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[1]
[Ever since Ken got back to base after Sol Saviour's first combination, all anyone might have seen of him in the time since is, well...]
WUOOOOOOOH!
[Him taking his training regimen to new, absurd levels. He didn't go anywhere without weights the lengths of his forelimbs. Several push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and whatever else he could think of were made before and after he entered every room. And that little gym he made for himself in the 'fake' city which covers the entrance of the base? Yeah, that's getting some real usage as he punches pretty much everything he can. Interrupt...?]
[2]
[Or do you want to try approaching him when he's in his room instead? Removing the weights as he readies for bed, Ken cringes several times over as he moves his hands over bruises, before returning to a default, sullen mood.]
...Who's there?
[Ever since Ken got back to base after Sol Saviour's first combination, all anyone might have seen of him in the time since is, well...]
WUOOOOOOOH!
[Him taking his training regimen to new, absurd levels. He didn't go anywhere without weights the lengths of his forelimbs. Several push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and whatever else he could think of were made before and after he entered every room. And that little gym he made for himself in the 'fake' city which covers the entrance of the base? Yeah, that's getting some real usage as he punches pretty much everything he can. Interrupt...?]
[2]
[Or do you want to try approaching him when he's in his room instead? Removing the weights as he readies for bed, Ken cringes several times over as he moves his hands over bruises, before returning to a default, sullen mood.]
...Who's there?
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2
Are you...
[Stupid question. Of course he's not alright.]
Can we talk?
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[Aaaaand almost immediately, he pulls off his shirt... revealing more bruises, plus some cuts that are only just beginning to scab over.]
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[Setsuko turns, but not fast enough to avoid catching a glimpse or two.]
What were you up to?
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[He pauses.]
Been training since the last mission.
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Aren't you overdoing this a ittle?
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[He gets on a pyjama top at least, though trousers take a bit.]
Then I'll take it.
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...Besides, what I do to myself isn't anything compared to what others go through if I fail to measure up.
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You feel guilty... about what happened.
It really wasn't your fault, Ken-kun.
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[He gives a brief, frustrated cry.]
But she was my teammate. And Kanade almost died only a few days before. Before that, in La Gias, it all just...
[He clenches his fist.]
Even if I'm not responsible for this, exact case, its just another reminder that if I don't get strong enough, its not just my life at risk. So I've gotta get strong... there's so many enemies that just...
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No matter how strong you get, there are situations when you can't do everything. I... I know I can't. This is why I have other people who support me.
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[...Ken... pauses when he realises all the ways that could be taken.]
...I... want to be that support to help people through things. So we don't have to worry that someone is going to die because some new enemy appears of the woodwork as they all seem so keen on. Sure, it might hurt now but... these'll heal. And if I'm stronger, more able, and better skilled for it, that's all that matters!
I can't believe I'm saying this, but... if I'd just listened to my parents all those years ago... I'd already have the power I need!
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I'm not strong at all, so I can't tell you.
But... I don't think a single person can get so much power. We're just - not made that way.
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[Ken's fist tightens all at once.]
My parents did.
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Guess what I'm saying won't make any sense if I don't...
[Finished changing into his pyjamas, Ken sits himself down.]
Right, so... Just to check, I ever tell you before on where I came from?
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[And the exposition rolls from there. On how his father had been recruited, how his mother had tried to kill the man, and then somehow, the two had fallen in love, against a backdrop of high adventure against evil pirates from another dimension.]
And... they wouldn't have been able to pull it off if not for their mastery of ki. It was even said across both clans that there hadn't been anyone as powerful as those two for centuries...
[But where Ken had told the tale with a surprising enthusiasm, when he turns to speak of his parents' power, and moving past the tale, his tone gets more... sullen. Spiteful.]
And they tried to get the same result from me, I guess. At the very least, they wanted me to be a strong enough successor to both of them, as their firstborn heir. At first, I didn't mind, it was just life - as it had been for them growing up. But they raised me near a city, and the outside world made what I was doing seem so outdated... I grew to hate it. I mean, what was the point? I didn't want to kill people for a living, and the world had been saved from the Void...
[Ken leans back, sighing.]
If only I'd known better...
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You'd know better?
You wanted to have a normal life. To be more than just a weapon.
I can't blame anyone for wanting that.
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[Ken grimaces slightly, pulling at a nearby scroll from a bookshelf, and unrolling it.]
"To master the art of ki, one must first master their own body and soul. If one does not, then they are a man whose chariot is driven by horses racing in two different directions."
That's what it says here... And mastering the body should be easiest thing to get out of the way.
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Many people who practice sports injure themselves when training and that's the end of their careers. What you're doing is even more serious... make sure to be safe, okay?
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I haven't let out an ounce of ki except in two circumstances, I think... and I've no idea on how to replicate that. So... I might be doing this for nothing... Defeating the whole point.
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[You have him on edge, Setsuko.]
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...
It's just an idea! Don't take it seriously, I don't even know how you'd do something like "work on your soul".
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