise," Chunli cut in sarcastically.

"Wait, I'm not finished,"Ryu pleaded, "you don't understand..."

"Yes!, I don't understand, please explain," Chunli retorted.

"Look, I've spent all of my existance searching for opponents, and now that I've met you I I...this whole 'being in love concept' can be...can be...", Ryu faltered.

"Scary?", Chunli finished, quietly, as she turned around ,slowly, to face him.

"Yes," he replied, in defeat, and looked down.

Chunli smiled at him in complete understanding. *Oh Ryu, I can't stay mad at you.* She cupped his face in her hands in her hands and tilted his head up, to look at her.

"Ryu, I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not ready to do, okay?"

He was silent.

"So,"Chunli began, "friends?"

Ryu paused for a while before replying. "Friends."

Even though she was dissapointed with his answer, Chunli put on a smile, and took his hand in hers.

"Wanna go dance?"

Ryu was surprised at how well she'd taken it, but still replied. "Uh...I can't, I uh don't know how to," Ryu replied sheepishly.

"Oh come on Ryu, it's a slow dance, there's nothing to it," Chunli exclaimed, "besides, you need to learn sometime" she said as she pulled him towards the dance floor...

*END FLASHBACK*

*So, we're still friends now,* Ryu thought as he did his push-ups, *then why do I feel like I made a mistake*.

He terminated his thoughts as he noticed it was becoming harder and harder for him to lift himself up.

"Ugh!, it feels as if I'm carrying the shole world on my shoulders!", he managed to say.

"Hey!, I'm not that heavy," came a slightly hurt voice.

Ryu was startled and quickly lifted his head up. In the corner of his eye, he saw Chunli sitting comfortably on his back.

"Chunli, what are you doing here?", he asked.

"Oh, I just thought I'd come out here and help you train," she replied, as she stood up.

Ryu stopped doing his push-ups and stood up aswell.

"Would you like to go running around the estate ol' buddy?", Chunli asked, "I'll race ya."

Ryu was a little taken aback at being referred to as her 'buddy', but he was never one to refuse a challenge, so he eagerly agreed.

"Sure, just let me get a shirt on," Ryu said bending down to pick up his shirt.

"NO!", Chunli exclaimed.

Ryu was surprised by her sudden outburst and looked at her strangely.

"Uh, ehehe," Chunli laughed nervously, "um, I just thought you'd be more comfortable topless," she started, "and I just love those abdominal muscles, they're such a turn on," she said seductively...then she saw the irritated look on Ryu's face. "Uh...but since we're just FRIENDS, it's more of a turn off," she recovered.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically, then shook his head. "Let's go run," he replied, not attempting to hide the disinterest in his voice.

He put on his gi top and walked out of the dojo with Chunli following close behind.

"Are you ready?", Chunli inquired.

"Ready when you are," Ryu replied calmly.

"Okay, on your mark, get set...GO!"

The two instantly began sprinting. So far, they were running head to head.

"Eat my dust, tough guy," Chunli grinned, and began picking up speed. She took the lead and kept it, as they ran past the golf course and tennis courts. Then as they turned a corner, running towards the courtyard, Ryu quickened his pace and overtook Chunli.

As he ran, Ryu noticed a small pothole in the ground ahead, and meandered around it.

"Watch out for that..."

"AAAH!!"

Ryu was silenced by a gut wrenching scream, that ended with a loud thud.