Ryuichi groaned as he landed flat on his back. So much for learning to stand his ground.

More like he was learning to get his butt kicked.

Leaning against the spear he’d just used to trip him, Kato smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re supposed to be doing your best. I only wish I were a better opponent for you. I feel bad that I’m not helping you to improve.”

Kato’s smile widened. “That’s okay. What you’re doing for my confidence is immeasurable.”

Awesome. Ryuichi snorted. “So long as I serve some purpose, I’ll tolerate the bruises. Both inside and out.” He retrieved his spear from the ground and sighed. This was beginning to feel much too familiar.

All he was learning to do was fall down creatively.

And without whining.

Much.

He watched as Kato twirled the bamboo spear effortlessly around his body.

“How do you make that look so easy?”

Kato paused, then shrugged. “Don’t know. Just do it. Kind of like breathing.”

Ryuichi looked around at the others as they sparred. They all appeared to be having an easier time of it than he did. And here he’d thought this was something he was actually good at.

Maybe I don’t belong here. Maybe Hattori had been wrong about him.

After all, he’d never belonged anywhere. Never been like anyone else. Why should this place be any different?

Ryuichi took a chance and cleared his throat. “May I ask you something personal?”

“I guess.”

He hesitated, as he knew the question was rude and that manners dictated he not ask, but he really wanted an answer. “Does it bother you?”

Kato raised his eyebrows. “What? Kicking your butt? No.”

Ryuichi laughed, then braced himself. “Not that. Being different from everyone else.”

This time, he saw the darkness gathering in Kato’s green eyes. The pain and hurt. “What do you want me to say, Ryuichi?”

“That you feel what I do . . . alone.” Because Ryuichi at least appeared to fit in with the others. It was only after they asked questions he didn’t want to answer that they learned he wasn’t the same as them.

With Kato’s red hair and freckled skin, he was obviously not like other students.

Kato snorted. “Trust me. As alone as you think you feel, it’s nothing compared to being foreign. You can always make up a name, and no one will know anything about you. I can’t hide who and what I am any more than Pim can.” He scanned the people around them. “We don’t exactly blend in with the scenery.”

The nail that stands out is hammered down.