Become Strong

"S-sir!"

The man lowered his head the instant he saw Genji appearing before him, his body shaking in fear and admiration.

He had never seen someone go head to head with the Blind Bandit without having been knocked out or even thrown out the arena.

Genji glanced at the man and waved his hand at the man.

"You can leave, I was just joking about making you some lame lackey," said Genji in a bored manner as he headed over to Katara.

The man looked at Genji, overjoyed at what he was hearing and excited to leave.

He's amazing!

The man paused and looked at Genji, a bit unwilling to part already. He didn't know what was coming over him as he remembered just how incredible this man was.

It was such a small amount of time that he had spent with Genji, but he was able to see Genji being strong, skilled, and someone who invoked awe and respect no matter what he did.

'Yes… since the moment he made me lose control of my body, he's had my respect,' thought the man as he unconsciously found himself standing right before Genji and stopping him.

Feeling as if Genji's golden eyes were peering into his soul, the man trembled but eventually managed to get down on his knees.

"Accept me as your underling! I… I really admire your strength sir!"

Genji raised his eyebrows and smirked before shaking his head before patting the man's shoulder.

"Haha… interesting proposal you have there, but I don't have any need for underlings," said Genji as he continued to walk forward, leaving the man kneeling on the floor. "If you wish to become my underling… train and become strong."

The man thought that Genji was just going to leave him there, rejected and still kneeling on the floor. However, his eyes brightened up the instant he heard Genji telling him to train.

"I will! Please remember me sir! My name is Yijun!"

"Go and become strong," said Genji, waving his hand as he told Yijun to leave.

With a look of fierce determination, Yijun left, prepared to go through some tough training to become strong and follow behind Genji.

Why? Because he truly admires Genji's strength and skill.

To become popular and be looked at with respect by all.

He's just your run of the mill man who visits fighting arenas constantly and even participating in some bets.

Yijun had seen his fair share of fighters, and although he isn't a professional fighting appraiser, Yijun could still notice someone with incredible skill.

With just a single look, Yijun could tell that Genji was going to become someone amazing. Not only was he strong and confident, but he had a way with words.

After meeting Genji, Yijun was inspired to become someone strong. Strong enough to follow Genji and see his fights against other people.

His thirst to see someone strong like Genji fight against other people and become stronger…

'Just how amazing would that be,' thought Yijun as he felt any fear he had for Genji disappearing. 'I need to begin training at once!'

Joining an Earthbending academy, Yijun stayed there for two weeks, learning all the foundational moves before heading out of Gaoling and fighting against various Earthbending masters.

He lost most fights, but slowly, he was learning and improving.

Within two months, he could win against another Earthbending expert fifth times out of a hundred. Although nowhere near enough to defeating a master unless through sheer luck, Yijun decided to finally join Genji.

But that's a story for another chapter.

***

After removing the mask, staff, and cloak before throwing them away, Genji brought back his metal staff before joining Katara at the stands as she looked at Aang jumped down to the ring.

"Katara? What are you doing here?"

Faking surprise as he joined Katara at the stands, Genji was also thinking about slowly mixing his bending skills into his Polearm skills, hoping to increase his strength.

And even if he's going to focus on using polearms, Genji won't stop training his martial arts. After all, weapons are external items that could be stolen, taken away, broken, and/or lost.

Genji could only relax if he has some assurance in his own skills. To him, weapons are reliable, but not something he would become wholly dependent on.

"Aang and I heard that strong earthbenders are here, we thought that we might find an Earthbending Master for him," explained Katara as she looked at Genji in pleasant surprise. "What about you, Genji?"

Genji nodded and sighed a little, "I actually had the same thought, but it looks like I came here a little late since this is the last match of the day."

"You shouldn't worry about that too much, it looks like Aang finally found the Earthbending master he needs. Aang mentioned that she looks like the person from his vision."

"Really? That's interesting."

"Yes! I hope she joins. I could use another woman in the team. I'm getting kind of tired of spending every single day with guys, you know?"

"Hahaha! So you don't like spending time with me?"

Katara rolled her eyes at Genji with a smile on her face as she knew that Genji was only joking around.

"You know I don't mean it like that. I like you," said Katara as she shook her head with a smile before her face suddenly turned red from embarrassment at what she said.

"Is that so? Good to hear that you don't dislike me," said Genji as he patted Katara on the back.

Katara's blush lessened but it remained on her face as she felt Genji's hand on her back. Then, without her realizing it, Genji's arm was on her shoulder.

In such a short amount of time, Genji had sat down and managed to get close to Katara and place his arm over her shoulder and around her.

…

Fifteen minutes of Aang dodging Toph's Earthbending later.

After the fight had ended, Aang and Toph had talked with each other.

At first, Toph believed that Aang was only playing around with her, but after feeling his air blast attack at the end as he defeated her, she understood what the masked man, Genji, was talking about.

'Is he the person that I needed to meet?'

Letting go of her anger, Toph tried relaxing and looked over at Aang with a serious look on her face.

"You said you needed an Earthbending teacher, Twinkletoes?"

Aang smiled after seeing Toph no longer being angry like earlier during their fight.

"Yes," answered Aang.

"Hm… what's in it for me?" asked Toph with a teasing smile.

Scratching his cheek nervously, Aang looked around as he tried searching for an answer, something that could convince Toph to teach him Earthbending.

"Huh?! Uh… you get to ride a flying bison?" Aang said with uncertainty.

Toph smirked and shook her head.

"I'm not sure what a flying bison is, but how about you help me find someone?"

"Help you find someone?"

Aang smiled before nodding and accepting Toph's request.

"I'll do my best to find who you're looking for."

Nodding, Toph said, "The person I'm looking for is the one I just fought. The person who went by the name of 'Man of Steel'."

"We will find him!" Aang said all excitedly.

"You better, Twinkletoes," Toph smirked.

"Egh…"

With a weird look on his face, Aang followed behind Toph as they left the ring.

'Why is she calling me Twinkletoes?!'

"I'll lead you to my home. There, I will pack some clothes then we can leave," said Toph, a smile on her face as she thought about the possibility of a fun adventure free from the control of her own parents.

Knowing that she will be able to leave and go on her own adventure, Toph began to feel excited, not sad in the very least that she's leaving her family. Especially the shitty husband her family made her marry.

"Okay! I'll follow you and then I will come back here to get Katara and Genji!"

"Katara and Genji?"

"Yes! Katara is my friend from the Southern Water Tribe. Genji is an amazing Waterbending Master who is teaching both me and Katara!"

"Heh, you need a lot of training, Twinkletoes. You're all bones and skin, you have no muscles," Toph joked.

Whilst Toph was walking in front of him and not 'looking' at him, Aang looked at his arms and flexed a little, earning a chuckle from Toph.

"Although I can't see, I can sense you," mentioned Toph, teasing Aang even more.

Aang blushed and attempted to lie, "N-no! I was just going to scratch my arm…"

"I can also sense when someone lies."

"… okay… I was flexing…" Aang said in a defeated tone with red cheeks.

***

Back at the underground arena, Earth Rumble, Genji and Katara were still sitting down as the announcer made his last few bits of speech whilst the majority of people were beginning to leave.

Katara was so relaxed and focused on the match that she didn't even notice that Genji had his arm around her until the fight had come to an end.

'By the spirits! When did this happen,' thought Katara with a blush when Genji pulled his arm back and stood up.

"Ready to go Katara?" asked Genji as he stretched his hand out Katara. "Here, hold my hand so that we don't get separated in this large crowd."

Katara blushed but stretched her hand out and handed hold of Genji's hand tightly.

"Let's get out of this place," said Genji, smiling at Katara and dazzling her with his smile before he began dragging her behind him.

…

Out of there in an instant, Genji and Katara stood outside the underground arena, their hands still latched on to each other's hand.

They looked around and decided to walk around whilst waiting for Aang to return.

"What do you think of that Blind Bandit woman?" asked Katara, remembering how amazing Toph was during the fights.

Genji rubbed his chin before answering, "She's a very skilled earthbender, someone Aang will need to teach him Earthbending."

"That's also what I was thinking," nodded Katara, agreeing with Genji's thoughts.

Eventually, Genji and Katara returned to the entrance of the underground Earth Rumble and found Aang waiting for them.

"Aang! You're back!"

Katara let go of Genji's hand and walked over to Aang before checking him for any injuries.

"Yeah! Toph agreed to be my Earthbending Teacher. She's going to join us today!"

"Toph?"

"Toph is the Blind Bandit, the woman from the ring."

Whilst Aang and Katara conversed between each other regarding Toph, Genji was looking around. His eyes lit up when he noticed something before turning to the duo still talking, preparing to head to Toph's and pick her up.

"You both go on ahead, I still need to do something," Genji said. "I'll meet you both back with Appa."

Aang and Katara nodded.

"Okay, we'll see you there Genji," mentioned Katara as she left with Aang, giving Genji one last look.

Genji nodded and waved goodbye to them as he waited for them to leave.

Once they were gone from his view, Genji smiled and turned to a certain person walking over to him.

"Daiyu, you made it," said Genji with a smile.

Daiyu smiled and nodded at Genji's words, her eyes gazing into Genji's eyes.

"Would you like to accompany me on a walk?" Genji offered as he gestured over to the side, over to a popular area with Gaoling lined and filled with stores, entertainment, and various different types of road stalls.

"Hehe…" Daiyu giggled at the way Genji had asked before nodding and mimicking the way he asked. "I would be glad to join you on a small walk, sir."

Genji smiled and enjoyed the nice giggle coming from Daiyu before walking with her.

"Anything particular you'd like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, I don't particularly dislike any type of food."

"That's good to hear because I found a food stall a while ago that has the best rabbit cow meat dishes."