Chapter 9

Eunbi couldn’t help but stare as Hyewon casually formed a ball of qi energy in her hands. What had taken Eunbi months to accomplish with the help of all three of their patient Japanese members, Hyewon managed to do in a day. “Is she a genius?”

“A regular idiot savant,” Nako replied. Hyewon had come asking for help after her practice with Yena and Wonyoung. They had practiced trying each other’s moves and Hyewon had naturally failed to come even close to matching the other two. She was only able to do a few of Yena’s Eighteen Punch techniques and was unable to demonstrate even one of Wonyoung’s physical martial arts skills. However, there was one thing that the two noticed that Hyewon was extremely good at; she had an exceptional understanding of how qi arts worked.

“How is this possible?” Eunbi felt like a proud mother as she watched Hyewon continue to grow the ball of qi in her hands by rotating her hands back and forth around the energy. The one child who she thought might not amount to anything could very well be their most gifted member.

“She has good theoretical knowledge of how qi circulation works. It’s different than Saku-chan’s ability to read the flow of qi. Hyewon has just simply read a lot of books on qi arts. She didn’t have the power to use any of them, but she knew how they should work, and that knowledge has allowed her to gain insight on patterns. When you showed her the move that Hitomi taught you, she picked up immediately how it should work because it resembled arts that she has read about,” Nako explained to her perplexed leader.

“How come it feels like I’m the only one that’s surprised?” Eunbi asked, slightly hurt by Nako’s nonchalant explanation of Hyewon’s abilities.

“She spends a lot of time with Sakura, Hitomi, and me,” Nako shrugged. “She’s actually a bit of a martial arts nerd. She’s read a lot of books on all kinds of martial arts. Unfortunately, she’s never really had the physical skills or the qi level to perform most of them.”

Eunbi had noticed that there were many times the girl couldn’t be found. It shouldn’t really have been a surprise that Hyewon was sneaking over to the other dorm. “If she can do this, why did she hurt herself with that ‘Gear Second’ ability?”

“Like I said, her qi level is too low to perform many other skills. She probably felt it took too long for her to improve and that’s why she took the short cut. But this time it sounds like she’s willing to put in the work no matter how long it takes.” Nako was happy when Hyewon came with her head bowed down asking to be taught. She had been hoping that Hyewon would seek help ever since she learned of the girl using that debilitating short cut.

“I think this is the biggest I can go,” Hyewon said as the ball of qi dissipated between her hands.

“That was really good, Unnie,” Nako said encouragingly. “I talked it over with Saku-chan and Hii-chan. We think we’ve come up with the best way for you to improve your qi level quickly. We’re going to have you pair up with Eunbi Unnie.”

Eunbi blushed as she nodded at Nako’s words. She was ashamed to say that she was most likely the weakest in terms of qi ability despite being the oldest and one of the more experienced martial artists. When they start doing formations as a team, she knew that either her or Hyewon would hold the team back at their current qi levels. “We’ll be in your care, Nako-sensei.”

Nako had to fight hard to keep a smile off her face at Eunbi’s attempt to be cute. She knew the older woman was trying to butter her up and make the lesson go easier. Nako was a little angry at herself that it was Hitomi that managed to get Eunbi to use her first qi ability despite Nako being the one their leader spent the most time practicing with. “The move I’m going to teach you is actually a fairly advanced one, but it can be performed at any qi level. I think if you two challenge yourselves and try to learn this move, you’ll grow and catch up to us quickly. Though I have to warn you, it’s not going to be easy.”

Hyewon and Eunbi glanced at each other as Nako’s voice adopted a serious tone. Her usual smile was gone, and her face looked almost grim. Hyewon stepped forward, her back straight, as if awaiting Nako’s command. “I’m ready.”

“I’m ready too,” Eunbi said, also stepping forward.

This time Nako did smile briefly at the two older girls. “Hyewon Unnie, we’ll start with you first since you will probably have a better grasp of it and can lead Eunbi Unnie. I want you to raise your qi to your highest level and then watch and match my every move.”

Hyewon watched as Nako moved to stand on her other side. The girl then pointed both arms to the opposite side to which Hyewon did the same. Then Nako started to inch towards Hyewon while still holding her arms in the opposite direction. Hyewon, inched towards Nako in the same manner until they met in the middle. With a yell, Nako arched her hands and twisted her body until she pointed towards Hyewon with her index fingers.

Eunbi gaped as she watched the two girls form a half circle with their bodies arched pointing towards each other connected only by their index fingers. A brilliant light flashed before her as the qi between the two girls collided and fused into one forming a blast of pure qi energy that was far greater than the sum of their parts. “What happened,” she asked as the light faded.

Hyewon was shook as she dropped her hands and stared at Nako. She had read enough books on qi arts and qi control to know that what Nako had just done so easily was near impossible for most martial artists in the world and definitely not on the first try. The girl had managed to raise her qi to match Hyewon’s in an instant and then synchronized her qi flow and output to come out at the same exact time. “Nako, you’re amazing.”

“It’s only because you did a good job holding your qi at a steady level and made it flow at a constant rate,” Nako replied, shrugging off Hyewon’s compliment. Being able to match up with a partner was second nature to her. She had grown up as a martial artist pretty much as part of a duo. “Now, it’s your turn to do it with Eunbi Unnie.”

Eunbi gulped as she moved to stand on Hyewon’s other side. She started by raising her qi as Hyewon had done and then moved towards the other girl who was doing the same. With her skills in physical martial arts, she was sure that she moved exactly as the other two girls had done before, so her confidence as high as she and Hyewon met in the middle and touched their index fingers together. Her confidence was unfounded however as the burst of qi blew the two girls apart and both were flung in opposite directions.

“Oof,” Hyewon said groggily as she tried to get up. “Unnie, you need to keep your qi flowing consistently so I can match you.”

“Unnie!” Wonyoung scolded as she watched Sakura get up from under the pile of blankets.

“I’m just standing, so I can come closer and get a better look,” Sakura said as she moved to watch Yujin perform. It was amazing how quickly Yujin mastered the Maiden’s Kiss. She moved with such grace and gentleness despite the massive amount of will she needed to exert to control the flow of qi through her body as she performed each move.

“Chaeyeon Unnie seems to be able to match her,” Wonyoung said as they watched the girl positioned back to back with Yujin. Chaeyeon was moving in sync with Yujin easily as if they where mirrors of each other.

It felt odd to Sakura to dissect and exploit the weaknesses of her own martial arts. They had determined that one of the greatest problems with the Maiden’s Kiss was that it was a largely defensive move where the practitioner stayed in one place while enemies attacked on all sides. The next problem was that the art didn’t use many wide attacks and relied on the user to turn and face opponents as they came. So, if an opponent was able to come from a blind side, it left the user fairly open to an attack. “She is doing great, but it won’t be as easy to match Yujin when they’re both fighting someone. That’s where you come in.”

“I won’t let you down, Unnie,” Wonyoung said as walked forward to begin her battle with Yujin. The other girl had come to her excitedly about wanting to test some new martial arts that she, Sakura, and Chaeyeon had been working on. Of all the girls, Wonyoung had the most experience pairing with Yujin, so she knew the girl’s moves and habits well. It was her job to disrupt Yujin’s usual style and make her fight erratically to test out how the new martial arts fared.

Sakura watched as Wonyoung engaged Yujin. She could tell the two girls really knew each other well. They fought with a familiarity that was uncanny as they matched each other strike for strike. She smiled as Wonyoung suddenly slowed the pace of the battle down which seemed to startle Yujin, causing her to stumble out of position. Yet Chaeyeon managed to also match Yujin’s new position despite having her back turned to the girl. Over and over, Wonyoung switched tactics to styles that Yujin disliked and thus made her change positions awkwardly, but Chaeyeon always seemed to be able to keep Yujin’s back covered.

A little part of Sakura felt jealous as she watched her best friend pair up so well with someone other than her. She pushed those feelings aside as she tried to objectively appraise the new martial arts they created to pair up with the Maiden’s Kiss. It was actually quite amazing in its concept. In order to not restrict the Maiden’s Kiss user in any way, the new art required its user to tune into their partner’s qi waves and follow accordingly. It required the user to have absolute trust that their back would be covered, and it also completely restricted their movements to only those that support their partner. She clapped her hands loudly after she had seen enough.

“Well, what did you think? You didn’t like what you saw?” Chaeyeon had excitedly ran up to Sakura as soon as she heard the woman signal them to stop. Her mood dropped when she saw Sakura’s frowning face.

“No, I loved it. The new art is so you. Its selfless and supports unconditionally. I think we accomplished our goal in creating a new art to match with mine, but I think we kind of failed in our objective for this training trip,” Sakura explained bluntly.

“Yeah,” Yujin agreed sheepishly as she arrived with Wonyoung in tow. “I feel like I learned nothing about Chaeyeon and that I’m not really closer to learning how to pair up with her better.”

“Did I ruin it?” Wonyoung asked as she looked at all the downcast faces.

“No, you did great as usual,” Sakura smiled at Wonyoung encouragingly. “You helped me see that we’re not really approaching this training trip the right way.”

“I’m sorry,” Chaeyeon whispered as she lowered in head. She had been so excited to find something that she could work on with Sakura and had been so happy to learn and understand more of her past that she forgot what they were here for.

Sakura reached for Chaeyeon chin and forced her to look up. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You were right that we could use some more understanding of each other. I did learn a lot about you as well. I think the new art showcases a lot of who you are, but I think it also hides your other strong points.”

“So, what do we do now?” Chaeyeon asked as she forced herself to look directly at Sakura’s own direct gaze.

“I was wrong about not being able to change the Maiden’s Kiss. While its greatest strength is allowing the user to go all out without worry of their surroundings, it has too many flaws. I think if we fix those flaws, even if it takes away some of its strength, it’ll become better,” Sakura replied, having given it thought while she watched the fight.

“Ahem,” Wonyoung coughed and laughed with Yujin as Sakura quickly removed her hand from Chaeyeon’s face. It seems they finally remembered they had company. “I like that idea. Formations here are all about having each member maintain their own individual strengths while synchronizing with each other’s moves.”

“I’ll help perform the Maiden’s Kiss this time. Don’t look at me like I’ll fall apart. I’ve had plenty of rest and moving around will help me recover faster.” Sakura said to the three sets disapproving eyes directed at her.

“I’ll partner up with Sakura Unnie,” Yujin immediately declared when it looks like they wouldn’t be able to dissuade the woman. She had dreamt of performing the Maiden’s Kiss with Sakura even before they had met.

“Hey, you can’t do that. We should pick straws or something,” Wonyoung said while grabbing on to Sakura’s arm.

“You get special training sessions with Unnie all the time,” Yujin whined as she grabbed Sakura’s other arm.

Chaeyeon was about to also ask to be Sakura’s partner before she realized both of the woman’s arms were already taken. She couldn’t help but let out a big guffaw at being beaten to the punch by their two youngest members.

“Ow, that hurts,” Yena complained as Yuri helped her get up off the ground.

“You didn’t have to step in the way. I could have handled that hit. How are you, Chaewon?” Yuri asked their other teammate.

“Only my pride is hurt,” Chaewon said as she stared at Hitomi and Minju who where jumping up at down with joy.

“I can’t believe we lost three against two,” Yena said, shaking her head. She held back from saying that it was against Minju of all people. The girl was quickly improving despite her air-headed tendencies.

“That’s the power of a formation,” Hitomi gloated. “Even though the three of you have paired up together and fight almost like you’re one person, you’ll still have trouble against a truly concerted attack.”

“It was something you guys never saw before, though. You would probably win next time if you had another chance to break it,” Minju said modestly.

Hitomi nodded, but still basked in the afterglow of her and Minju’s win. “The more people we have in the formation and the stronger each member is, the stronger the formation becomes.”

“But won’t it eventually get solved?” Chaewon asked. She was one of the least experienced martial artists in the school despite how strong she was. There were many things that where still new to her and how formations worked as one of them.

“All formations eventually get solved. But it still isn’t easy to break them even if you know how to. Like Hitomi said, it really depends on the members in the formation. If everyone is strong and quick at adapting, it can be almost unbeatable.” Yena was impressed by the new formation that Minju had designed with Hitomi’s help. Minju was always surprising her with new talents.

“But we probably wouldn’t rely on one formation when we fight as a team. The more we learn and the better we get at switching them in a fight, the stronger we’ll be,” Yuri added. Ever since she started helping Hitomi learn more and more about how they fought in Korea, she found herself in awe at how the Japanese girl was able to adapt everything she learned and create something new out of it.

“Do you have a name for this new formation that you two created?” Chaewon asked, smiling at how her two closest friends were getting along with each other. Unlike Yena and Yuri, she was not shocked in the least by how innovative and talented her two friends truly were.

“I really like ‘Dream Fist Formation’,” Minju said.

“That’s too easy,” Hitomi whined. “They’ll figure out how to break it.”

“Oh, I already figured it out,” Yena said as she rubbed her chest where Hitomi’s punch landed. “I saw it as soon as you hit me. You’ve somehow managed to combine Minju’s divine skills with a new physical martial art. We were seeing illusions of your attacks. When your image hit us high, you were actually hitting us low.”

“I thought I could fool you for one more sparring session,” Hitomi said ruefully. It was her turn to be impressed by Yena’s astute observation.

“That’s why you took the punch? To confirm it?” Yuri asked as she clued in on Yena’s actions late in the fight.

“Ah, also when Minju appeared to be attacking us, it was actually Hitomi and vice versa?” Chaewon asked as she remembered the details of the fight. The two girls were fighting in a weird way that threw her off completely.

Author’s note:

This weekend was not good for productivity with the three Iz*One concerts. It took me longer than expected to get the second half of this done.

Let me know what you thought!