Case 32 - Hope Springs Again, Part 1


    Keiko was lying back on her couch, in her condo, wearing sweat pants and a tee-shirt, and with bare feet.  She flipped through the television channels, trying to relax, but also simultaneously trying to forget about what happened the day before.

    The unavoidable fact was that while she and Sean were still very good friends, they had grown increasingly out of sync.  She kept her distance from him for her own peace of mind, and it left her with an impression of him from a long time ago.

    Last night she was feeling happy and free after having gotten herself out of a terrible situation where she was being hounded by the Police Chief, Sean’s boss, who was bent on figuring out what she was, and then imprisoning her for it.  After an up-close and risky negotiation, he turned out only to be wanting money.  Once she paid it to him, peace and quiet resulted.

    Sean pointed out that his boss might want more, and might increase the blackmail to turn up the heat.  She implied to him that she would put an end to his boss if that happened.

    And then, in order to both share her happiness and positive mood, and to distract Sean from his worried train of thought, she decided to invite him to sleep over.

    Their first attempt was terrible, and they ended up having to stop.  Keiko was angry at first, because she had been waiting so long, and she felt like Sean wasn’t listening.  But they were still close friends; so once she calmed down, they actually laughed about it.

    Afterward, though, Keiko wondered quietly what exactly their newfound incompatibility meant.  Did it mean once a guy got to know her too well she wasn’t desirable?  Or was the same true for Sean?  Or maybe now that she stopped killing for a living, she no longer excited him?

    She looked at the clock, and realized it was almost time to change.  Somehow she managed to cram all of that excitement and adventure in between martial arts classes at the local high school.  She hadn’t even missed a single one, since they were only weekly.

    It was kind of nice getting back to normal.  Though that was relative, since she was in the condo still while her home was repaired after the SWAT raid.  Still, having some sense of doing things normal people did was soothing.

    
---


    Keiko entered the classroom she used for her martial arts class, and she once again pushed the desk against the back wall.  Some other class that used that same room, the teacher insisted on having the desk almost in the middle of the room, even though there were no seats for the students.

    Carpeting was almost new, though, so sitting on the floor - her preferred method of teaching that class anyhow - was a viable and comfortable option.  She took off her boots and socks, and put them both alongside the desk.

    While she liked the students in her class, she was always a little nervous talking in front of everyone.  She didn’t show it because she had been well trained to mask her emotions when she wanted to.  Still, the nervousness existed beneath the surface, so her favorite moment was sitting on the desk in the empty classroom for the few minutes before the students arrived.

    She looked up at the small high-mounted window - the classroom was in the basement - and noticed it looked like the sky was darkening.  There must be a storm coming, she thought to herself.

    A loud bell sounded in the hallway.  There were two, the first marked the end of the previous class, and the second marked the beginning of the next.  Usually the hallways were packed with students rushing from one class to the next, but due to the fact that she was in a basement classroom in a section of the school that normally housed art, music, and driver’s ed, there wasn’t much noise at all.

    Her students surprised her for the second class.  They all entered very quietly and sat down in the floor.  The two girls and four boys were still there, nobody dropped out yet.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hi guys, have you been practicing your excersizes?”  Keiko asked with a smile as she rose to her feet enthusiastically.

    There were a few sheepish responses and avoidances of her gaze.  That was exactly as she expected, and she remained upbeat about it.

    She started pacing the floor in front of them slowly.  “No problem.  I would have preferred practice, but it’s more important that you’re familiar with what was on those papers.  It’s where we’re going to start today.  Everyone stand, please.”

    There was a quiet rustling as her students rose to their feet.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Good,”  she complimented them.  She stopped pacing.  “We’re going to revisit balance and control.  I can tell some of you have been practicing, because you’re already more balanced moving from sitting to standing.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are we doing the standing on one foot thing again?”  one of the girls asked.

    Keiko gave her an amused smile.  “That depends.  Have you all been practicing it?”

    There were groans all around.

    She paced in front of them, still smiling.  “Since this is a relatively infrequent and short class, I’m not going to be able to make you experts, but I’d like you all to finish it with as much knowledge as possible.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That means,”  she continued as she stopped and faced them, “We’re just going to dive right in.  I’ve come to realize we don’t have time to learn each step...and since you have other classes that your graduation depends on, it wouldn’t be fair to force you to practice for hours at home.”

    She heard a collective sigh of relief from her students.

    Then Keiko took a few steps backward.  “I want all of you to stand in a single row, and hold your arms out.  I need you well spaced, so make sure you’re far enough from each other that you can’t touch fingers.”

    There was a rustling as all the students spread out, and measured the distance between each other.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“This is a simple move that is the basis of a lot of martial arts, and also, strangely enough, boxing.  Cross your arms close in front of you, fists raised, right in front of left.  Then step forward, and push one fist forward.  When you return it, reverse the arm cross and then step forward with your other foot.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s hard!”  one of the students complained.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know.”  Keiko told him.  “Start off slowly, it doesn’t have to be perfect.  The object is really to build up speed over coordination, so once you stop colliding your arms accidentally you’ve moved to the next stage.”

    There was suddenly a lot of noise in the hallway outside the classroom.  It started far away, probably at the short stairway that led to that section of the building’s basement classrooms, and moved closer until it was a roar.  

    Keiko decided to check it out.  “Excuse me for a moment.”  She walked over to the door and looked out.

    There was a large number of students crowded into the hallway, lined up against one wall and chatting excitedly.  She saw a teacher approaching, so she stepped out to ask what was happening.  “What’s this?”  she asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You didn’t hear the announcement?”  the teacher asked.

    Keiko shook her head.  “I think the speaker in my classroom has never worked.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The storm outside is pretty severe.  The principal ordered all students taken out of upstairs classrooms with windows and moved into sheltered hallways and the auditorium.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh really?”  Keiko re-entered her classroom and leaned over to see out of the tiny, high window in her classroom.  It looked like it was raining pretty hard, but it didn’t look at that scary from down there.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Class, we’re going to learn something new, one of the principles of all martial arts.  Tolerance and hospitality.”  She leaned back outside and said, “If some of you would like, you can wait in my classroom.  But I’ll have to ask you to be quiet.”

    Of course once she said that, a bunch of students rushed in and headed straight to the opposite wall, eager to see the storm through the smaller and safer window.

    Adding to the chaos, her phone rang with a pleasant chime.  She went to the desk and picked it up to see who was calling - it was Sean.  She answered it.  “Yes?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s all the whispering?”  Sean asked her.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, I have some guests in my classroom.  What’s up?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I need your help.”  Sean said.  “My boss didn’t come into work today.  He’s not at home, either.  It’s like he left for work and disappeared.”
    

TO BE CONTINUED?
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2011 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
--    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.