Martial Arts Worlds

“…Pass me the salt!”
“…Give me some of that chicken!”
“…Hey, Baru, don’t speak when your mouth is full of food!”
It was complete chaos in the dining hall, with food disappearing into the mouths of those eating and everyone talking at once.
A moment later, Baru rubbed his stomach with satisfaction and said, “I am done,” and ran off to play.
“Baru!”
Karma shouted after him.
“Ah… I forgot!”
Baru screeched to a stop and ran off to a side room instead, where there was a nice-looking altar raised high on a platform.
It had golden dragons winding up the sides and a small, flickering flame at the top. It looked expensive.
The incense sticks were burning, filling the room with a sweet-smelling aroma, and they were surrounding a framed photograph.
It had a photograph of Kiernan raising a trophy high above his head, and he had a gentle smile on his face.
He looked like the biggest star in the world.
Baru clapped his hands twice and bowed.
“Big brother…”
There were a lot of emotions for someone he had never met, but Baru felt a sense of pride and admiration for him.
He was proud to have such a great big brother.
“Baru, let’s go play!”
Daisy shouted.
“…Okay!”
Baru bowed one last time to the altar and ran off with Daisy to play till the sun disappeared from the sky.
A few hours later, it turned dark, and Baru was lying on his futon inside his room, a laptop open in front of him.
“Come on… Yay!”
Baru cheered as his favorite World Fighting League team won the match, and he then opened the FightTube.
Like many nights before, he checked one of Kiernan’s fights and tried studying his style a little bit.
It was really difficult, as he didn’t understand the technical aspects of the style, but his father promised to teach him one day.
“Baru…”
In that moment, the door opened, and Daisy walked in with a pillow in hand, and she looked shy as she asked.
“May I sleep here?”
“Again?”
Baru asked.
“…Mhm.”
Daisy shyly nodded.
“…Fine, but you’re such a coward. How are you still afraid to sleep alone? I don’t really get you, Daisy!”
Baru shook his head and got a spare futon for her and spread it next to his own futon.
With a smile on her face, Daisy lay on the futon and took a glance at his laptop and saw him again watching one of Kiernan’s videos.
“I wonder what kind of person he was!”
Daisy said.
“…Mhm, I think he would’ve been really cool to hang out with.”
Baru said, and then laid back down and watched the rest of the video with her.
“…Your parents must’ve been very sad after he died.”
Daisy mumbled.
“I’ve heard stuff from others. Apparently they tried going to Dead World about nine years ago to see for themselves if he was really dead…
“I-I think they called it… Denial… Yeah, that word. They refused to believe it, but Grandpa and several others stopped them from going there.”
Baru said.
“Wow, I never knew.”
Daisy gasped.
“They then moved here to get away from everything and start fresh. They then had me, and yep, we’ve been here ever since!”
Baru said.
In that moment, the door opened, and both Baru and Daisy flinched and turned to the door to see Karma standing there.
“It’s getting late, so put away that laptop, and go to sleep. Daisy, you’re also sleeping here?”
Karma asked.
“…Yeah!”
“She is scared of the dark.”
Baru said with a chuckle, then turned off the laptop and stored it away while Daisy blushed in embarrassment.
“I guess the lights can stay on then. Good night.”
Karma said with a smile, closed the door, and the sound of his footsteps receded down the hallway.
“Sleep now!”
Baru snuggled under the blanket and closed his eyes. Daisy lay on her stomach, as she liked sleeping like that, and felt herself drifting off to sleep.
…
“…Is Baru sleeping?”
Bella asked from the bed, and Karma said, “Yep,” and changed into night clothes and sat under the blanket.
He took a book from the bedside drawer, turned to the page he had left off on, and started reading quietly.
“Aoi called me today.”
Bella said.
“Oh, how’s she doing?”
Karma asked curiously.
“…It’s been really tough on her. She doesn’t trust herself to raise Ellie, I think. Ellie is a very soft and quiet girl, which makes it hard for Aoi to know what’s going on with her.”
Bella said with a sigh.
“…They should come here for a week or two. Ellie is around Baru’s age, and she could also hang out with Daisy.”
Karma said.
“I suggested that, but maybe I should push her more to come here, as it could do her and Ellie some good.”
Bella said.
“We’ve tried to get her here before, but she hasn’t wanted to leave the dojo, and Ellie had school too, so it was difficult to make it work, but we can try again and see if she’s willing to come this time.”
Karma said.
“…I’ll call her.”
Bella pulled out her phone, dialed Aoi’s number, and let it ring for a couple of times until someone answered.
“…Yes, mother-in-law?”
Aoi’s sweet voice came from the other side.
“Hey, sweetheart, how’s it going?”
Bella asked with a smile.
“Good, just trying to get some shut-eye. How are you doing?”
Aoi answered.
“Good. I was calling because Karma and I were wondering whether you would want to come to visit us with Ellie.”
Bella said with a smile.
“…I don’t know. It has been very busy lately, and I also have to arrange new ranking tests for my students, as several of my students want to try to rank up…”
Aoi said with a conflicted tone.
Her tone seemed heavy, as if she was getting crushed by every responsibility that she currently had.
“It can wait a couple of days, can’t it? I want you and Ellie to meet Baru and everyone here. It’s also the anniversary day soon…”
Bella said, but it turned into a whisper at the end of it.
She was talking about the anniversary day of Kiernan and Bella’s wedding.
“…It’s already that time again, huh, haha…”
Aoi laughed, but it really wasn’t a laugh and sounded quite sad, which made Bella feel a pang of sadness too.
“…Alright, mother-in-law, we’ll come.”
Aoi said with a smile.
“Excellent”
Bella beamed up with a smile.