85 Hidekazu Each of Hidekazu’s professors admonished him for arriving at the Academy more than halfway through Monkey’s month. In turn, they observed his injured hand with a hint of satisfaction. A worthy punishment, they agreed. No permanent damage. Now, he needed to choose between falling further behind in his classes to heal or catching up and continuing to harm himself. A sadistic paradox, more like. The academy gave him no real choice: Hidekazu could not go the day, let alone the rest of the month, with only one hand. In Martial Ki Fighting, Tano Natsuko sidelined Hidekazu, limiting him to watching his classmates practice in the courtyard to her instructions. “You will not participate for a jun, so you best take notes,” she told him. The professor to his Military Strategy class r

