Until recently, I'd never dreamt of being a champion. I never thought I'd end up studying nothing but karate, day and night. I never imagined that I'd travel to America to learn karate and become an uchi deshi just like in the old days.

My name is Masataro Takahashi. In March of 1995, I graduated from Nippon University in Tokyo . By the end of April, I was on the other side of the world, in Birmingham , Alabama .

Growing up, I'd always had things pretty easy. My father, in his late fifties, owned his own successful high-tech electronics company. He had about a thousand employees under him, and had recently opened a plant in China . I always assumed that I'd take over for him one day since I was his only son. My younger sister was still in high school when I graduated. My mother always looked after me. She was a little younger than my father and always managed to find the bright side to everything. I could always count on her to smooth out any troubles I faced growing up. I didn't feel I was spoiled, but I never had to work very hard for anything.

I majored in business, but never had a passion for it. I studied only when I had to, just doing the minimum requirements to get by. I spent most of my time socializing, going to parties and spending time with Yuriko.

I met Yuriko Nakazaki at the beginning of freshman year. Actually, she came on to me, and I offered no resistance. That was pretty much the dynamic of our relationship. She was slender with soft skin, an oval face, and deep shining black eyes that captured my heart the first time I saw her. Her nose turned up a little at the point, and she always wore her hair pulled tightly back. An aura of power and confidence surrounded her. She had strong opinions about everything, and never hesitated to state them.

Freshman year, we took the same Marketing Strategies class. I didn't have much interest in marketing, but I'd heard that lots of girls usually took the class, so I signed up. The class had about thirty students, mostly juniors and seniors, with a few freshman and sophomores. Class discussions were usually controlled by the professor and older students, with the rest of us just listening.

Yuriko was an exception. She threw herself into the middle of every discussion. She always looked like she was on her way to a job interview in her tight-fitting pants and blazers. Whenever she entered the room, the guys in the class watched her longingly. Some of the girls were jealous of her and said that she had a big mouth. But other girls gravitated towards her, impressed by her confidence.

I never had any opinions in class. Whenever the professor or senior students explained something, it would make sense, but I never had any original ideas. Yuriko, though, had original ideas about everything. She argued with anyone who disagreed with her; she didn't back down for anyone. Sometimes she would argue so passionately that other students called her “The Doberman”.

One day, the class was divided into groups of five for a project. Each group was responsible for creating and selling a product in a simulated market. Yuriko and I were in the same group. She dominated all of the ideas, which put some people off, but made me want her even more.

After our group meeting one night, she asked me out with her to an izakaya . She drank more than any other girl I knew. As we drank, her hard exterior softened a bit, and she became more relaxed, while I grew more confident. I tried to express some of my opinions to her, but each time I did, she'd smile and shake her head and say, “No, no, no Masataro. You need to study more.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sometimes she'd pat my shoulder or cheek like I was a child. She liked to preach her ideas to people, so I kept trying to engage her with my opinions. She laughed at everything I said and scolded me like a naughty puppy. I loved it.

Soon, we started seeing each other regularly. Not surprisingly, Yuriko controlled everything in our relationship, but I was happy to go along with her. Once we'd been dating for a while, my friends looked at me and asked, “How did someone like you get to be with her?” I didn't know, really, but I wasn't about to complain. We had a wonderful and exciting four years together.

The summer before our senior year, she landed an internship at a big advertising agency. My parents were very impressed when they met her. She was attractive, intelligent, and highly-motivated. Yuriko really liked my father because of his success in running his own company. But during our senior year, I didn't see too much of Yuriko from the start of January until around March. We were both busy preparing for graduation. At the end of January, we met and she told me that she had a great job lined up with a major advertising firm in Tokyo . For a while after that, I didn't hear from her again. I'd call her up but just get the machine.

Meanwhile, I tried to find a job, too. My parents had decided that before I went to work for my father, I should work somewhere else and gain experience in the outside world. I applied at a large marketing company. I took a written test and did an interview. A few days later, they called to tell me I wasn't what they were looking for.

I applied at three other places, all of them turned me down. They all rejected me over the phone, and one also sent a letter, just to make sure I got the message. I wasn't too worried, though. I'd made the effort, and my parents said that if it came down to it, I could just work for my father. Things would work out. Yuriko and I would have our jobs, save up some money, get engaged, and eventually get married. That was my vision of the future.

One Saturday afternoon toward the end of February, Yuriko called me up and asked if we could meet at our spot on campus. Our spot was a wooden bench at the eastern end of the university garden where we'd had our first kiss. Carefully sculpted bonsai pines and rock formations jutted out across the ground. As I sat and waited for her, the grass crunched beneath my twitching feet. It was cold, but the sun and something in the air gave the promise that spring was right around the corner. The barren cherry trees above me looked primed to blossom.

I stood up when I saw Yuriko walking toward me with the sun radiating behind her. Below her jacket, she wore blue jeans that fit tight across her legs and showcased the curves of her hips. At the base of her pants, black sequined flats reflected the sun's rays in little dots on the sidewalk when she walked. She stopped me as I went to hug her and told me to sit down.

“Masataro,” she tossed her hair back from her shoulders, “I've had a great four years with you, I really have. But in a few weeks, we're going to graduate. I need to get out into the real world, you know? I want to challenge myself and build up my talents so I can run my own company one day. If I don't do that now, I know I'll regret it in the future. You understand what I'm saying?”

I didn't get it. My head started spinning. Storm clouds and distant thunder gathered in the back of my mind. While I wasn't sure exactly what she was telling me, it didn't seem like something I wanted to hear.

She grasped my hands and leaned forward slightly. “I want you to understand what I mean.”

“I understand that you're smart.”

“I've been really happy with you these four years--”

“Me too!”

“But it's time for us to move on.”

“I know. Graduation is right around the corner. But we can find an apartment of our own.”

“No, I'm saying that we need to go our separate ways--“

“Yeah, we'll be at different jobs, but we can make it work,” I patted her hands and smiled to reassure her.

“Masataro, we're finished.”

“What?” Thunder cracked in my skull. I couldn't breathe. My chest became a vice, squeezing my heart. My vision began to cloud as her words sank in.

“I really like you Masataro, but I don't love you. I still want you in my life, though, but I'm going to be so busy with work and everything that I just don't think I'll have time for a romantic relationship. I still want to be friends, though…”

She was smiling. Why was she smiling? I wasn't smiling. My whole world had gone dark. And then I realized what was really happening. “You've found some other guy, haven't you?”

“What? No, nothing like that,” she gave a kind of half laugh. “I just need to concentrate on my future right now, that's all. I've been thinking about it more and more recently. A couple times I almost told you over the phone, but I thought it'd be better to tell you in person. You mean a lot to me.”

“Don't give me that crap! You've found someone else,” I stood up and looked down at her. “Who is it? Tell me!”

She grabbed her purse and got up, shaking her head. “I knew you wouldn't understand. Look, I still want to be friends, but that's up to you. I have to follow my ambitions, that's all.”

I just stood there frozen trying to figure out a way to stop this train wreck.

“Well, I guess I'll see you later,” she said before she turned and left. I watched until she disappeared completely, hoping that she'd turn around at any moment. But she didn't. I slumped down on the bench, completely drained of energy. That bitch! She's got someone else. After four years! Follow her ambitions? What about my ambitions? Huh? Suddenly they don't matter anymore? I'd been bitten by the Doberman.

Continue in Chapter 2