My new Snippets Thread

[AntonioCC]

The old one had too much clutter from old stuff, so I decided to create a new one. Link to the Old Thread

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2008
Ryu Dojo, Brockton Bay​

The man known as Tatsuma Ryu ended the karate class with a respectful bow.

The kids scattered toward the locker room to shower, change, and gather their things—but one lingered.

"Sophia?" he asked, his English steady, though still touched by a Japanese accent. "Is something wrong?"

Sophia Hess, a dark skinned tween, crossed her arms.

"What isn't wrong? Steven wants to pull me out of your class. Says he doesn't trust you—with Lung around. And Mom is... well."

"I understand," he said, voice even. "The ABB makes life hard for people like me—those trying to live honestly."

Sophia looked away, scowling.

"Why don't you tell Steven to call me?" he added gently. "We can talk. I don't want you to feel unsafe."

"Okay," she said after a pause, and left.

Tatsuma watched her go. The dojo fell silent.

When did I get so soft? Once, he would have taken the fight to ABB thugs without hesitation. Once, he had stood face-to-face with monsters.

But that man—the one known as Ryoma Nagare—had died in Japan. Had died with Musashi, during the last stand against Leviathan.

Brockton Bay had no room for ghosts.

A café on the Boardwalk​

In the end, Steven and Tatsuma agreed to talk face to face in neutral ground.

"I don't appreciate your insinuations," Tatsuma said flatly. "I've never had ties to the ABB."

The other man didn't back down. "You live in their territory…"

"Barely," Tatsuma interrupted. "And I was there before that bastard who calls himself a dragon ever showed his face. And my dojo is well outside the ABB territory."

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Even then, you're a man with a past. We don't know you. You fight well, too well. And Sophia—she's... impressionable."

Tatsuma's expression didn't change, but there was weight behind his next words.

"I teach discipline. Control. Not violence. And I protect my students—every one of them. Even if it means stepping into the fire again."

For a moment, the air between them was tense, brittle.

Steven finally leaned back, arms crossed. "You're not what I expected."

"No one ever is," Tatsuma said, finishing his tea. "But I'm exactly what she needs."

Ryu Dojo. The next lessons​

Classes resumed. Sophia thanked him before one session, more sincere than usual. Things began to feel normal again.

Until the attack.

The news came fast and brutal: Empire 88. Steven and Sophia had been ambushed. Sophia escaped. Steven didn't.

The dojo felt colder when she returned. She didn't cry. She didn't speak much at all.

But Tatsuma noticed immediately—something had changed.

She moved faster. Hit harder. Too hard.

Sophia had always flirted with aggression, but he had helped her rein it in. Now, she was back to square one—worse, even. Her technique was sharper. Her control? Gone.

And worst of all, she had stopped listening.

"Focus, Sophia," he said after correcting her form for the third time.

She didn't even look at him. "I am focused."

"No. You're angry. That is not the same."

She struck the pad again, harder than before. "Maybe anger is what I need now."

Tatsuma's hands tightened around the pads. Not in fear. In sorrow.

I know that path, he thought. It never leads where you think it will.