You're Next- Mortal Kombat x Reader

Learning- Liu Kang

I was honoured to call myself part of the White Lotus. I was a sprite young girl ready to deal with anything our masters would throw at us. The monks would teach us humility and the strength in patience whereas the masters would teach us the spirit in ourselves and use it to our advantage in kombat. 

I was ready to become the best of the best. As soon as I met my fellow kombaters I knew I had what it takes to overcome all of them. I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted the fame, the glory, the recognition, and the reputation. The only thing to do was excel. 

That is what I did. I excelled. I built up strength, used my body to my advantage, found a weapon of choice, and was so very close to becoming a worthy kombatant. After all, isn't that what it was all about? Become strong to kick ass. 

Only one frustration came from learning at the White Lotus. A kid, a little older than me, is some sort of famous brilliance amongst here. Along with his mate with the weird hat following his every move, he is one of the youngest to ever fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament. His reputation precedes him, especially his defeat of Shao Kahn, and in honesty I respected him for it. But he was so annoying. Every ounce of irritation and even anger was directed at this kid. He's the one cause of all my frustrations. The Chosen One. Pfft. What makes him more special than the rest?

Just yesterday was his recent crime. 

I groaned at who walked out towards our training grounds. Master Bo Rai Cho had told us of a volunteer coming to train us. Of course it had to be this bandanna wearing, light- footed, cheery  annoyance. 

He told us to call him Liu Kang. To him, 'Master' was too impersonal, please stop you're too humble, and assessed our skill. I grinned. That mean't one v one kombat. 

His eyes scrutinised our fights harshly and never missed a beat when something went wrong. I don't know whether Master Bo Rai Cho put him up to it but he was very judgemental and put a lot of pressure onto us. Too much pressure. Too much judgement. The boy judged my kick. Not just any kick. A roundhouse kick. One of the easiest to perform! What was wrong with it! Too sloppy? My mind wasn't in the fight?! I'll show you sloppy! 

I performed the kick, promptly won the fight and fiercely glared at him, daring him to say something. He didn't say a word and called up another pair. 

A day later I was still rattled at what he said. I decided to blow off some steam and headed for the dojos. 

I stretched and fought invisible men, bouncing across the room, punching, and kicking the air. My adrenaline sated, I decided to practise moves that were beyond my level. One of these being the Capoeira. 

The Capoeira is the hardest and strongest kick to ever perform. It tested body strength, agility and flexibility. I needed to be high in the air to perform it perfectly. The movement itself was challenging but easy enough to grasp. It was the landing that I couldn't get. 

Once again, I landed wrong before a voice called out. 

"You did that wrong." 

I yelped in surprise and jumped. Clutching my heart I turned to see the last person I ever wanted to see. 

"I realise thanks to my throbbing foot." I sassed and readied position. I hadn't even lifted a leg before Liu Kang spoke again. 

"You're doing that wrong too." His tone was straightforward. I stomped my foot harshly and snarled at him. 

"Do you find pleasure in annoying me? Every time I see you you criticise me." I growled. 

"I only do it to help you." He replied coolly. 

"Yeah well you don't help." I snapped. 

I performed the movement slowly, going through every step in my head. Yes. I repeated the same motion fast. Damn it!

I growled in frustration and stomped off the mat. 

"Where are you going?" Lui Kang asked with a tone I could not quite catch. It was... mysterious and secretive. 

"To get a drink. And away from you." I spat, annoyed. He merely smirked. 

"You are stupid." He remarked. I swivelled round sharpish.

"Excuse you?!" I said angrily. 

"You are stupid. You are denying what is right in front of you." He crossed his arms. At the moment I wasn't sure what he meant by that. Looking at him up and down I grimaced. 

"Uhh, look, I'm flattered but I'm really really not interested." I hurried, creeped out.

"What? No no no no, that's not what I meant." He denied, panicked. His face steadily got more red with embarrassment. "I would never- no. I meant that as someone who has fought in kombat before, someone experienced, you should let me teach you." I ignored the slight pang when he said he'd 'never' go out with me (not that that was in any way important) and focused on his preposition. 

"Train with you?" I clarified. 

"It would be most beneficial for you." He replied. I weighed the pros and cons. Despite his slight cheekiness and way too much confidence, he is the so called 'Chosen One'. Training with him... I could unlock potential I thought I never had. Making a decision, I spat on my palm and raised it for him to shake. 

"Deal." I said. He looked at my hand and with a little trepidation he also spat on his hands and we shook on it. His expression lifted, pleased with my decision.

"Good. You already have quite a strong build. You also fight with a lot of skill and precision. Your legs are most definitely your strong point, you rarely stay on the ground. I would not want to fight against you, especially when you wield your Bo-Staff. Therefore, I feel no urge to teach you any physical training." He explained. Pride filled my chest at his observation, which struck me. He's been watching me. However, I was confused. 

"No physical training? Then what can you possibly teach me?" I asked. 

"The only reason you cannot perform the move that you were practising is because your mind is failing you. You rarely meditate and when you do you barely concentrate. You have a very busy mind, one that you need to relax. You anger too quickly. If you do not meditate and calm you mind then you will find yourself panicking in stressful situations." I crossed my arms defensively and leaned on one leg.

"I can deal with stressful situations easil- hey!" I yelped in surprise. Caught unaware, Liu Kang's foot struck my chest. Falling on my bum, I quickly jumped up and defended myself against his onslaught of attacks. Holy Jinsei, he was fast. Too many times was my torso kicked or punched. He hit lightly, however, I quickly tired, trying to poorly block and conceded just before he punched my shoulder. 

"Alright alright, you made your point!" I yelled, backing up. I looked down in shame and cradled my midriff. He stopped, merely analysing me. 

I didn't hear him move. Slowly, he lightly pressed his palm on my shoulder and raised my chin with a finger. I looked in his deep and honest brown eyes. 

"When you meditate," He said with a measured tone. "you will find your mind to be clearer. You'll analyse things with more and more precision and you'll react faster. If I gave you warning you may have defeated me. An enemy is not going to warn you when they attack." I nodded in understanding. 

With a bruised ego, I let him lead me to the middle of the training room. He sat me down and taught me how to sit without hurting my back. How posture and breathing was key in drifting into a meditative state. I started to grasp the peace in meditating. We meditated. 

I peeked an eye open to see him meditating with perfect posture and an eased expression. His dark hair framed his face and his bandanna suited his complexion almost too well. Suddenly, his eyes opened and I shut my eye quickly. Adopting what I hoped was a peaceful expression I heard him chuckle softly through his nose before falling into silence. As time went on, I felt myself slowly sinking into my meditation more and more. I knew that with Liu's help I'd be a formidable force. Maybe, after some time together, we'd be very good friends and even better fighters side-by-side. It's exciting.

This was fun to write. Took me a while tho I couldn't find much inspiration hence why the long silence. Anyway, hope you guys are doing great!