Kimoko

At The Dojo, progress is measured by the silence between clashing swords, not the sound of slurping noodles. Yet, Kimoko’s most consistent training partner was a bowl of ramen. Other trainees saw the shades, the perpetually full cheeks, and the screen on their head that often displayed a pixelated, steaming bowl, and wrote Kimoko off as a tourist who had wandered in by mistake. They didn't see the way Kimoko watched every match, analyzing footwork between bites, or how the constant fuel maintained a level of energy others could only dream of. During a grueling endurance trial on the lake's edge, one by one, the others dropped from exhaustion. Kimoko, having just finished a snack, was the last one standing, their breathing even and calm.