"Ack!"

"Oof!"

"Youch!"

I was always the problem child at the orphanage. I always picked fights I couldn't win.

"OI! Ryn! You ate all the cookies didn't you! Now the rest of us have none." Yuza said. He was the toughest kid in the orphanage, I got my ass thoroughly beat by him once before

"Nope. Wasn't me." I said wiping the crumbs off my cheek

I didn't exactly have the greatest sense of self preservation. But can you blame me? I live in a slummy orphanage, does it really matter if I die?

"You're asking for it! I've had enough of you!" Yuza said as he reeled back his fist and charged at me

I was prepared to get my ass beat again. But something unexpected happened. I don't really know how to explain it, but it was like I was transported to another dimension. It was like god was showing me the step by step guide on how to counter the incoming attack. As the fist nearly connected with my face, I parried it with my left hand and jumped up, landing a roundhouse kick on his jaw. The next thing I knew Yuza was slumped on the ground unconscious. All the other kids in the orphanage looked flabbergasted. I the kid who was known to get his ass beat, somehow beat the strongest kid in the orphanage, without any extra training at all.

"Ermmm....... Next time just let me eat my cookie I guess....." I say confused looking around before walking away

Do cookies give me superpowers. Was the first thought I had. But it was much better than that.

I went and picked fights with all the people who had beat me up in the past. And for everyone that same weird thing happened. I soon became known as the greatest loser in the orphanage and I was kinda given free rein to do what I wanted.

Apparently I had the ability to analyse the fighting style of anyone who fights me and my brain would come up with the best way to take down my opponents.

I realised I was awesome!

With this newfound ability I found a new love for fighting. Who doesn't like beating people up am I right? At 13 I went to underground fighting rings and placed bets on myself. The fights would always pan out the same, the first half I would get my ass handed to me, but the second half the opponents couldn't land a hit with me. With the money from my fights I bought a cell phone.

On it I watched all types of fights, UFC, boxing, even some deathmatches where weapons were allowed on the dark web. I spent the whole day analysing a fight, imagining myself fighting these people, and eventually developed my own kind of anti-fighting style. The process of my brain developing counters was a lot slower when I wasn't physically fighting, but I was a 13 year old orphan. Time was about the only thing I had.

My anti-fighting style made it so I didn't need to take as many hits against new opponents, before my brain could devise a counter.

I soon grew bored of regular fights and turned my view to the fictional world. Specifically the anime Baki. I spent days analysing fights from the baki verse, and as unrealistic as they seemed my brain was working its magic and I gained some insight from it.

At 14 the orphanage ran out of funds and shut down. Hell if I care, I have enough money from my underground fights to live for a while.

"Gee it sure is cold today." I mused while walking down the streets of Shinjuku

As I walked down the road. I 'accidentally' bumped into random passerbys taking their wallets along the way. As I continue on my quest I notice a really old man walking, he had a pretty cool looking sword as well.

"That should be an easy target. He must be rich if he can afford such a cool sword for his grandchildren." I said with a smirk

I bumped into the old man, swiping his wallet.

"My bad." I said as I continued to walk past him

Suddenly I felt like my life was in danger. I turned around and saw the old man with his hand on the hilt of the sword. I had that weird outer dimensional feeling again, and I instinctively jumped to the side. I could barely see the old man unsheathe his sword but I felt the tips of my hair get cut off. Suddenly a massive chasm formed on the street beside me.

Too close. Way too close

I slumped onto the ground in shock. What's up with that overwhelming bloodlust and power. How did I even dodge that. Thank god for anime.

"...." The old man wordlessly approached me.

My body wasn't responding anymore. After I nearly got cut in half, I was too stunned to move. Is this how it ends.

The old man stands in front of me before grabbing the back of my collar and dragging me along with him like a dog.

"Eh...." I said as I digested what was going on

Who the hell is this old guy?

The old man dragged me to an apartment complex and took me to the top floor. He stabbed his sword into the door before using it to unlock it. He then chucked me into the apartment. A dude with brown hair swept back, and a weird ass beard. He was also wearing sunglasses indoors. Who is this hippie. What's going on today?

"Eh? Takamura-san-" The hippie said

Before the hippie could say anymore the old man just turned and left.

I looked the hippie up and down.

"Pffft! Hahaha! Are you wearing Velcros? What are you a kid?!" I said creasing

Veins popped on the dude's forehead. In an instant his foot collided with my face sending me flying into the hallway. I could feel my nose was broken and was bleeding a lot. Gee there sure are a lot of strong ass people in the world

"How the hell did you manage to impress Takamura-san?" The hippie said standing over me

I chuckled, vision blurry as I slowly stood up.

"Hehehe. Why don't you try it again." I said wiping the blood from my nose

He dashed at me again and managed to hit me. But I managed to manoeuvre in such a way that it missed any vitals. This dude was fast as hell. I coughed up blood as I stood up again.

The hippie seemed to notice what I did before he dashed at me again. After a couple more hits I had fully analysed him and managed to dodge his attack. He tried again but I managed to barely keep up with him. Even with him fully analysed he barely has any openings. Eventually he was satisfied and stopped.

"Not bad kid. You sure have an odd way of fighting. You need to get hit a couple times before your body adjusts then you counter. But still how did you manage to impress Takamura-san. If he saw this he would probably think you're taking way too much unnecessary damage?" The hippie said helping me up

"I dunno I just dodged that grandpa's attack. After pickpocketing him then he just dragged me here." I said wiping the blood off my face

"YOU DID WHAT?! How can you dodge his attacks and not mine?" The hippie asked

"I was confused too. But now that I think about it he fights kinda similar to Miyamoto Musashi from that anime I watched." I bemused

"You... dodged Takamura's attack from watching an anime?" The hippie said in disbelief

"I didn't just watch it. I analysed it thank you very much." I said puffing out my chest

"Okay here's the deal kid. I'll train you how to fight. So you can stall and analyse your opponents without taking a stupid amount of damage. After that I'll enroll you into the JCC academy for assassins. After you graduate.... I'll let you know when you do." The hippie says

"Hah? Why should I just do your bidding?" I said with a challenging tone

"You have any better plans for the future?" The hippie said seemingly knowing the answer

"Fair enough. Okay I'll join you. Oh yeah. What's your name hippie." I asked

"Hmm...... You can call me Mr Silver. Yours." Mr silver replied

"I guess that's fair. Assassins need to keep their identity secret and stuff. Or is your name actually Mr Silver. In that case.... You can call me Karma." I said playing his game

"That's cool and all kid. But I need your actual name to enrol you." Mr Silver said.

"Ryu. Ryu Sano." I said rolling my eyes

"Good to meatya. I'll beat you into shape, and make you a competent assassin." Mr Silver said before inviting me inside.