'At least I get to kick some ass before the real fun begins', Jia thought.
"I told master Chian you'd most likely say yes" said Jericho, "he and Kaien are waiting in the training room"
Jia turned her upper body from side to side and stretched her arms, "ah, I can't even remember the last time someone tried" she remarked, "I bet you all fifty I can do this in the dress"
"Very well" Jericho stepped closer, a smile dangling on the corner of his lips, "I'll give you one hundred if you can do the initiation with the heels"
'After knowing me all his life he really wants to bet on something like that? How naive.' Jia thought to herself.
"Jer" Hart groaned, "you're pathetic at bets; Jia can do that, give her a time limit"
'I hate how sharp he is sometimes.'
Regardless of this challenge, however, Jia remained eager.
"Thirty minutes" Jericho stated, "if you do not beat this person in thirty minutes, you owe us one hundred"
Jia was not agitated, nor worried.
Ever since she was thirteen she had been the main part of the initiations in her clan; because her best friends grew up alongside her, they decided to make the event more interesting.
Though, like most times, she knew she would win.
She found it amusing how her best friends thought her opponent could last more than half an hour in an initiation.
'The longest was an hour and twenty minutes I believe..'
Eventually, she had to let the individuals pass, but only when they improved to the Yen Clan's standards.
Jinx cackled loudly and hugged her stomach, "you guys must be idiots to bet on this again"
Although out of the blue, she paused.
Her eyes bore into theirs as she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "and by that I mean—you guys are idiots to bet against Jia."
The girl smirked at the comment.
Jinx then pulled out two hundred dollar bills from her bra and slapped it down on the table she was leaning on, "I knew this was coming so, boys, looks like I'm going home with four hundred today"
"Shit.. Jericho" Hart cursed, "you better hope this is like what you told me, or next time I'll bet on what colour they use for your coffin"
'If they bet so much money for a reason.. then I wonder what my opponent is like.. not that it matters though, I'm still going to win.'
Jia stepped closer to Hart and leaned in, their noses almost touching.
She grinned and said softly, "I'm going to give you a run for your money"
She then backed away and giggled with Jinx, both talking about the money they would earn at the end of the first initiation.
The boys, however, stood speechless, Hart clearing his throat after he came out of his daze.
Soon, the four walked to the back of the room.
Near Chian and Kaien's table was a painted-over door with a silver knob that had a dragon carved into it.
On the other side was the training room meant solely for members of the clan.
Later, near the beginning of the celebration, it would be hidden with a red curtain.
Once Jia opened the door, she noticed her father and Kaien chatting with her opponent—their backs to her and the other three.
They walked in, and Jericho closed it.
The training room was filled with a number of weapons with their own mounts on the walls.
Each of the four walls in the room was a category—the north wall was for guns, the south for all types of melee weapons (mainly swords), the west were throwing weapons, and finally the east was for wooden swords.
The room was large in size, Jia compared it to her previous schools gym.
On the polished floor, were four white lines forming a large rectangle, and was specifically for initiations.
Lingering clan members that were not on duty were standing outside of it, waiting for the match to start.
Jia stood straighter and held her head high, 'well, now it's going to start.'
Jia met Jericho's eyes and gestured towards the adults with her head.
The boy automatically walked up to Chian, who handed him a traditional Japanese Oni mask.
Jia had designed it herself, the lower half of the mask was gone, leaving just the upper half.
Afterwards, Jericho gave the mask to her.
She sighed happily to herself as she put the mask on, 'their reaction is always amusing.'
The mask covered her nose, and on the eyes of the mask was a black fabric that she could see through.
She left her mouth visible, and this was purposely so her opponent could see her expression.
She looked quite intimidating to some, more so with two large fangs on the mask resting beside the corners of her lips.
"Master Chian" Jia loudly called.
The three adults turned around.
Her opponent was dressed in a white training uniform, like they were required.
The girl guessed he was in his early twenties, his face almost too delicate to be apart of a Triad.
Chian and Kaien ushered the man to her.
Jia bowed in respect of the two and her father responded with a firm nod.
"Yuan, may I introduce the Deputy Dragon Head, she is also the person who is in charge of initiations" he announced.
A confused look, which the girl expected, came across his face.
He stared bug-eyed and his eyebrows knitted in a frown.
"Her?" he arrogantly asked before pointing to Kaien, "I thought it was him"
'Please, Kaien isn't even a member of this clan', she thought.
The fact this man had the audacity to behave in such a manner began to get on her nerves.
Previous individuals sometimes pretended to respect her, however the lack of interest made Jia realize he did not intend to acknowledge her.
'Funny, because I'm the one that has to acknowledge him.'
"Oh, no," Kaien quickly denied, "she is your opponent"
"She looks like she's still in high school" he turned away, "who is she?"
Hart, who stood behind the group, snickered and stifled a grin, "he's already done for" he muttered.
Jia narrowed her eyes through the mask, "you don't deserve to know who I am until I approve of you"
The man smiled mockingly, "I don't think it will take long for a school girl to approve of someone with genuine combat skills"
"Skills of an amateur won't get you into the Yen clan" Jia stated, "if you think I am going to let you be apart of this honor without having respect for me, you're mistaken"
"Says the one wearing high heels during a formal clan initiation" Yuan riposted.
Jia grabbed the collar of his shirt and peered down at him, "with these on or not, you won't succeed in your initiation, and I'll sure as hell have fun beating some respect into you"
She then shoved him back and raised her arm in the air, a signal to alert everyone that the initiation was going to begin.
"Well, depending on how this goes, I can go buy some more snacks" Hart commented as he and the others left the rectangle.
Once they had left, Jia stood straight once again and put her arms behind her back. Everyone in the room except for her father and her opponent bowed.
"This is no ordinary initiation" Jia boomed with a firm tone, "every weapon in this room besides the gun wall is yours to use, you may only choose one" she paused. "Unless you get me out of the rectangle, best me, or render me unable to continue, it will not matter what you choose"
Yuan stayed silent.
"The Yen Clan members must all have the ability to fight" she continued, "if you cannot beat me, or best me, you will not have what it takes to fight other Triads, and you will not be able to defend the honour of this Clan like you should. That being said, respect and acknowledgement of others in ranks above you is equally as important, if you have no respect, you will be thrown out or killed on the spot, luckily you're just a blue lantern, or I would've had someone moping your blood off the floor by now"
"People respect her for a reason you dumb fuck!" Jinx yelled, making some of the members laugh.
"Anyways!" Jia snapped, glaring at the audience for a short moment—silence immediately followed.
"There is one rule to this initiation; you may do anything to your opponent except kill them" she said, "if you wish to give up, be sure to say it, because if you don't I will not stop, not even if you beg me"
"Can we start now?" Yuan rolled his eyes.
Jia put her arm out to the West wall,
"pick your weapon"