Later that night, the three friends were in Ken's room. Ryu had managed to get rid of Sakura, and Ken managed to get himself some food. He still didn't understand why Chun Li had been so upset.

Ryu and Ken were sitting on Ken's bed, and Chun Li was lying on her stomach, listening to their conversation.

"When we were younger, Sensei had us jog in the forest for our daily exercise," Ken was telling her.

"Once we found a bear that only had one eye," Ryu said.

"What happened?" Chun Li asked. "What happened to his eye?"

"Sensei had done the hurricane kick on him," Ken answered. "At least, that's what he told us later when we asked him about it."

Ryu frowned slightly. "Must you use the American names for the skills that Sensei taught us?"

Ken scowled back. "It's a lot easier than saying 'Tatsu-Maki-Sen-Puu-Kyaku'." They noticed Chun Li yawn. "See, it's so long that she's falling asleep."

Chun Li shook her head. "No, no...maybe I'm just tired."

"How were you trained when you were young?" Ryu asked.

"Oh...Father taught me since I was six...He was very patient with me. I had to jog with him, lift weights, push-ups. Wushu is more of an acrobatic style of martial arts. In many ways, my father trained me like a gymnast..."

"You got your own balance beam and everything?" Ken asked.

"Yup. Sometimes, he'd tell me to execute moves while I was on the balance beam."

"That certainly requires discipline," Ryu acknowledged. "Not only were you required to execute the moves correctly, you had to keep your balance. Ken would have fallen the moment he stepped on the beam."

"I would not!" Ken exclaimed. "And I'm sure you would have done any better?"

Ryu shrugged, smiling.

Chun Li plucked at the bedspread. "To be honest...after seeing you guys fight...neither of you would have been able to stand on it let alone kneel on it. It was only about five inches wide and you both have big feet."

"Well...you know what they say about men and big feet..." Ken joked.

Chun Li tossed a pillow at his head.

"What?" Ryu asked, a puzzled expression on his face. "What do they say?"

"Forget it," Ken said. "Be back in a second."

Ken hopped off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Chun Li glanced at Ryu. He looked kind of cute wearing only white boxers to bed.

"Ryu, what happened to Sakura?" Chun Li asked.

"I told her to go home," Ryu responded.

"What?"

"I told her that I was staying with Ken, and she should not impose, and I am not ready to teach yet."

"You mean...you aren't interested in her?"

He gazed at her squarely. "What an odd question." At her silence, he continued, "But...no, I am not."

"Oh...okay," Chun Li said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Because I wanted to tell you that I..."

He waited for her to continue.

"That I really-"

"Hey, Ryu!" Ken called, jump-kicking Ryu in the head. "Let's eat something. The servants are all asleep so we can raid the fridge."

Ryu got up from the floor, where he was knocked over. "Okay."

Chun Li bonked her head against the bed.

"Wanna come?" Ken asked her.

She looked up and smiled weakly. "Sure...Why not?"

Ken and Ryu pulled some shirts on so they wouldn't get cold in the kitchen, and they headed downstairs, Chun Li trailing behind.

Maybe some other time, she thought.

Once in the kitchen, she had been surprised that Ryu and Ken's idea of a 'midnight snack' was a regular meal.

"Didn't we eat nearly a feast for dinner?" she asked as they gobbled up some roast beef sandwiches.

"Yeah...But we're hungry again," Ken stated.

"When we were younger, Sensei gave us rice and pickles to eat. That was our only meal," Ryu explained after swallowing a huge bite. "So Ken and I used to eat a lot at night..."

Chun Li gazed at both of them skeptically. Growing up, she never had anyone to share midnight snacks with. Oh well...why not? she thought. "Hand me some of those crackers, would you?"