Authors Note:

Once again, my heartfelt thanks go to Dr Mark for continuing to edit my work and turning it into something readable.

Here we go…

Caleb 30 – Finding a Dojo

It didn’t take much to catch up on the days I had missed. The only lecture that I was really upset about missing was in ethics, and I went to see the professor between my first two classes.

I explained that I had been called away on an emergency, but he didn’t seem overly impressed.

“There’s a minimum attendance requirement for the class, Mr. Stott,” he said. “This is your first absence, so I’m disinclined to listen to excuses or to give lectures. Your work thus far has been good, so just make sure you don’t fall behind. It’s a terrible reason to have to fail a student when they seem to grasp the material, but I must insist. Lively debate is crucial to an exploration of ethics.”

Just like that, I was a regular college student again. It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I’ll admit that I’d vaguely entertained the idea of flashing my ID. I did, after all, have a very, very good reason for having missed the class. A bit out of sorts from having been preempted, I shuffled my feet and turned to leave.

“I didn’t see any visible injuries,” he said to my back, “so I’m assuming they still didn’t bring enough goons.”

I turned my head and caught a smile.

“White supremacists, technically,” I replied. “And this time, we went to them.”

He didn’t fully rise to the bait, but I got a reaction. That was good enough for me.

The other professors didn’t really care about attendance; papers and tests covered ninety percent or more of the grades. I appreciated that my ethics professor felt differently, and I genuinely enjoyed the class. I hoped I wouldn’t miss any more of them, but I supposed I couldn’t be sure.

I met the girls for lunch, and afterwards had a couple of hypnotherapy consultations before my last class. I’d gotten lucky with those, and hadn’t had to cancel or reschedule any. Still, I resolved that it was well past time to get some help. A secretary would’ve been able to handle things for me during my trip, had its timing been less fortuitous.

Despite my lingering hesitation about asking my girls – it seemed a bit of a conflict of interest to have a fiancée as an employee – I decided to just do it. They’d already expressed interest, and I trusted all three of them to be professional. Going through a whole interview process with strangers would add even more of a delay, and would put something else on my already-full plate.

“I’ll do it,” said Mary immediately.

Amanda pouted. “I was hoping he was going to recruit some hot college freshman,” she said, and I smiled.

"A bit clichéd don’t you think?” I asked.

Amanda grinned. “Just because it’s a cliché, doesn’t mean it’s not hot!!”

Jules rolled her eyes.

After lunch I was approached by the head janitor, who had finished his course and had stopped smoking. He told me that he had some friends who were struggling too, and had been amazed at the results he’d gotten. He asked for cards – cards I still didn’t have to give. I was a bit embarrassed, but spelled out my email address for him, which he typed into his phone.

We stopped at the print shop on my way home. The guy behind the counter upsold me on a package deal: a dedicated work email address, a single-page website, and a thousand business cards. He quoted me four hundred and fifty dollars, plus tax. I wasn’t in the mood to haggle or shop around, so I accepted the offer and sat down with him immediately to talk designs.

For simplicity’s sake, I decided to just use my own name. After checking the regulations on the state website as to what I could legally call myself, I ended up with Caleb Stott, Licensed Hypnotherapist. (Licensed in the state of Oregon.) My license number was printed underneath, just in case anyone wanted to check.

When I paid up, he told me the website would be live within twenty-four hours, and that I could come back in a few days to pick up the cards. The fee included registering the domain name, and the email address could be anything I wanted at calebstott.com. It seemed pretty cool to have my name as my email address, though that did make it harder to think of something to put before the at symbol.

The young man said I could have a single Microsoft Exchange account for less than ten dollars per month. I could create as many email addresses at calebstott.com as I wanted, and that everything sent to any of them could be diverted to my exchange account.

I looked to Jules. “Or you could just set up a gmail account – say calebstotthypnotherapy at gmail dot com ,” she said. “Then divert all the mails to that. Best thing about that – is it would be free.”

I agreed. Mary decided that the email address on the cards and the website would be enquiries at calebstott dot com. She was earning her pay already.

He asked me for my telephone number in case there were any problems, and then asked me what kind of things I treated with my hypnosis.

I ‘heard’ from him that he was hoping for help with his confidence. As a trenchant example, he wanted to ask me if I might like to get a drink with him sometime, but was far too nervous and insecure to do so. The gaggle of girls with me wasn’t helping, but he knew that that wasn’t the real issue. I told him that up that point I had only handled weight loss and smoking cessation, but that I could definitely help with more general concerns. He brightened at that. I promised we’d discuss it when I came back to pick up my cards.

I left the print shop wondering about the guy. He was definitely a fit young man, but there was no real attraction for me. I shook my head at both the tragedy and the comedy; it seemed to me like I’d just been given a whole month or more to decide how to gently reject somebody - once I’d gotten paid to help them muster the courage to ask me out in the first place.

Gracie arrived home just after six, and she was ecstatic. Arnold had tested her, and had found that she remembered everything she needed to pass muster as a certified accountant. I joked with her that I needed an accountant now that my hypnotherapy business was taking off, and she legitimately offered to talk me through the tax implications and how to set things up. I had half a mind to take her up on it when tax time came around, provided she wasn’t undercover.

I made dinner, and then Gracie came to me and asked a favour. I had known since she had come home that she was going to ask, but I waited for her to bring it up.

“Caleb,” she asked, “do you think that you could come with me to pick my stuff up from James’ place?”

“Sure,” I said. “Do you think he is likely to get upset?”

“I don’t know how he is going to react,” she admitted. “Would it be all right to take your truck as well as my car? I don’t have much, but that way we should be able to fit everything in one trip. The less I have to go back there, the easier it will be for everybody.”

The girls and Jules insisted on coming as well, which I initially thought was a bad idea, but then considered that their being there might prevent James from going too wild. I was tempted to let him – maybe even goad him. If anything, I decided, the girls being there would ultimately be to James’ benefit.

His place was about forty minutes from our house. When we arrived, I followed Gracie to the door, but stayed outside as she entered and spoke to James. It was only when I heard shouting that I decided to follow her in. I need not have worried. When I entered the living room, James was on the floor, his arm twisted up his back and Gracie sitting astride him.

“I’ll give you that one,” she said. “You try anything else, and I will arrest you for assault on a federal agent. Now go sit in your chair over there while I collect my things.”

She released him, and he got up slowly. He took a seat, glaring at her and then me.

“So, who is this little prick?” he asked with venom in his voice. “You cradle robbing now?”

“Caleb is just here to help me move my stuff,” Gracie said. “He’s a colleague from work, nothing more.”

“Bullshit,” he spat.

Gracie ignored him, went into one of the other rooms and began to pack up her clothes. Jules and Mary went through to help.

“What the fuck?” exclaimed James. “Who are the bitches?”

“Caleb!” Gracie called from the other room, before I could react. “Do you have any tools in your truck?”

I went through to see what she wanted.

“I have a gun safe bolted to the floor here,” she said. “I need to take it, but I don’t have any tools.”

I looked inside and saw the fittings holding the safe down. I didn’t have tools, but my TK had no trouble undoing the bolts. I picked up the safe and carried it out of the apartment and put it into my truck. It wasn’t light.

It took us about an hour to get all of Gracie’s belongings loaded into her car and my truck. As she did a last pass through the apartment, James caught her attention. He had something in his hand: a china figurine. It looked old, and fragile.

“Don’t forget this,” he said, holding it up.

Gracie’s eyes widened a little. “James, put that down.” she said quietly.

“Here,” he said with a malicious grin. “Catch.” He threw the figurine at her with such force that even if she had been able to catch it, it probably would have shattered in her hand. Gracie squeaked in dismay, but once again my TK was up to the task. I stepped in front of Gracie, caught the figurine with my TK, and plucked it out of the air with my hand, moving so quickly that it appeared that I had simply caught it. It was completely unscathed. I handed it to Gracie.

Robbed of his petty revenge, James scowled and slumped back down into his chair.

“Bye, James,” Gracie said, dropping a set of keys on the table. “Don’t try to contact me. I will get a restraining order against you if I must.”

James ignored her, and we left the apartment. Gracie heaved a sigh of relief as we climbed into our various vehicles. Two hours later, we were back in our house, and had carried all her belongings into her room. I caught her gently rubbing the figurine I’d rescued, reluctant to even place it on her desk. Her eyes were wet. She finally noticed me staring, and didn’t seem ashamed.

“It was from my grandma, before she died,” she said. “Thank you.”

“And you deserve to be treated at least as well,” I said.

She walked over and gave me a tight hug. I kissed her on the top of her head and let the moment linger. When we separated, I gave her a parting smile and headed off to bed.

I was awoken a couple of hours later, and, although I was still half asleep, I was I saw Mary and Amanda tag-teaming Gracie into an orgasmic coma on the other side of the bed. Jules was snuggled into me. When she saw I was awake, she smiled up at me.

“They didn’t want to disturb you,” she whispered, “but they knew how you felt about them having sex with others when you weren’t around. Gracie needed cheering up, and the twins need to share as much as you do. You know that they are holding back on your behalf. It’s not just you that is damaged by not sharing. You have to remember that they are Empaths, too, and need to share as much as you do.”

I thought about that for a few minutes as the sleepiness left my brain. It was true; I was being selfish. I knew how much I needed to share, and how much it hurt not to. I could have easily had the hotel clerk two nights prior, and the guy at the print shop, although he hadn’t really done much for me. I was sterile, as were the girls, so there was no chance of unwanted pregnancies. We were fully disease-resistant too. That left me tragically bereft of excuses, forced to admit that the problem was me.

I was tempted at the last to blame my upbringing, but I knew that would have been a lie. My problem was my own sense of insecurity. I was scared that if the girls had sex with someone else, they would move on; that I would lose them; that somehow it would be cheating, even if everybody knew and agreed in advance. I had to admit that I was only limiting my own activities in some kind of attempt to justify not ‘allowing’ the girls free rein to share whenever they felt they needed to. I was hurting them, and I needed to stop.

I knew how the girls felt about me. I could feel it through the bond. After the girls’ research and my session with Jeevan, I knew for certain that the love I felt wasn’t a deception or Compelled. I knew that I had to trust them, and to be realistic. We were, all of us, twenty years old. If Dianna was to be believed, we could live to be two hundred or even older. It was both amazing and a little scary to think that we might still be so deeply in love in forty, eighty, or one hundred years’ time. A part of me truly believed we would be. In light of that, sharing should not have been such an issue.

I decided at that moment that I’d change my behavior first, and see if my attitude followed. I resolved to make it clear to the girls that all of us had free rein to share whenever we felt the need or desire, regardless of who was physically present and we could share the experiences between ourselves later.

I examined my feelings as I made the decision. Despite my lingering discomfort, it felt like the right thing to do – ethically speaking, one might say. I certainly didn’t feel jealous of them as they were riding Gracie into a willing oblivion. Mary was squatting over Gracie’s face as the older girl lapped and sucked at her pussy while Amanda used her tongue and fingers to bring Gracie to yet another orgasm. I watched, and realised that I was enjoying the sight without becoming horny myself.

It was weird. I wasn’t involved, and while it made me happy to see all of them having a good time and enjoying each other, I had no desire to join in. It was like getting a fleeting glimpse of Jules’ perspective, I thought.

I pulled Jules closer to me and kissed the top of her head. “I love you,” I said to her, and she smiled up at me. I looked across at the twins. Mary looked back at me and smiled, and then her eyes rolled as she came. I went back to sleep.

At four the next morning, I decided that, despite the cold, I would go out for a run. It had been some time since I had run any distance, so I covered about ten miles at a leisurely pace. When I got back to the house I did some TK training, lifting all the vehicles and the hot tub again. It was becoming boring. I barely made a dent in my indicator, and I guesstimated that with my truck, plus three cars and the hot tub, I was holding up twenty-five thousand pounds or so. It wasn’t even taxing anymore. I needed to find something bigger to lift.

Gracie came into the kitchen as I was making breakfast.

“Enjoy yourself last night?” I asked, grinning at her.

She blushed. “I thought you were asleep,” she said semi-accusingly.

“Kind of hard to sleep with all that noise,” I replied. “Not to mention the wriggling around.”

“Caleb, I don’t…” she began.

“Hey,” I said, “it’s fine. One of the things about Empathy is that Empaths need to share. That means the twins needed you as much as you needed them last night. It’s no big deal, as long as you had fun. Did they convert you?”

“Not entirely,” she said, grinning at me. “I’ll still enjoy a good dicking, but let’s just say I have more options than I did before.”

“Just remember,” I said to her, “if you want to roleplay - be submissive - then that’s fine. But there’s a difference between that and what James was doing to you. You are worth so much more. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

She looked into my face for a few long seconds, then nodded.

“You want breakfast?” I asked, changing the subject. “I’m doing eggs Benedict.”

The girls joined us a few minutes later, and we all ate together.

After breakfast, before we left for PSU, Gracie said to me, “I think I’m having my final briefing today. It’s going to be the go-no-go decision. If it’s a go then I’ll be going undercover sometime in the next few days, and I might be out of touch for up to a month. Is my stuff okay here until then, or should I make arrangements to move it before I go under?”

“Your stuff is fine where it is,” I said. “Keep safe and make sure you come back okay. Okay?”

She nodded. “I will. Remember, if you should happen to run into me at any time before then, you don’t know me.”

I nodded. “Am I likely to see you? Is the operation nearby?”

“Not really, but you never know.” she said. “Loads of agents have had their cover blown thanks to an unfortunate chance meeting.”

“I’ll make sure the girls know,” I said. “Be careful.”

She kissed me on the cheek and then grinned. “Have a nice day at school dear,” she said before climbing into her car and driving off.

During the ride to PSU, I thought about what Gracie was about to do, and was amazed at the courage that it would require. She would be going undercover with no backup into a dangerous situation. She wouldn’t have her badge or gun to rely upon, and without any powers, she would be at the mercy of whoever was around her. She had guts, and I admired her for it.

I did a double take as I was driving, noticing something that I was certain hadn’t been there before. There was a martial arts dojo in a block of businesses I drove past. I determined to go check it out on my way home and see if I could learn anything from them.

My first business for the day was a couple of repeat weight loss clients. I put each into a ‘trance’ and checked my emails. Five new people wanted to avail themselves of my services. Three of them were students, but there were two others from outside PSU. I wasn’t sure where they had got my email from, although it could have been Jamie’s husband or even the janitor. Both had promised to give out my details. I wondered how long it would be before the work emails to my personal address would stop coming in – a problem I’d created for myself, of course. Still, I was very much looking forward to having Mary take over that side of the business completely.

If nothing else, I decided, I could make a damn good living as a hypnotherapist. I was averaging twelve to fifteen sessions a week. That was between six hundred and seven hundred and fifty dollars in fees alone. I had a waiting list of about twenty clients too. Had I not had to attend classes, I could have worked full time. I’d still have had a waiting list even at that. Then there was my FBI retainer, plus the thirty hours for the ‘consultancy’ at Prentiss’s compound and the twenty hours for training Gracie’s memories. I was starting to amass quite a lot of cash.

I got Amanda to drop me off at the dojo on our way home. I would walk the rest of the way when I was done.

I had examined my memories of that journey from the last few weeks and found that, up until two weeks ago, the dojo hadn’t been there. The unit had been empty for a while, and then signs had gone up about three weeks prior saying the unit had been rented. The front had been boarded off until two weeks prior, and when they were taken down, the dojo appeared. I just hadn’t noticed it until that morning.

There was an electronic beep as I opened the door and entered. Inside was as expected. There were pictures all around of various people either fighting in competitions or sparring. There was a huge mat - probably about fifty feet square - and then some changing rooms off to one side. A young woman, aged around twenty-five, sat at a reception desk just inside the door. Her eyes lit up as I entered. I heard her thoughts.

“At last.”

Apparently there hadn’t been a lot of business.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“I have been learning some martial arts,” I said. “My teacher told me I should join a dojo and get a different perspective from a new teacher.”

“What belt are you?” she asked.

I grimaced. “I haven’t taken any gradings,” I said. “I just trained.”

She looked me up and down.

“We would have to assess your level then,” she said. “There would be a joining fee of two hundred and fifty dollars, and then a session fee of forty dollars for the assessment. Once we know where you are, we can plan as to how to progress.”

I thought about that for a moment.

“Can I meet the teacher?” I asked. “No offence, but I don’t see the point in paying all that money if they have nothing to teach me.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“How long have you been training?” she asked.

“About ten months,” I said.

“I’m sure that we have something to offer,” she said, smiling politely, but I clearly heard her thought.

“Arrogant prick. He’s trained for ten months and thinks he’s fucking Bruce Lee. Maybe I should get him on the mat and show him a thing or two.”

“Are you one of the trainers?” I asked.

She nodded. “I have been training since I was very young. My father is the sensei, but he isn’t here just now. I tell you what: if you join, and then find out that we have nothing to teach you, I’ll refund all your money, including the session fee. I don’t think you’ll find a better deal than that.”

I thought about it for a second, and then decided to take the risk. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, and even if the dojo reneged on her deal, I supposed it would be interesting to see where I was in its grading system.

“Do you have a gi?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“We have a limited stock,” she began, “or you can buy them at the sporting goods store in the mall, although those are not as good quality. They are ninety dollars from us, and a belt is an extra fifteen. As you are not graded, you would need to buy a white belt, but once we grade you, I will swap it out for whatever colour you need at no charge.”

“So,” I said, “for the membership fee, plus the gi, belt, and session fee, you need three hundred and ninety-five dollars?”

She nodded, and I handed her my card. She looked surprised, but accepted it and swiped it, ringing up the amount on the register. Then she gave me a couple of forms to fill out.

“Let me go get your gi,” she said once I was done. She darted behind a door and reemerged holding two.

“I guessed your size.” she said. “You’ll need to go into the changing room and try these on. See which fits you best. You need them to be comfortable and not restrict your movement in any way.” She also handed me a white belt. “You know how to tie one of these?”

I shook my head.

“Figure out which gi you need,” she said, “and then come out. I’ll show you.”

I went into the changing room and tried on the larger of the two gis. It fit me well. I could move and kick to any height without it restricting me. I didn’t bother even trying the other one on. Leaving my street clothes in a locker in the changing room, I went back out barefoot and went over to her.

“Good,” she said. “That’s a good fit for you.”

Since I wasn’t wearing a belt, my top was open, and I saw her eyes flick up and down my chest and abs. She hid it well, but I saw arousal in her aura. She pulled my gi closed, wrapped the belt around my waist, and showed me how to tie it properly.

“How does that feel?” she asked.

I moved around experimentally. “Good,” I said. Just then I heard the electronic beep of the door, and an older man - perhaps in his mid-fifties - entered.

“Nice timing,” she said. “Dad, this is Mr. Stott. He’s been training for about ten months, but hasn’t graded yet. His teacher told him to join a dojo. I said we could do an assessment session.”

The older man looked me up and down. “You a student?” he asked, and I nodded.

“I’m at PSU,” I said. “I’m looking to get into law enforcement. Hoping for the FBI.”

“I’m Kevin,” he said, “and this is Carys.” He held out his hand and I shook it. His aura radiated calm, confidence and power. I was certain that I could learn from him.

“Carys,” he continued, “why don’t you go get changed? Perhaps we can see where Mr. Stott is up to.

“What style were you training in?” he asked me as she entered the changing room.

“Shotokan Karate,” I said.

He nodded. “Did you learn any katas?”

I nodded again. I listed those I had learned, and his eyes widened.

“You say you have been training for ten months?” he said.

“Yes,” I said.

“And you know Nidan level kata?” he asked.

I nodded. “Kanku Dai,” I said.

“Go warm up on the mat please,” he said, and I moved to comply. When Carys came out, he went into the changing room and came out shortly wearing a black gi and a black and red belt.

Carys wore a white gi with a black belt. She also began doing stretches on the mat.

Kevin came to the edge of the mat. As he walked on, I stopped what I was doing, turned and bowed to him. I didn’t know exactly why I was doing that, but it seemed to be the thing to do. I noted that Carys had also done the same, and he returned the bow.

“Are you ready?” he asked me.

“Yes, Sensei,” I replied. Again, I wasn’t sure why I called him that, but it seemed correct.

“Show me Kanku Dai,” he said.

Carys moved to the edge of the mat and knelt, Kevin stepped back to give me room. I relaxed and adopted the first position and held it for a moment. Then I flowed into the kata. It was a dance I had practiced over and over - so many times it had become almost as familiar as walking or breathing. Each movement was precise and exact. I felt the power of each motion flowing through my body as I went through the routine. The dojo didn’t exist; neither Kevin nor Carys existed - only me and the movement. I thrilled at the feeling of it, and when I reached the end of the dance, I was almost disappointed.

I ‘heard’ Carys’s thought. “Fuck me, how is he that level after only ten months? And why do I want to fight him even more now? He might actually win.”

Glancing across at her, I saw in her aura that her desire to get me on the mat wasn’t all about fighting. Apparently her pride wasn’t going to let her admit that other part just yet.

Kevin stood; his eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

“Where did you learn?” he asked. I saw suspicion in his aura.

“I was taught by a friend who is an instructor with the FBI,” I said. “I consult with them from time to time.” For some reason it was suddenly important to me to gain Kevin’s trust and acceptance.

“In ten months, he has taught you to Nidan level?” he asked. “How many hours per day are you training?”

“I average between three and five depending on whether I’m in classes or not. I get up at four most mornings and train, although I have recently not been doing as much martial arts training. I run sometimes instead.”

“What is your goal?” he asked. “Are you just after grading, or is there a purpose to your learning?”

“As I said,” I replied, “I am interested in joining the FBI. I need to be able to defend myself as an agent. I have no interest in belts of any colour. I have no interest in competing in championships or competitions. I have done that already. I’m a college wrestling champion, or was before I dropped it. I just want to be the best fighter I can be, so I can keep myself, and those I am responsible for, safe. I am also interested in developing my mental discipline as much as I can. I have, in the past, made questionable decisions under pressure. I would like to learn the discipline to master myself and ensure that I can think clearly and act correctly no matter what I am facing.”

“Have you been in proper combat?” he asked.

I grimaced. “Once only,” I said.

“Did you win?” he asked, and I nodded.

“What happened?”

“I can show you,” I said. “The fight was recorded.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded. I went into the changing room and retrieved my phone. When I came out, he was standing on the edge of the mat, waiting. I queued up the video and handed him my phone. Carys watched over his shoulder as the fight between me and Jasper played. As the fight progressed, I saw more and more purple surrounding her. The crack of Jasper’s arm breaking, audible even on the poor recording, made her flinch, and the purple receded a little, although not completely.

“What was the fight about?” he asked.

I told him everything. Then he watched the fight again.

“And that is why you broke his arm,” he said. “Revenge.”

I looked down. “Yes,” I said. “As I said before, I have made some questionable decisions when under pressure that I would rather I had not made. I need to learn the discipline not to make such decisions in the future.”

He nodded. “At your level, you could have delivered a fatal strike, and you would have been legally justified, given that you were facing two armed opponents. Yet you did not. I don’t believe that your decision to break his arm was so unreasonable as you think. However, you could also have disabled him without causing such injury. I suspect you are harder on yourself than you should be. I also sense that there is something important that you are not telling me, yet I don’t sense malicious deception in you. Perhaps one day you will trust me enough to tell me the entire truth.

“I can train you,” he said. “If you normally train in the early morning, then be here from four thirty each week day. We will train until six thirty. I train at that time myself, so it’s no hardship to me. You have paid a joining fee, which I will retain, and I will also retain the assessment fee. However, further fees will be offset by your teaching here.

“You have reached the stage where, to improve, you must pass on your skills. I will expect you to teach two sessions a week. You will be teaching beginners, up to one kyu or brown belt. If you do well with those, you may progress to teaching further. You will wear a black belt, unadorned. Your level would rate a black and red, but you have not been training long enough, despite having the knowledge and skills.

“Are those terms agreeable?” he asked.

I thought for a moment. The training in the morning wouldn’t be a problem, but I was already juggling so many balls that there were simply not enough hours in the day to do everything I needed to do.

I timetabled it out in my head: mornings, training, no problem. Home for breakfast then to PSU. Fit in my hypnotherapy sessions with classes. I was probably going to be getting to the stage where I would only attend those classes that had a set number of attendance hours as a criteria to pass the class. Fortunately, that was only ethics. I would fit other classes in as I could. I would just have to study the materials on my own, and get the memories of the classes from Mary for the ones we shared. I initially considered that that would increase the workload in the evenings, but then realized that was not necessarily the case. The majority of the time spent in my hypnotherapy sessions were for show only. I could put my client into a trance, and then work on my college work. The chaperones would be no problem. I would prepare an illusion with me saying all the correct things, and leave them in that for the session while I worked. That would give me the extra bonus of practicing my illusions too.

That left the evenings. Jeevan had said he would require one evening a week for Healing training when we started. If I accepted Kevin’s offer, I’d add to that two evenings where I’d have to go back to the dojo after eating dinner at home. That would leave two evenings during the week, and then the weekends, for me to cram in all the other stuff I had to do, like catch up on any college work I hadn’t managed to do during the week, domestic stuff, and seeing my girls. That was assuming that Maggie didn’t suddenly call and throw a huge cat among the multitude of pigeons I was juggling. I wasn’t sure if you could juggle pigeons, but it certainly felt like that was what I was trying to do. For a brief moment, I considered dropping the idea of taking anything else on. My martial arts was already strong, and I had a huge extra advantage over any Norm who tried to come at me head-on. If anything was going to be the lowest priority in my life, additional physical training seemed it.

Before I actually made the decision, I heard Carys say something.

“Dad?” she asked. “Who is he going to teach? We have no students yet. He was our first, and it’s not like they are kicking the door in.”

“They will come,” he said. “Be patient.”

I looked at him, and waited until I had his attention. “I have a lot going on in my life just now,” I said. “Two evenings a week is just too much. Can we split the difference? I mean no disrespect, but I work a lot in addition to going to school, and that means that money is less of an issue for me than time. Could I do one evening a week, and pay the dojo something for my training?

“It is not just about the money,” he said. “It is the training experience that is important. Yes, you could just do a single session a week, but that would slow your progress.” He thought for a moment.

“I will agree to a single session a week,” he said finally. “You will train with me in the mornings. Sometimes we will train; sometimes we will spar. Since you are at Nidan level, sparring with you will also assist me in my training. It is not often that I get to work with someone as close to my own level as you are. With regard to payment, we will call it even. Are we agreed?”

“Agreed,” I said, holding out my hand. He shook it.

He showed me around the rest of the dojo. Since I would be teaching there, I was effectively a new member of staff, so I got my own locker and would be allowed to use the staff changing area. There was only one, though, which was shared by all the staff. I made a note to be careful. I didn’t want to barge in on Carys changing.

“Do you have any flyers?” I asked, and he nodded. “Let me take some. I’ll put them up around campus. Perhaps some of the students might like to learn.”

“Go get changed,” he said. “I’ll have them for you when you come out.”

I changed back into my day clothes, putting my gi into my new locker. Carys had already swapped my belt for one the same as hers. When I came out of the changing room, there was a stack of about fifty flyers waiting for me. Carys was back at the reception. Kevin was nowhere to be seen.

“Dad says he’ll see you in the morning. At four thirty. Don’t be late.”

“Will you be here?” I asked.

“Not likely,” she said. “I’m not dumb enough to get up at that time.”

I grinned at her. “Well, thanks for all your help,” I said.

“No problem,” she said. “See you around, Mr. Stott.”

“Caleb,” I said. “Call me Caleb, please.”

“Okay then,” she agreed. “See you around, Caleb.”

I left the dojo and went home.

When I got home, Mary and the girls were waiting for me in the living room. Josh and Louise were nowhere to be seen. I got the ‘we need to talk’ vibe.

Mary looked at me. “How was it?” she asked, and I told them about what had gone on. I could tell that they were only superficially listening. They had other things on their minds.

“Last night,” Mary said, punctuating it. “I’m sorry that we didn’t discuss things with you beforehand, but things developed, and we all needed for what happened to happen. Jules said she would be with you if you woke, and when you did, it seemed you were okay with it. Were you? Really?”

I considered my answer. It was a conversation I’d committed to having with them anyway.

“It was strange,” I said. “When I saw you with Gracie, I didn’t feel anything like I would have expected. I thought I would feel anger, jealousy, hurt - or if not any of that, then horny. But I felt none of those things. I just saw you and Amanda having a good time, and that made me feel happy. I know I have been holding you guys back, and I know it’s my own fears and insecurities that are responsible. I made a decision last night that I would no longer do that. If you guys need to share, then you should go ahead and share. If the opportunity arises for me to share, and you guys are not around, then I will do the same.”

Amanda smiled at me, but Mary didn’t look convinced.

“So,” she said, “what if I told you that while you were at the dojo tonight, Josh, Louise, Amanda, and I got together? Amanda and Louise played, and I fucked Josh. How would you feel about that?”

“Did you?” I asked, my hackles suddenly raised. I couldn’t believe it myself, after what I’d just said, but my insides were twisted up and I could feel anger swelling within me. I saw Jules looking at me with a worried expression on her face. Mary looked me steadily in the eye and sent me a memory. I assimilated it and saw how they had spent their time since arriving home. They had done a little homework, and, knowing I would be an hour or so, watched television while they waited for me to get home. Mary had asked Josh and Louise if they would mind giving us some time together. They had gone to their room.

I sat back in my chair and sighed. I was still not ready, but I needed to get my head straight. I was damaging the twins, and myself, with my attitude. I couldn’t detect any literally damage inside of my body – although my mind presented a more complicated situation - but I had seen it in Jeevan. I didn’t want that for me or the twins.

“You are angry,” said Mary. “I’m sorry. I needed to know.”

“I’m not angry at you,” I said. “I’m angry at myself. I thought I was over this, but I just can’t seem to shake the feelings.”

“You got over the problem with sharing when we shared with Josh and Louise for the first time,” she said. “Do you think it is just a case of facing the fear? Do you think that if we actually did it, you would be able to resolve the issues, or do you think that would do more damage?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I said. “Perhaps I should talk to Dianna again. Or, actually, perhaps the person I should talk to about it is Jeevan.”

“I thought Jeevan had never shared,” she said.

“He hasn’t,” I said. “But I got the sense it was to protect his wife’s - Meena’s - feelings, not his own.”

Mary looked me in the eye. “Caleb. You know how much we love you. Whatever you need, we will do.”

“I don’t want to hurt you two anymore,” I said. “I seem to have spent the majority of our relationship inflicting pain on you.”

She smiled at me. “You’re getting there,” she said, “and we’ll be fine.”

I made dinner and we all ate together, albeit a little late. Josh and Louise had emerged from their room, and initially conversation was stilted. For some reason I still harboured some anger at Josh, even though he had done absolutely nothing wrong – nor anything at all. By the time dinner was over, I had settled down, but I still wasn’t happy with myself.

When it was my bedtime, I left the five of them in the living room chatting. I showered and turned in.

It must have been past midnight when I once again woke. I was in Jules’ arms, and, even before I looked across the bed, I knew what I would see.

Mary and Amanda had Josh with them in the bed. Josh was laid on his back, with Mary seated firmly on his face and Amanda straddling him, his cock planted securely in her pussy. Louise was on her knees behind Amanda, reaching around. She was groping at one of her tits with one hand and frigging her clit with the other. It was the sound of Amanda squealing her orgasm out and Mary’s sympathetic response that had woken me.

I stiffened, expecting to feel a blaze of rage, hurt and betrayal, but I felt none of those things. As I had when I had seen them with Gracie, I just enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. My love for the twins swelled inside me, and I knew they felt it because they both looked across at me, and I felt it reciprocated. I was overwhelmed as they both swamped me in love, security and gratitude. It was just then that Josh moaned into Mary’s pussy and arched his back as he shot his load into Amanda. She squeaked, the feeling of his hot seed and throbbing cock pulsating inside her sending her, and consequently Mary, into another orgasm.

Jules looked up at me. “You okay?” she asked.

“Whose idea was this?” I asked, already suspecting the answer.

“Mine, actually,” she said. “It took a while to persuade Josh and Louise, and even longer to persuade the girls. They will always be yours, Caleb. We will always be yours. Now I’m afraid I made a promise on your behalf, and you need to keep it.”

“Oh, yes?” I asked, slightly amused.

“Well, since she loaned the girls her boyfriend,” said Jules, “Louise kind of got left out a little bit. I promised you would make it up to her.”

“Did you now?” I asked, even more amused.

Jules nodded. “You wouldn’t want the poor girl going unfulfilled, would you?”

“Perish the thought,” I said, and Jules grinned.

I looked across at the four others in the bed. Josh was laying between Mary and Amanda. Louise was laying on her side facing me, watching. She looked nervous. I guessed that they were worried as to how I would react. They hadn’t felt the love I had sent the twins through the bond.

“Jules said…” she began, but I silenced her with a kiss. She melted into me. I could taste pussy in the kiss, so I knew she hadn’t been left entirely out of the play with my girls. I listened to her thoughts for a minute to determine her need, and found that what she wanted most of all was for me to just roll her onto her back and fuck her into the mattress. She was so horny, having been on the periphery of Josh and the twins’ playtime. To quote her own thoughts, she wanted to be ridden hard and filled with spunk.

I obliged.

When I woke at four, Josh and Louise were sleeping in each other’s arms. Amanda and Mary were once again on either side of me, and Jules was between me and Amanda. I thought back to the previous night and examined my feelings. I guessed that Mary had been right. I’d needed to face the fact to come to terms with it.

What I also needed to come to terms with was my new routine. I looked at my phone, it was four oh five. I needed to get moving.

I showered quickly and was outside the dojo by four thirty, when Kevin arrived. He nodded to me as he unlocked the door, and we went inside. It was cold in there.

Locking the door behind us, we went into the changing rooms and changed into our gis.

“Ten minute warm up,” was the first thing he said to me. I went onto the mat, once again instinctively bowing to him as he walked on, and then began my warmup.

By the time my two hours were up, I was sweating hard. Keith had made me run through the kata I had showed him on my assessment class, only he’d made me do it slowly - at a quarter speed. At any time during the kata he would stop me, and I would have to freeze in the position I was in at that time. Then he would test.

“At every moment,” he’d said, “you must be completely in balance. It is easy to do these things at speed, you can ‘fudge’ transitions, use momentum to carry you past flaws in your stance. At your level there should be no flaws in your stance. If there are, we will discover them.”

And discover them he did. I lost count of the number of times he pushed me to the floor. I was not allowed to move or readjust in any way when I froze; I just had to stand and allow him to test me. Each time I fell, I had to start again. Most times, I failed. It took a while, but I began to understand where I was going wrong. I was like a singer who had learned a song in a foreign language without actually learning to speak it. I was following the dance without fully understanding each of the individual moves, or, more importantly, the transitions.

By the end of the session, I was disheartened. I had thought I was good at martial arts. He had proved I was nowhere near as good as I thought.

“Excellent work today,” Kevin said after I had gotten changed and was about to head off. “You are not as bad as I thought, and nowhere near as bad as you now fear you are. I will see you tomorrow.”

When I got home, I made breakfast. Mary, my new secretary, went over my schedule for the day.

“Your first class is ethics,” she said. “Immediately after, you have three one-hour hypnotherapy sessions, then half an hour for lunch. Your afternoon is clear so you can sit in on the class - although I am in that one anyway, and can give you the memories later. Personally, I suggest that you go to the library and complete the essays that you have to hand in next week. You don’t have another window outside of your hypnotherapy unless you are going to work on them on the weekend.”

“We never discussed payment for your services,” I said to her, and she smiled at me.

“I’m sure we can come to some kind of arrangement,” she said. “It’s been quite some time since we set up the playroom.”

My cock stiffened in my trousers, but she merely leaned in and pecked me on the cheek before we left for the day.

Each morning I would get up at four, shower, and be at the dojo for four thirty. Then I would train for two hours with Kevin, and then go back home for seven to shower and make breakfast for the girls before going to start my day at PSU. Now that Mary was managing my schedule, things seemed a lot less stressful to me. I just had to be wherever she told me to be at the time she told me to be there. She was far better at managing my time than I was. I still had to deal with work emails coming in to my personal account, but I started handing out the new business cards. I was hopeful that within a month or two, my personal account would be completely personal once more. It was not too onerous in any case, I simply forwarded them on and let Mary follow them up.

Since I was training with Kevin, I could no longer train my TK alongside my martial arts. I stayed on the lookout for a new opportunity, and I found it at the end of my new routine’s first week.

I passed a moving & storage company, and noticed that there were a number of old trucks parked up, apparently not in use.

I could see the makes and models through the fence, and as long as nothing major had been removed from them, that let me look up their weights online. I started with one, which, according to the Kenworth website, weighed in at just under thirty two thousand pounds. I lifted it a quarter inch, and then went to the dojo. I put it down on my way home. I had used about half of my energy bar. The distance, without a proxy, had ramped up the difficulty significantly, all on its own.

Each morning I added weight until, after a couple of weeks, I was lifting nearly one hundred thousand pounds and holding it up, at distance, easily for the two hours I was training.

After another two weeks, I was comfortably holding them all up for two hours, and still had about a quarter of my energy bar left by the time I was done at the dojo. Things were progressing apace.

My major concern was that there was only another two weeks to go before the holiday - and Ness’s eighteenth birthday - and I still had no idea what I was going to get her. I had already bought her the knives, and I couldn’t think of anything else ‘cheffy’ that she might need for her college course. I had also bought her a ring. I almost wished that I hadn’t given it to her. It would have been a great eighteenth present, but regret wasn’t going to give me any ideas.

I took the hit to my pride and consulted Jules.

“Don’t ask me,” she said. “I have no idea what I’m getting her. I might just tell her that for her eighteenth, from me, I’m lending her you.” She grinned at me.

I chuckled at that. “That’s another thing,” I said. “I think she expects that we are going to… you know.”

“She expects that you are going to fuck her,” Jules said bluntly. “She has waited so long. Unless she has found herself someone else in the meantime, I doubt you are going to get away without…”

“But your parents,” I said. “It seems so sordid.”

“My parents, that you fucked?” she countered.

“Not your dad,” I replied immediately – not even really trying to be clever. “I promised.” Still, I had to admit that she’d made her point.

“Geez,” she said, rolling her eyes, “if you’re that uptight about it, take her out on a date first, then bring her back and blow her mind. You’ll seem like such the gentleman.”

“I need to have a serious conversation with her first,” I said. “She needs to know exactly what she is getting into. Given my, and the twins need to share, I don’t want her…”

“Jesus Christ, Caleb,” she said. “Go call the PC police on me if you must, but you need to stop being such a fucking pussy. We’ve given her all the information and lectures and outs in the world. You’re past the tipping point. Anything else, and it’s about your shit - and honestly, it’s getting a little annoying. You told Mary and Amanda you were going to get over your shit, so get over it. Ness is already bonded to us, and she already knows what’s up. She even knows that she and I are going to grow old, wither up, and literally die before you three even look like senior citizens.”

“Yeah,” I said a little glumly. “There is that. You really think an eighteen-year-old is mature enough to decide to set themselves up for that stuff down the line?”

“Am I?” she asked. “Are you? It’s going to suck for you three too – not as much, since you won’t be wearing diapers and getting six different kinds of cancer, but still. I think we all just need to dive in, Caleb. We need to follow our bliss. We need to seize the moment – especially Ness and I - because we won’t have nearly as many of them compared to you guys.

“And hey,” she said, “Ness and I will have three people to change those diapers for us, and make sure we take all of our pills on time. That’s a pretty good deal… for us.”

I looked at her, stunned. She grinned, then rolled her eyes and pulled me into a hug.

“I love you, you big, dumb, pussy,” she said. “Don’t change too much. Just a little.”

I squeezed her into me. “And I love you,” I said, once again kissing the top of her head. “Don’t change at all.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she mumbled into my chest.

“Then I take it back,” I replied. That got me a playful growl.

I was on my way to PSU the next morning when my telephone rang. It was Pops.

“Hey Pops,” I said, surprised at the call. I couldn’t remember him ever calling me before, and I was hoping there was no emergency.

“Morning, son,” he said amiably. “Just wanted to touch base with you about the holidays. I’m sending the jet down on that Saturday morning. Since you are only off for the week, it seems silly to spend two days of it traveling.”

“Are you sure?” I said. “It seems a lot of expense just to save a little time.”

He chuckled. “Call it a present from me… to Ness.”

“Speaking of,” I asked, “do you have any ideas of what I can get her for her birthday? I am coming up completely blank.”

“Nope,” he said. “Cheryl and I bought her a new laptop ready for college. She was provisionally accepted to the chef’s school near you, so, as long as she keeps her grades up, you will have another lodger come the summer.”

“That’s great,” I said with real enthusiasm, “but it doesn’t help me right now. I can’t not get her something good for her eighteenth, Pops. I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“I don’t think there’s any danger of you doing that,” he said with another chuckle. “Girls like jewelry. Get her something shiny.”

I liked that idea, so after classes that afternoon I took the girls to the jewelry store at the mall. In the end, I got her a necklace that complemented the ring; Jules got her earrings, and the twins shelled out an inordinate amount for a bracelet. She’d have a matching set, and, as a bonus, I got some ideas for all the other girls’ twenty-first birthday presents. They would all need a similar set eventually.

As per my ‘contract’ with Kevin and the dojo, I returned after dinner to teach from eight to ten, only there were no pupils. Carys was there; Kevin was not.

“Do you fancy a little sparring?” she said. “Sometimes people will come in to watch if they see people fighting on the mat. It’s a good way of attracting customers.”

“Okay,” I said amiably. “Non-contact?”

“Scared?” she taunted.

I laughed. “Nah, just don’t want to hurt you.”

She laughed right back. “Full contact, but pull your punches,” she said. “Just enough to note the strike.”

I got changed, and we met on the mat. I spent a couple of minutes doing some warmup exercises and stretches.

“You ready?” she asked, and I nodded.

We stood, faced each other, and bowed. I kept my eyes on her, knowing that if I didn’t, she’d strike immediately. She was that kind of fighter. We both stood unmoving for a second before she feinted a jab at my face. I saw her intent in her movement, and much more besides; she broadcast her entire strategy. Instead of reacting to the feint, I sidestepped, moved in, and took her to the floor in a wrestling move. She tried to wriggle out of it, but I had the arm bar locked in before she could escape and she was forced to tap.

“That wasn’t Shotokan!” she said hotly.

“Never said it was,” I said. “I did tell you I was a wrestler. You didn’t say we had to limit our styles.”

She grimaced at me, but had to concede the point. We took up our starting positions, but that time there was no hesitation. She launched into a high kick, which, had it landed, would have done far more than registering the hit. I ducked it and swept her remaining leg out from under her, putting her back onto the mat. I moved once again for a submission hold, but she was too quick. She rolled away and back to her feet.

She circled me warily. I just stood in my ‘ready’ position, waiting for her next move. Her eyes flickered down, and, had I not been able to read her mind, I might have fallen for the feint. She twitched her leg like she was going for another kick, but instead, she stepped in with a punch. It was a masterful misdirection, but to say she was fighting an uphill battle would have been a gross understatement. I blocked the punch easily and returned two strikes to her side before she could step out of range.

“Fuck me, are you a mind reader or something?” she asked, annoyed that I had seen through her misdirection.

“Or something,” I said amiably, still at the ready, when the electronic beep went off. We both stepped back, and Carys went to the reception desk to meet the newcomers.

It was a couple of young men in their early twenties. They collected literature, but despite her sales pitch, they didn’t commit to joining the dojo.

She sighed after they left.

“It’s always the same,” she said. “Other than you, nobody wants to join. They come in to look around; half of them are just being nosy. They have no interest in learning. I told Dad that this was a bad idea, but he wouldn’t listen. We’re haemorrhaging money, and unless we get some members soon, this is going to be the shortest-lived dojo in history.”

“Let’s see if any of the PSU students want to join,” I said. “I work with a number of them who want to lose weight, and I doubt they’d say no to actually getting fit along the way. Perhaps I can suggest that they come along. The joining fee is a little high for a student’s budget, though. Can you do anything about that?”

“I’ll have to speak to my dad, but I guess we could do a student discount. Some members are definitely better than no members, even if they are not paying full price.” She sighed. “I guess we can call it a night. We may as well lock up.”

I waited for her to go get changed, and then I did the same. When I came out, I found that there were two men at the counter talking to her. Neither of them seemed to be the type to want to join a dojo, but she was being polite to them, as she needed the business.

Needless to say, when I got to the counter, I found that they were both hitting on her. She turned at my approach and linked her arm through mine. “This is Caleb,” she said, “my boyfriend. He is an instructor here too, so you would be in good hands.” I refrained from commenting. It was obvious what she was doing, and I didn’t mind. I got some ugly looks from the would-be Lotharios, but after a few minutes of meaningless chat, they left, and Carys breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “They keep coming back, and don’t seem to know the meaning of the phrase ‘no thank you.’ I figured if they thought I had a boyfriend that they might back off.”

“Hey,” I said, “It’s fine. I got it pretty much straight away.”

There was another electronic beep and three girls walked into the dojo: Jules and the twins.

“Hey guys,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Just checking out the competition,” said Jules, grinning at Carys, who for some reason hadn’t yet released my arm.

I laughed. “Carys, this is Jules, Amanda and Mary, my fiancées. Girls, this is Carys.”

Cary’s eyes went wide. “Your… fiancées?” She emphasized the plural. “You’re engaged to three girls?”

“Four, actually,” I said. “We’re going up to see the fourth at the end of next week. I meant to tell you I would be away for a week.”

Carys looked at me, speechless. I saw a spike of disappointment in her aura.

“You’ve told us about Carys,” said Mary, “so we thought we would come in and meet her. Is Kevin around?”

Carys shook her head. “He does mornings. I do the evenings, at least until business picks up a bit.”

“Would three hot girls joining boost your membership, do you think?” asked Amanda.

Carys laughed. “Damn. If you guys joined, there would be a stampede. But this is a serious dojo. We’re not here for cheerleader practice.” She said it kindly, but I could see she meant it.

“We know,” said Mary, “but since we are all with Caleb, and he is looking for a career in law enforcement, it makes sense that we are all able to protect ourselves. I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a while, and so has Amanda. Jules, how about you?”

Jules nodded.

“But Caleb could teach you guys at home,” she said. “He would be one of your teachers for at least the first year anyway. Why do you need to join the dojo for that?”

“Caleb doesn’t spend much time at home,” said Jules. “He is either training here, or at PSU for classes or his side gig. We actually would see more of him if we came here on the night that he is working. And don’t think for a minute he would go easy on us. That is definitely not his style.”

“I noticed,” Carys said. “We sparred earlier. You are all students at PSU?”

All three girls nodded, and Carys thought for a minute. “For you guys, I’ll do one-fifty to join, and a twenty-dollar session fee. That’s really the best I can do.”

All three pulled out their wallets. “Done,” they said in perfect synchronization.

Carys, predictably, was taken aback.

“You get used to it,” I said with a smile.

After all the forms had been filled out, Carys took the payments from the girls, and then, since it was later than the dojo’s regular closing time anyway, we locked everything up. As we were locking the front door, Kevin came around the corner.

“Why so late?” he asked. “Since you weren’t home yet, I thought I’d walk up and walk you home.”

“We got a late rush,” said Carys. “Dad, meet three new members. This is Jules, and Mary and Amanda.” She didn’t try to identify the twins individually. “They are Caleb’s fiancées and they all just joined. I gave them a student rate. If we are going to attract students, we need to do that.”

Kevin wasn’t fazed at all. He just looked at the three girls and gave a polite nod. “Welcome. Thanks for your support.”

“Those boys came back today,” said Carys. She blushed a little at the company, but then said, “I introduced Caleb as my boyfriend, and they left.” She turned to the girls. “I’m not trying to…”

“No problem,” said Mary with a smile. “You can borrow him any time you like.”

Carys’s eyes widened and she flushed.

Kevin coughed. “It’s late,” he said. “We should be getting back.”

We bade them both good night, and made our way home.

“She’s cute,” said Mary as we walked.

I smiled at her. “You looking for more partners?”

“Always,” she said. “I am in charge of your schedule now. You want me to book you a session with her?” She grinned at me, and I shook my head ruefully.

That night, I reconnected with the twins. They came to bed at the same time as me, but it was past midnight by the time we slept. My old faithful was up to every challenge they set for him, and, four hours later, my bladder had me out of bed dead on time.

I showered and went to the dojo. When I got there, I saw Kevin standing out front, staring at the front window, which had been daubed with paint. There was a single word written in six-foot-high letters: “SLUT!!!” complete with the extraneous punctuation.

“Do you have security cameras?” I asked.

He shook his head. “We have nothing to steal. There is no point. I’ll go get a cloth. I’m afraid training is cancelled today. Come back tomorrow.”

“Get two cloths,” I said, and took off my jacket.

It took us the two hours to clean the paint off the window, along with the splashes where they had been careless, but by the time I was due to go home, you couldn’t have told it had ever happened.

I wasn’t due to teach at the dojo that night, but I went along anyway. Kevin obviously had the same thought and so we were both there, along with Carys. There was the odd enquiry, and two students from PSU actually came to sign up, having seen the flyers I had posted. They’d start classes the following week. There was no sign of the boys we suspected of daubing the paint. At the appropriate time we closed up, but I decided to hang around for a while. I guessed that the paint had been applied shortly after we had closed the previous night. I couldn’t see either of our suspects being early risers.

I didn’t have long to wait. Less than half an hour later, the two boys returned – with rocks instead of paint. As they approached the front of the dojo, I stepped out of the shadows.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I said as the first drew his arm back to throw the rock. They both spun around to face me.

The one with the rock in his hand sneered. “What are you going to do about it, college boy?”

“What is your problem with the dojo?” I asked. “What did Carys do to you?”

“She’s a slut,” he responded. “She needs to learn a lesson.”

“So, she turned you down,” I said, “and you find she has a boyfriend, and that makes her a slut? Are you guys for real? Go home and grow up before you get yourselves into trouble.”

“How about we just fuck you up?” the other said. “Maybe she’ll not be so happy with a cripple for a boyfriend.”

I shook my head, and then pulled out my ID. “You would be assaulting a federal employee,” I said. “I work with the FBI, so if you want to go to jail and have a felony on your record, go right ahead. Make life easy on yourselves. Go home, forget about the dojo and Carys, and find yourselves some other girls. Carys is spoken for, and even if she weren’t, she is way out of your league. Now, Gary, Thomas, I know who you are, and I know where you live. Run along home and stay away. The next time we meet I will not be so amiable.”

The boys looked at each other uncertainly. Getting called out by name had unsettled them. I decided to up the ante. I walked toward them, slowly, while using my Empathy to spike their fear. Each step I took, I increased the fear until I was less than two yards away from them. They were both cowering in terror.

“Go, NOW!!” I snapped, and they both fled. I was certain that the rock-wielder had wet himself.

“Well, that seemed effective.” The voice came from the darkness: Kevin. I silently cursed myself for not thinking he’d have the same idea. I supposed it was small comfort that I hadn’t been obvious about my powers. I’d been careless, though. I hadn’t scanned for other people. I’d been too focused on how cool I was.

“I just made them aware of the consequences of what they were considering,” I replied, turning to face him as he walked out of the shadows. “I think they thought that we didn’t know who they were, so they were safe. Once they realised that I knew exactly who they were and where to find them, they… reassessed.”

He looked at me sideways. “There is still something you are not telling me,” he said. “There was something else going on here tonight. Those boys looked terrified. I think one of them actually peed himself.”

“Bullies are usually cowards,” I said. “You face them down and they nearly always run away.”

“True,” he said. “It was dumb to stay back on your own. What if they had been armed?”

“They are a couple of goons with an overactive sense of entitlement,” I said. “Neither of them has the courage to do anything but attack property. I was never in any danger. Besides, you came back.”

“Not alone,” said Carys, stepping up from the other side.

I laughed. “So I could have just gone home to bed.”

“You should have,” said Kevin. “But it’s appreciated that you didn’t. There is something going on with you, Caleb Stott. I don’t know what it is, and maybe someday you will tell us. Whatever it is, though, I get the feeling that we are somehow ‘inside’ it. Thank you for tonight. We are strangers in town and have no friends locally. It’s nice knowing someone has your six.”

“Any time,” I said.

Kevin looked at Carys, but then addressed me. “It’s late,” he said, “and I still expect you at four thirty in the morning.”

I smiled. “Yes, Sensei,” I said, offering a small bow.

“Only in the dojo,” he said with a small smile. “Outside, I’m just plain old Kevin.”

Jules had planned no surprises that night, and once I went to bed, I slept through until my internal alarm woke me at four.

My training with Kevin went well that following week. We sparred a couple of times, and I could see that I still had things to learn. I knew that in a real fight, he would pose no real threat to me, but that without powers, I would stand no chance against him. He, in turn, was surprised at my alacrity in learning. I only had to be shown something once, and was able to remember and retain it. By the weekend we had another eight students at the dojo: two from PSU and the rest from outside the university. Word was getting out. The two boys didn’t return.

The week after that passed reasonably quickly, and, setting aside some new lessons from Kevin and different faces during my sessions, virtually identically. Before I knew it, I was packing my stuff, getting ready to meet the jet the following morning to travel up to the Steadman ranch. I was more nervous about Ness’s birthday than I had been about meeting Jules’ family the first time. I just hoped that, for once, there would be absolutely no surprises.