You clinched my heart - Liasgroundgame - Black Clover (2024)

Chapter 1: A chance meeting

Chapter Text

NARRATOR POV

Clover Kingdom Academy the home for the country's finest talent a school designed by Lumiel Silvamillion a man who had been famous in the 1920's and 30's for his achievements in the Olympics for Catch wrestling and Amateur boxing, and since the school had been founded it was home to each generation's greatest combat sports athletes or just athletes in general, Later in the 1940's the school opened to Actors, soon after it then became a school known for churning out greats of all mediums of entertainment whether it be combat sports all the way to musical achievements many dream of attending. However, the school had run into a bit of a brick wall, as the roots of the academy had come into question since the last talented combat sports student to come out of the academy was Fuegoleon a man who no doubt great, had been twelve years since he had graduated and in terms of any fight sports the academy had dried up a bit having places like Spade boarding school take the throne as the best school for fighters, which leads us to the now

"Kira there is a bit of a problem with our schools combat sports programs", a man with blonde hair ruffled through the stack of Alumni who had achieved anything in combat sports, "And what's that?", Kira asked him, "The last person to achieve anything from our school graduated twelve years ago", he looked at it, "And if we don't find someone soon our funding for the program will be cut", he looked up at him, "What are we supposed to do about it, none of the students are terribly interested in it these days", Kira sipped coffee from a mug, "and you'd be right, so I would like to ask you to scout someone for me", the blonde man pushed a photo forward, "Who's this", Kira asked him, "Salim Hapshass", he replied, "Why?", "Well he comes from a decently wealthy family and I've heard he's currently undefeated in the underground currently", "I see", "Please just consider it", "Alright"

At the underground warehouse

Kira had pulled up to the address that the principal had given him, "Ok", he got out of his car and headed inside, "ALRIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FIGHT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN", he got a seat in the middle of the audience, there he was the blonde kid he was told to scout against a shorter guy,"Oh great a can crusher", he thought about it, "A shorter opponent", "And his opponent", he tuned the name out, "WEIGHING IN AT 135 POUNDS", "And there it is a lighter one too", "BEGIN", the announcer yelled and for multiple rounds he remained unimpressed, constant cheating, headbutts, hits to the back of the head, lowering his head whenever the shorter fighter built momentum, and holding onto his leg whenever he was going to knee him in the face,"yep a complete bust"

In the cage

"GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME", a gruff man in his late twenties told a kid with grey hair as the kid was getting hit, "C'MON KID STOP RUSHING IN.KICK THE LEGS AND GET OUT", he kept screaming right before a buzzer went off and the kid started walking towards his corner, "C'mon you're getting emotional and leaving your chin wide open, this guy's gonna find it and take you out if you keep doing it", he told him, "I KNOW", he yelled at him, "WELL YOU DON'T CAUSE THAT LEFT HOOK IS LANDING A LOT", he hit him on the head, "GET IN THERE AND POINT HIM OUT. FRUSTRATE HIM", "YEAH YEAH"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ROUND SEVEN IS ABOUT TO BEGIN", the announcer spoke into a small microphone as the two fighters met in the center of the cage, "Hey you looked pretty gassed man, want me to go easy?", a snark blonde guy gloated to him, and he just couldn't listen to his coach and screamed back at him, "OH SHUT UP MAN", the grey-haired teenager went rushing in throwing power hook after power hook, "Sloppy", the blonde hit a clean left hook yet again, "C'MON KID I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET EMOTIONAL", the gruff man tried screaming at him again, "WELL BACK TO YOUR HOLE LITTLE RAT", the blonde yelled before weaving a jab and a straight right before

(Credit to Zuffa LLC. and The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship))

the crowd and the Gruff man screamed, "HELL YEAH KID YOU GOT HIM", the man yelled as he ran in the ring and lifted him into the air on his shoulders, "TOLD YA", the grey-haired kid yelled at him as he jumped off his shoulders and now was time to read the decision

"The referee has halted the contest by way of knock out AND YOU WINNER THE BLACK CLOVER ASTA STARIA", the announcer yelled Asta's name while he climbed onto the cage and yelled at the blondies corner men, "WHAT WAS THAT?", he cupped his hand around his ear, "THATS WHAT I THOUGHT", Asta jumped off the cage, "TOLD YOU I GOT THIS", Asta told his coach, "Yeah alright kid I'll give you this one", he smiled as the two got out of the cage unbeknownst to them a rather special person had been spectating

In the back

"Well as promised here's your cut and kid if you keep giving performances like that, you'll be in for a bonus", a rather round man was counting Asta's fight money before smacking it on the table, "I don't know where you found this kid Sukehiro, but damn has he been a spectacle", he told the gruff man, "Yeah, it's been a pleasure", he said as the two of the left the room, "Good job today kid", Sukehiro looked over to Asta, "OH WAIT I THOUGHT I WAS TOO EMOTIONAL?", Asta gave him a huge smile, "Don't get smart with me kid", he ruffled his hair, "You need a ride home?", Sukehiro asked the him, "Nah I'll be fine", Asta rubbed the back of his neck, "You sure kid?", he gave the young man a concerned look, "Yeah it's just an hour or two walk I'll be fine", Asta just gave him a weak smile, "Alright kid be safe", Sukehiro waved to him, "I will", Asta nervously chuckled trying to think of a way to explain the cuts and the swollen eye to his mom, "Man she's not gonna be happy", he said to himself as he turned getting ready to leave the parking lot, "Hey you", Asta heard someone call out to him, "Me?", Asta pointed to himself, "Uh yes", the man began to walk up to Asta giving Asta a clearer look at him

"Umm what's up man?", Asta lifted his brow at the man, "I gotta say kid that was a pretty good knockout", the man complimented him, "Uh thanks dude", Asta replied as he got ready to turn away, "Umm I got to get home or my mom's gonna kill me so I'm just-", "Hold on kid I want to make you an offer", the man grabbed Asta by the shoulder before Asta spun around and front body kicked him away from him, "HEY MAN DON'T BE PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME", Asta lifted his guard, "Woah kid calm down", the man used his arms to motion Asta to calm down, "Look I want to make an offer and you don't have to accept it I'm just asking you to hear me out", the man gave Asta a nod, "Alright", Asta put his hands down, "Alright kid my name is Domanatio Kira", Kira held out his hand which Asta shook, "I'm actually the head of hires at Clover kingdom Academy", Asta's eyes widened, "And we've been looking for a kickboxer to represent our school", Asta couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Asta thought about it for a second and realized there was no way him or his mom could afford it, "Hey look man I appreciate it but I can't afford it so-", but before Asta could finish Kira interrupted him, "no no no that's ok cause I was gonna say that we would like to pay for it", he finished causing Asta to almost lose his mind, "Look like I said that you didn't need to accept just think it over", Kira opened his wallet and retrieved a card, "Look just sit on the offer and think about it, and when you have your answer just give me a call ok?", the man handed Asta the card, "Alright", Asta looked at the card, "Well then have a good night kid and I'm awaiting your answer", Kira walked away to an expensive looking car, Asta waited for the man to leave the parking lot, "OH MY GOD", Asta ran in a circle jumping up and down, "HOLY-", Asta couldn't even finish he was so excited, "ME AT CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY", he chuckled a bit, "WELL MOMS NOT GONNA BE SO MAD NOW", Asta got on his way

Asta had heard about it a prestigious high school that has churned out some of the best athletes, actors, and even musicians he just couldn't believe that he was gonna be one of them, "Man", he thought about the fighters that had achieved greatness in combat sports that came from Clover Kingdom Academy, Mereoleona Vermillion the current undisputed super-lightweight boxing champion of the world, her brother Fuegoleon Vermillion the current Middleweight Clover Cage Fighting champion, Vetto the Light Heavy weight champion for Diamond Ring Kickboxing, and not to mention Acier Silva the Undefeated Undisputed Kickboxing champion in four different weight classes, "MAN I'M GONNA GO TO THE SAME SCHOOL AS THEY DID", Asta was speed walking down the street making some erratic dance moves every now and again, but the celebration was unfortunately short lived as the colors of a cop cars siren began to cast its light on the surrounding buildings, "Oh no", Asta huffed turning around to see that the cop had lowered his window, "HEYYYYYYY DANTE WHAT'S UP", Asta nervously leaned on his car, "Get in kid", Dante didn't acknowledge his greeting, "Alright", Asta opened the door and went in

"Y'know how your mom feels about this", Dante looked into the mirror at Asta, "Yea I know", Asta looked down, "And while I get that you love fighting, I do also know that your mom hates you doing it like this, no head gear, shin guards, no safety gear", he lectured him, "WAIT I-", "Let me finish", Dante stopped him, "And seeing that your knuckles are bleeding I assume you were doing it bareknuckle?", the car came to a stop at a red light, "Yeah", Asta just looked out the window, "And your mom hates it when you do that stuff even more", Dante turned his eyes back to the road, "YEAH BUT I GOT A CRAZY OFFER-", Asta piped up but was cut off again, "One big enough for your mom to overlook it?", Dante sounded a bit sarcastic, "Umm actually", Dante whipped his head around at the response, "Seriously?", "Umm yeah"

At the Staria residence

We see as Asta and Dante pull up to the house, "Hmm your mom might be asleep", Dante opened the car door for him, "Hmmm", Asta couldn't hide his skepticism of his statement, "Alright get it over with", Asta reached into his bag getting his keys, "Looks like she might", Asta walked inside as Dante followed him, but the dream that he would have to face his mother's wraith tomorrow was very short lived as when he passed the kitchen she was sitting at on a dining room chair, "Mind telling me where you were?", his mom asked him, "I was umm-", Asta was again cut off by Dante this time Dante thought the coast was clear, "Well you might be in luck kid-", Dante shut up when he saw Asta's mom, "Lichita", Dante took his hat off and lowered his head, "Dante", Lichita nodded at him, "So mind telling me where you were?", Lichita gave Asta a strong glare, "Umm I uh-", "Actually I'll ask Dante. Dante where was my son?", she turned her attention to Dante, "Umm he was out by fourth street and Light Avenue", Dante rubbed the back of his neck, Asta just gave him a betrayed look, "BUT" Dante raised a finger in the air "He has some amazing news that will most likely make you happy to hear", Dante pushed Asta forward, "Oh really? It doesn't really look like it", Lichita gave him a doubtful look, "I do", Asta spoke up, "Really?", Lichita seemed to be a little shocked, "I uh got an offer to go to Clover Kingdom Academy", Asta looked up at her, "OH MY GOD", Lichita jumped out of her seat, "WAIT, how do I know that you're not lying?", Lichita squinted her eyes, "Umm here", Asta took out the card that Kira had given him, "OH MY GOD- wait Asta we can't-", she was stopped, "I know what you're about to say and they said they wanted to pay for it", Asta smiled, "OH MY GOD,MY BABY", Lichita hugged Asta, "MY BABY IS GOING TO CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY", she squeezed her son tight and squealed she couldn't contain how happy she was for her son, "WHATS ALL THAT NOISE", someone screamed from the sofa, "YOUR BROTHER IS GOING TO CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY", she yelled back at him causing him to roll and fall off the sofa, "WHAT", he got up and ran over to Asta, "SERIOULY BRO", he asked him, "Yeah", Asta smiled while he rubbed the back of his neck, "WOOOOOOOOO", he picked Asta up, "Liebe calm down", Asta laughed at his brother, "ARE YOU KIDDING YOU ARE GONNA GO TO CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY HOW CAN I BE CALM", Liebe swung his brother around, "SHUT UP", the neighbors yelled, "SORRY", Lichita yelled back at them, "Alright tomorrow we'll celebrate", Lichita bounced up and down, "Oh and Dante feel free to invite Zennon and Vanica", she gave him a hug, "Yeah I will", Dante nodded his head at them, "Congratulations kid", he smiled at Asta, "Thanks"

The next day

Lichita had made Asta's favorite breakfast food, roasted potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and eggs, "GUYS BREAKFEAST IS READY", Lichita called out to her kids, "COMING", she heard the two scampering through the hallway, "ALRIGHT", Asta looked at the food, "Your favorite", Lichita smiled at her kids, "THANK YOU", the two yelled through stuffing their mouths, "Asta", Lichita looked at him, "Yeah what's up?", Asta said through a stuffed mouth, "Well I was thinking if you would like me to make the call or do you want that honor?", she asked her son clearly wanting to be the one who makes the call, "why don't you do it mom", Asta smiled at her, "You sure?", "Yeah", Asta went back to eating, "Alright", she went to her room to retrieve her phone, "MAN I CAN'T BELIEVE IT", Liebe looked at his brother, "What's up?", Asta asked him, "What's up? what do you mean, What's up? You are going to go to the most prestigious high school around here", Liebe put his arm around his brother, "And to think it came from you getting whooped", Liebe laughed, "HEY I DIDN'T GET WHOOPED I KNOCKED HIM OUT", Asta was clearly angry, "NOT WITH THAT FACE", Liebe laughed at his little brother, "I'm kidding dude", Liebe leaned back into the chair, "But really I'm so proud of you man", he grabbed Asta in a headlock, "OH THATS IT", Asta picked him up and carried him to the sofa dropping him there, causing both of them to laugh, "Quite", Lichita had come back to the Kitchen her phone to her ear,"Hello?", they heard a womans voice come through the phone making Asta worry, "That guy wasn't-", "Yes my name is Lichita Staria and I believe you gave my son a card with this number", Asta had become very worried that maybe the guy was lying,"Lichita Staria?", the woman on the other end of the phone replied, "Umm yes", Lichita looked over at her son,"Nothing about Lichita Staria, BUT there is an importance placed on a guy named Asta Staria",Asta felt relieved hearing that, "OH well he's my son", Lichita replied, "I see I'll have you on the phone with Mr. Kira soon mam", she said putting Lichita on hold, she was brimming with excitement for her son,"Hello?", this time the voice of the guy Asta met in the parking lot, "Hello this is Lichita Staria", she replied to the man,"OH DOES HE HAVE HIS ANSWER",the man clearly frantic to hear it, "Umm yeah we've decided to take you up on the offer", she replied,"That's amazing",Kira told her, "So uh when would you like to come in?", he asked her, "When's the soonest we can?","Well we're free all day", he told her,"Amazing then you can come in later today",Lichitas eyes widened, "Uh yeah ok","Good I'll see you later",he hung up, "ALRIGHT BOYS GET DRESSED IT'S A FORTY MINUTE DRIVE", Lichita ran to her bedroom, "ALRIGHT", the two ran to their bedroom opening drawers looking for something at least semi decent to wear, Asta settling for a red shirt, black jeans, and a black jacker, Liebe went with a black short sleeve over a white long sleeve with black jeans, and mothers do as they do with Lichita getting ready for 45 minutes, "MOM", Asta yelled to his mom, "HOLD ON I'M ALMOST DONE", she replied but Asta could only pace back and forth, "You nervous?", Liebe asked him, "WHAT ME NERVOUS NO", Asta gave a quick reply, "Uh huh", Liebe smiled, "Hey man you got this", Liebe put his hand on Asta's shoulder, "Trust me, wherever go I know you got this", Asta calmed down a bit, "Thanks man", "And hey if you find any cute girls send em my way", Liebe laughed, "Yeah sure man", Asta replied, "ALRIGHT GUYS TO THE CAR", Lichita came from her room, "I CALL SHOTGUN", Liebe yelled running outside, but it was just Asta and his mom, "OHHH I'M SO PROUD OF YOU", she gave Asta a big hug, "I know", Asta laughed, "NOW LETS GO AND GET YOU THERE", she pumped her fist in the air

Clover Kingdom Academy

The Staria Family pulled into the front of the school, seeing it's very traditional look

"Talk about old fashion", Lichita ushered her children out of the car, "I'll go find parking you boys go ahead and just wait outside", she told the two as she drove away, "Man this place is really........old school", Liebe looked at the entrance way, "Yeah tell me about it", Asta sat down on the grass lawn of the school, "And to think that my little brother is gonna be going here", he grabbed Asta in a headlock ruffling his hair, before Asta pushed him off, "CUT IT OUT", Asta laughed after, "AWWW C'MERE", Liebe picked Asta up by double legging him, "Put me down", Asta fakely hit Liebe on the back trying to get him to let go, "Alright", Liebe put him down, "But I'm serious man", Liebe and Asta sat back down, "Maybe while you're here you'll meet a cute rich girl", He punched Asta in the arm, "Yeah right, as if some rich snobby girl is gonna be interested in me", Asta laughed Liebe's comment off, "are you still thinking about her?", Liebe put his shoulder around Asta, "Yeah", Asta looked down, "Hey dude it's gonna be alright", Liebe assured him, "Yeah your right", the two got up seeing their mom come over, "Alright let's go inside", she said walking towards the front door

Inside the three looked around the office which wasHUGEand at the front desk was a guy with light blue hair and a bolt cut

"Hello", he waved to the family, of which Asta and Liebe were trying their absolute hardest not to laugh at him, "Yeah we're here to see someone named Dominatio Kira", Lichita walked to the front desk, "Oh you must be Asta?", Marx raised his brow, "Uh no he's my son", she pointed back at the two, who were trying not to laugh, "Uh huh", Marx could likely tell why they were laughing, "Ok let me just notify him really quick and he'll be right out", the bowl cut man got up and walked away, "YOU TWO BEHAVE", Lichita whisper yelled to the two who immediately straightened out, "Yes mam", the two went to sit in the chairs waiting for Kira to show up

"Oh, kid I'm glad you decided to take me up on the offer", Asta looked up from a sleepy daze, "Huh?", he couldn't properly make out what the guy was saying, "Sorry I took a bit", he held out his hand for Asta to shake, which Asta after realizing what was going on promptly did, "OH YEAH NO PROBLEM", Asta shook it nervously, "No need to be nervous we'll give you the tour and talk about your enrollment", he gave Asta an assuring smile, "Oh right", Asta put his hands on his pocket

"First is the main hall's the place your locker will be", Kira told the family, which in all fairness while the outside was definitely old school, the interior was rather modern

he showed Asta to the locker that would be his for last two years of high school, "Noelle Silva?", Asta looked at the name plate on the locker right next to his, "Oh she's just another student here", Kira waved off Asta's question, "Oh ok", Asta just left it alone,"Silva huh?", he thought to himself before following Kira to the next sight.

"Here we have the cafeteria, a two-story eatery for students here"

"Do I have to pay?", Asta asked him, "Kinda, you are here on our pay, so just present your student ID and you'll be allowed to order two meals every day for breakfast and lunch", Kira assured Asta, "Man it looks really nice", Lichita looked around, "It is, students here love it", Kira smiled to her, "MAN I'M JEALOUS", Liebe shook his brother, "Yeah yeah man", Asta pushed him away

"Here are the classrooms they are pretty standard throughout the school so they rarely will look much different than this one", Kira opened the door to the classroom

"Smart boards?", Asta looked at the front, "Yeah the latest technology", Kira shook his head, "We still use chalkboards", Liebe commented, "Yeah this is pretty cool, but what about the-", Asta was cut off by Kira, "I know what you're thinking, and yes that's up next", Kira motioned the three to follow him

"And here is the place you will hone your abilities as a fighter"

"A sleek gym with everything from cardio machines, weight training, and of course the standing heavy bags along with the ring", Asta looked around, "GEEZ THIS PLACE IS AMAZING", Asta marveled at the gym, "May I ask for a demonstration?", Kira asked Asta, "What?", Asta looked a little confused, "Oh I'm just asking if you could show me one of the moves you did in the unndeground", Kira commented making Asta and Lichita remember the night before, Asta looked over at his mom, "Go for it kid", she gave Asta a thumbs up, Asta threw a spinning heel hook at the bag which made a loud almost gunshot sound, which was cut off by the chain letting out a loud chink that echoed through the gym, "Oh my for someone your size to be kicking that hard", Kira was amazed alongside Lichita being rather surprised, "Thank you", Asta bowed to him, "But considering your knock out over Hapshass I shouldn't be surprised", Asta wasn't sure what he meant, "Oh never mind I think it's about time we discuss your enrollment", Asta just let it go, "Alright", Lichita giddy with excitement quickly followed, Asta and Liebe stayed behind and looked at the bag, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", the two exploded with laughter

In Kira's office

"So, all that considered I don't think your ambition to attend our school hasn't waned?", Kira asked Asta, "NO NOT AT ALL THIS IS AWESOME", Asta rocked back and forward in his chair, "Fantastic, first I need your mother and you to sign these papers", he pushed a stack of them to them, "What are they for?", Lichita asked him, "The metro pass as I saw through Asta's records that you live rather far from the school, your consent for him to train at and compete for our school, the lunch pass, and Lastly a medical waiver that allows us to give medical care or call emergency services when or even if it was necessary", Kira gave a quick break down of the paper work, "And you're gonna pay for all of it?", she asked, "Yes mam", he smiled at her, "Alright then", she signed the papers Asta soon followed and then they were brought to a photo room, "Alright we'll just be taking Asta's student photo and that will be all until school starts august seventh where you can come to the front office to pick up your ID", Kira told them, "ALRIGHT", Asta sat down and took the picture

Unfortunately, he had forgotten that the night before left his face looking like wild animal tried to maul him, "WAIT CAN I RETAKE IT", he screamed, "Sorry but this is all the time we have before school starts again", Kira gave Asta a reassuring smile, "NO NO NO NOOOO", Asta yelled while his brother and mom laughed at him

In the car ride back

Asta was a bit mopy that his school ID photo turned out terrible, "Hey kid it's just a picture", his mom rubbed his shoulder, "I know just kinda lame that it turned out bad", Asta put his chin into his palm and looked out the window, "Y'know I was so worried about you", she told him, "I know mom", Asta told her, "I was worried that one day something irreparable would happen to you", her eyes got really watery, "I was worried that someday you'd come home and never be the same, but even worse I worried that you'd get yourself killed", she shook her head a little, "Hey mom don't worry ok? I'm fine and here I'll have the best in the world training and looking after me, so you don't need to worry", he assured his mom, "I know I'm just............Happy that the thing you love gets to make you happy", she wiped the tears from her eyes, "Just don't let those kids go around telling you anything cause unlike them you fought really hard to be here", "I won't mom"

The Staria residence

they got back at around seven at night after they went shopping for some new clothes for Asta, "I guess we could just celebrate with everyone tomorrow", Lichita said as she unlocked the door to the house, "Yeah that's fine", Asta said as he walked in

"SURPRISE", the lights to the house shot on as a bunch of friends had planned a surprise party for Asta, "WHAT THE", Asta almost fell over from the surprise, "C'MON KID", a guy with black and purple hair picked him up, "Kid we're in the same grade", Asta playfully pushed him off, "YEAH MAGNA", a blonde boy punched him in the arm, "LUCK CUT THAT OUT", Magna chased Luck outside, "Well kid I never thought YOU of all people would get into a school like that", a girl a few years older than him came over and put her arm on his head to prop herself up, "WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN", Asta flailed his arms in the air getting her away from him, "Calm down kid I'm joking", she went to go sit on the sofa, "Well not gonna lie dude I'm sad your leaving us", a guy with now eyebrows clutched his heart, "You're making it sound like I died", Asta laughed at him, "I can almost hear his voice", a girl with pink hair followed, with the two bursting into laughter, "Whatever", Asta grabbed a chair from the dining table, "WOW DUDE YOU REALLY GOT IN?", a girl with a medical eyepatch got in his face, "Vanica not so close you're spitting", Asta turned his face away from her, "SORRY BUT C'MON HOW'D IT HAPPEN", she shook herself, "I'll tell you later", Asta looked at the counter which had trays of food, "First imma eat", Asta got up but was sat back down by a girl pink eyes and black hair, "Not so fast Dante said to wait", "AWWWW MARI", Asta complained, "NO", she pushed him back down, "FINE", Asta looked over at the sofa where a guy with a star tattoo on his forehead, "Zenon make some room", Asta walked over to him, "Well kid seems that fighting finally paid off", Zenon remarked, "Yeah it did", Asta smiled, "KID", Asta heard from the door, "YAMI", he shot up to greet his coach, "Looks like you got a pretty nice offer", he ruffled Asta's hair, "AH WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP DOING THAT", Asta moved his hand causing Yami to laugh, "Anyways Dante's outside he's about to come in so", "SO WE CAN EAT", everyone laughed at Asta's enthusiasm for the food

Dante came through the front door alongside Asta's mom and brother, "Alright kid here", he placed a box on the table, "What's this?", Asta asked, "A cake", "AWESOME", Asta opened it, "I swear dude you never grew up", Liebe laughed at him, "WHATEVER", Asta got up looking at the people around him Mars a guy that he started to scrap with when they first met, Fana the girl that kind of acted like the voice of reason for them, Mariella a girl who he had met through her adoptive father the man that had introduced him to Yami, Magna Asta's closes friend since first grade, Luck was a close second though meeting through Vanessa a sort of foster sister to Luck and a girl that when Asta was in elementary school he had a huge crush on her, Dante and his siblings Vanica and Zenon, Dante was a guy who had become friends with his mom from his moms working as an emergency hotline operator and he was pretty sure they were dating, Zenon was the middle child of the family and the guy he had the most in common with, Vanica was a weird case she wasn't bad just weird the type of person you tried to avoid in school but when you hung out with her it wasn't really apparent why anyone would avoid her, Yami his coach, trainer, nutritionist ETC. he was also the guy that Asta looked up to the most a retired cage fighter who had to cut it short cause of fear of long term problems in life after he got into a motorcycle crash, but he helped Asta sharpen his skills as a fighter and getting the kid money work at his auto-body shop, Liebe was his older brother and while they looked really reallyREALLYalike, they weren't related by blood if that ever mattered in the first place, and the most important person in Asta's life his mom, she had given up a lot in her life, a love for art, music...................Kick boxing she had given it all to raise him and his brother so to him he could never pay her back, but he would try till the day he died to, "THANK YOU GUYS", Asta's eyes got really watery, "Hey c'mon kid don't cry", Yami put his arm around him, "Just do your best with the opportunity that you've been given", Lichita came to give her son a hug, "I WILL", Asta yelled as the night went on the celebration continued

August 7th

The day had come August 7th, the day he would finally begin to attend the most prestigious school in Clover, and unlike most of the time for school he got up early to get ready since he had to get to the metro in time, but just like him Lichita and Liebe had gotten up early, "Are you sure you don't need a ride", Lichita asked her son, "It's fine mom really", Asta put his hands on her shoulders, "I got this", "Alright", she gave her son a kiss on the cheek, "Alright man this is it, go out there and show them who you are", his brother punched him in the arm, "YEAH", Asta got his backpack, "SEE YOU GUYS LATER", Asta ran down the street waving

getting to the metro was a bit unfortunate as he needed his school ID to get on, which he didn't have yet, even though he had fight money he didn't really want to spend it right now, "OH FINE", he gave the machine 14.50 Yuls getting his ticket

And for the most part it was rather uneventful getting to the school all be it super boring as he just listened to music,"OH MAN", he thought to himself thinking about his first day at a new school, and what felt like forever the metro had finally stopped, "ALRIGHT", Asta got up making his way through the crowd of people, and he saw the school from down the street, "I GOT THIS", he screamed throwing his arms in the air to hype himself up making a B-line to the school

Asta had made it to the parking lot as he saw more people come in pulling up in fancy expensive cars, "Geez talk about loaded", he walked past the parking lot to the front office where he saw Marx again, "Oh Mr. Staria", Marx cut his attention from the line of students who were now giving Asta a death glare for interrupting them, "Here", Marx handed him his ID, "Hehe thanks", Asta scratched his head and power walked away from the line

He was now approaching the lockers where he had seen a big group of people gathered near his,"What the", he thought to himself pushing past the crowd making his way to the front where he saw a few girls by his locker, "This is getting kind of out of control", A girl with blue hair was talking to the others, "Talk about it", another girl with black hair and teal eyes rolled her eyes, "I don't know it's cool I guess", the final girl one with silver hair and pink eyes opened her locker revealing a few packages with hearts on them, the crowd were talking about them how pretty they were, how lucky someone would be to even get to talk to them, it was weird or at least really weird to Asta, they didn't seem tough or like they had any talents so what was the point of fussing over them, "So how was your date with Kiato?", the black haired girl asked the silver one, "Oh well it didn't end up happening he said he an emergency practice for football(Soccer for some of you)", she began to place things in her locker, "What about you and that guy from summer school you end up getting a long?", the silver hair girl replied, "Nah he wasn't really my type", the black haired girl tried to push everything back into her locker, "Oh yeah Grey what about that guy you were hanging out with", they both asked her, "Oh wel-", but the conversation was cut short as they noticed Asta walking towards them, but they didn't recognize him he hadn't been there before, was he some sort of fan?, the silver one rolled her eyes before sighing, "Hey look-", but she was ignored,"WHAT", she thought as she watched the him open the locker right next to hers and put some stuff in, "EXCUSE ME", she closed his locker, "HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR", Asta yelled at her, which also caught her off guard, "YOU ALMOST CRUSHED MY HANDS", Asta looked at his hands making sure nothing was damaged, "WELL ITS YOUR FAULT", she flipped her hair and looked away, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FAULT?", he continued to yell at her, "YOU INTERRUPTED US", she snapped back at him, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DIDN'T EVEN TALK TO ANY OF YOU", Asta began to stomp his foot really fast, "YOU-", "AH NEVERMIND", Asta picked up the stuff he dropped and put it into his backpack trying to disengage with her which also caught her by surprise, "HEY YOU DON'T END THE CONVERSATION WITH ME", she put her hand on Asta's shoulder gripping it, "Let go", Asta looked back at her this time with what felt like actual anger rather than minor annoyance, "NO", she said right before she heard someone call her name, "Noelle what's going on?"

"Kiato", Noelle looked back at him, "Hey what's your problem", he looked at Asta, "MY PROBLEM SHE ALMOST CRUSHED MY HAND INMYLOCKER", Asta yelled at him, "That's no reason to yell at her", he stepped closer to Asta, "SHE YELLED AT ME FIRST, NOT TO MENTION ALMOST BREAKING MY HAND", Asta stood his ground as him and Kiato went face to face, "And what are you gonna do about it?", he got in Asta's face, his girlfriend and her friends had a bit of a snarky look on their faces, "You threatening me?", Asta asked him, "And what if I am?", Kiato replied causing the audience to let out a gasp at the new kid , but Asta didn't respond, "Say something", Kiato told Asta but he didn't say anything, "Ok then", Kiato turned around as if he was gonna leave, but immediately turned back and took a swing at Asta who ducked it and without saying a word Asta leaned back

Asta dropped him with a headbutt, "OH sh*t", Noelle went to her boyfriend's side, "WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?", she yelled at him, "Shouldn't have swung first", Asta said as he picked his backpack up, "WHATS GOING ON HERE?", they heard a woman scream

the woman made her way through the crowd seeing the scene as it currently was, "HE HIT HIM", Noelle pointed at Asta, "HEY I DIDN'T PUT MY HANDS ON HIM", Asta yelled back at her, "ALRIGHT ALL OF YOU MY OFFICE NOW", the lady yelled, "Yes Ms. Roselei", Noelle and her friends gave Asta the middle finger, "YOU TOO", Asta yelled at them, "YOUNG MAN", Ms. Roselei grabbed Asta by the back of his shirt, "Kiato started it", a voice was heard from the middle of the crowd, "I'm sorry what?", Roselei let go of Asta, "Kiato started it", the voice said again, this time moving past the crowd

"Is that so? All of you agree that's what happened?", Roselei asked the crowd who seemed to agree some of them coming forward showing her the a short video of the altercation making her let go of him, "I'll still be calling your mom, and you will be in detention for a month hitting someone even if they started it is wrong", she dusted Asta off, "And that is your first warning", she walked away following Noelle and Co, "Thanks", Asta looked the guy, "What's your name?", he asked him, "Yuno", he replied, "Well nice to meet you man, and really you saved my skin", Asta nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "No problem I can't stand that guy", Yuno looked in the direction they were going, "I just met him and I hate him", Asta chuckled,*RING RING*the sound of the bell letting the students know it was time for Home room had gone off, "Well thanks man, maybe I'll catch you at lunch", Asta ran waving at Yuno, "He seems a little weird", Yuno turned around

"Ahh, chill Klaus he seems fine", Yuno just started walking the same direction of Asta, "Think we got any classes with him?", Klaus asked him, "Probably", Yuno smiled, "Didn't know you could smile", Klaus playfully shoved him, "Aw shut up man I just couldn't wait for that guy to get what was coming, maybe now he'll stop acting like such a big shot", the two laughed walking down the hall way

With Noelle and her friends

"WHAT WAS THAT GUYS PROBLEM", Noelle screamed holding an ice pack to her boyfriend's eye, who hadn't really said anything since it happened, Charlotte Roselei, the head of discipline at the school had come into the room, "SO WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO THAT GUY", Noelle got up, "Well I heard that Kiato is the one who started the altercation", she sat down and rose her eyebrow at the group, which did cause the group to kind of just shut up, "But-", "AND from what I've heard from other students, you also had a hand in starting it", "WELL I", "I'm not going to lie to you Ms. Silva the year literally just started, and you are already looking to be in trouble", she scolded her, "BUT" "No but's Noelle I told you last year that this type of behavior was unacceptable and the year before that, so I suggest you stop it, but as for Kiato he'll be suspended for throwing the first punch got it", "Yes mam", the group aside from Kiato answered, , "Noelle you'll be having detention for the first month of class, GOT IT", Noelle just nodded her head as she looked down, "So out of my officenow", Noelle's group left the room, "WHO DOES THAT GUY THINK HE IS", Charmy her best friend at school yelled as soon as they were out of earshot, "I know right?", Grey the seemingly shy one was speaking out, "Whatever doubt we'll have too many interactions with him anyway", Noelle assured her friends before turning to her boyfriend, "You ok?", he was silent for a while, "It hurt", he broke that silence, "He hit me and it hurt worse than almost anything I've ever been hit by", he walked alongside the girls, "Hey man don't be-", "You didn't notice it did you?", he looked at Noelle, "Notice what?", "His face", "What about his face?", "He had a bunch of scars on it, and his knuckles were an entirely different color than the rest of his hands, also when he hit me it felt like his head was made of metal", Kiato gave his girlfriend a slight look of annoyance, "I'll see you guys later", he walked away without so much as a kiss, "Geez he seems really mad about it", Charmy chuckled, "Yeah talk about pissy", Grey commented, "Well he's just upset right now", Noelle wasn't all too sure of her last words, "Well I'll see you later", she waved to her friends

Now was the time for home room, "Well it couldn't get worse than that", she said to herself as she opened the door to her home room,"OH NO", she thought as she saw that the boy from earlier was in the same home room class as her, but what made it worse was the fact that the only available seat was right next to him,"OK CAN'T BE WORSE", she thought to herself, "Alright guys sit down and get comfortable, cause these are the seats you'll be having for the rest of the year", the teacher announced to the class,"Goodbye peace", she went to sit down next to him,"And hello year filled with problems"

Chapter 2: Day of encounters

Chapter Text

In Asta's homeroom

Asta wasn't really paying attention to what the teacher was saying, and to be fair homeroom back at his old school didn't really matter it was more or less a place where kids who didn't do their homework got to work on it and the more likely bit was that they were copying their friends work, so he decided to just zone out. Noelle however, was a little agitated by his presence even if Asta was clocked out, but every now and then during the class she would give him a slight side eye glare of which Asta never really saw, and after a while of him not really acknowledging it, she waved her hand in front of his face which did get his attention, "Huh", Asta broke out his daze and turned to face her, "Oh you", he turned his head back ,"HEY", she got his attention again, "What?", Asta looked back really annoyed, "What do you mean, what?", Noelle felt her head about to explode, "You should be apologizing to me", she told him, "Why?", he asked, "You hit Kiato and it got me detention for the rest of the month", a vein in her head had become visible, "Well he shouldn't have swung at me first", Asta turned his attention to his phone, "You were yelling at me", "Cause you almost smashed my hands", a vein was now popping out of his head, "YOU interrupted my friends and I", she gave him a snark flip of her hair, "Whatever", Asta again went back to his phone, "Ah whatever you too", she turned to face the teacher again

The rest of the period was largely like that Asta and her just inconveniencing each other when they had the chance, but when the bell finally rang Asta shot up out of his seat and left the room, "Finally", he walked away from the class looking at his schedule, "Chemistry with W. Vangeance", he began to walk to class, "Hey you new kid", Asta turned his head to see who was talking to him, it was the nerdy looking guy from earlier with Yuno, "Oh hey you know where Chem with Vangeance is?", Asta walked over to him, "Oh yeah I got that class right now just follow me", Klaus replied, "THANKS MAN", Asta clasped his hands together, "No problem"

In the Halls

the two conversed on the way there, "So what do your parents do?", Klaus asked Asta, "Oh well it's just my mom", Asta scratched the back of his head, "I see......Well, uh what does she do?", "She's an emergency hot line operator", Asta answered, "What?", Klaus was rather confused, "What do you mean what?", "Like a normal job?", "Yeah?", Asta raised his eyebrow, "So how are you paying for it?", he asked Asta, "Oh well we're not paying for it the school is", Asta answered again, "Really?", Klaus wasn't expecting that, well to be honest he wasn't expecting any of what he was saying, "What's wrong?", Asta asked, "So you're here on a scholarship?", Klaus smiled at him, "I'm not gonna lie to you I don't really know", "Huh", "I guess you could call it that, but I'm mostly here to represent the schools kickboxing team", Klaus was also surprised by the answer, I mean having a student get in on fighting alone was unheard of even Mereoleona had to get at least a C average when she attended and even then the school was very unwilling to pay for her attendance, "What happened?", Klaus came with another question, "With what?", Asta wasn't sure what he meant, "How did they get you here?", "Oh I was fighting a lot of underground fights and I guess after I beat Hapass they felt that I could be something here", Asta just shrugged since they never really told him exactly why they wanted him here, "Hapass?", "Yeah that was the guy's name............I think", Asta began to stroke his chin thinking if it was the name, "Hm sounds similar to a guy me and Yuno knew, he was kind of a jerk", Klaus commented as he remembered a scuffle in middle school he had with him, "I don't know not really sure why someone like that would be fighting in the underground", Asta put his hands behind his head, "You fought in the underground?", Klaus was starting to get increasingly worried, "Yeah", "Wait where are you from?", Klaus got to the question Asta was probably most worried about answering, "I'm from uh....................................................................I'm from Hage", Asta nervously scratched his cheek, "WHAT", Klaus again yelled prompting another student to tell him to shut up, "Sorry", Klaus looked at Asta way closer and it made sense he wasn't wearing expensive clothing, he had a really beat up pair of converse, and not that he was looking at him closely his face was also rather tattered, "Is that a problem", Asta looked at him, "No just surprising", Klaus smiled, "I think don't anyone like you has even ever been to the school while I've been here", Klaus smiled at him, "Hey great to know that", Asta smiled and looked ahead, "This is it", Klaus opened the door the only two seats available were in the middle, "Damn", the two sat down

from the moment class started it felt like it was going on forever, "Is this all the classes today?", Asta asked Klaus, "All of what?", Klaus wasn't sure what he meant, "It's just the last class I had it was just a speech and that was it", "Oh yeah that's all today is gonna be", Klaus just gave him a blank look, "Damn", Asta just rested his chin on his palm thinking about detention for the rest of the month

The class wrapped up and third period was about to begin, "Oh wait before you leave can you tell me where, Psychology with D. Unsworth is?", Asta asked Klaus, "Oh yeah it's the sixth floor of HSS building", Klaus waved leaving in the opposite direction, "Ok thanks man", he waved back heading over there, "That was way better than last class", Asta thought as he walked through the halls to the outside before he abruptly stopped, "I don't know where the HSS building is"

Asta had completely forgotten to ask where the building itself was, "Maybe I should've paid attention to the tour more rather than laugh at the guy with the bowl cut", he lamented his lack focus pulling out his phone to check the time, "OH NO NO NO", Asta tugged his hair, "CLASS STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES", he walked in a circle thinking of how to get to class, "You need help?"

"YES, PLEASE THANK YOU", Asta grabbed the guy by the ankle, "Woah chill man", he shook Asta off, "Follow me"

"Y'know everyone's talking about you", the guy suddenly spoke to Asta while they walked, "What?", Asta was puzzled as he had only talked to like four people, "You didn't know?", he gave Asta a bit of a weird look, "Nah I've only spoken to a few people while I've been here so far", the two continued, "Really? That's weird, but yeah people are buzzing about you", the guy kind of gave an awkward smile, "Why's that?", "Oh come on man you know why", he nudged him with his elbow, but Asta couldn't really figure what he was talking about and then it hit him like a ton of bricks,"Mom is so gonna kill me", he thought back to a couple hours earlier where he headbutted Kiato, "Oh yeah", Asta looked down, "Hey man don't feel bad that dudes a total A hole", he finally lead Asta to the HSS building, "Well here you are", he said getting ready to walk away, "Oh wait what's your name?", Asta asked, "Finral", he gave Asta a thumbs up as he left

In Psych class

"Alright class we'll just be going over the syllabus for the class and I'll let you talk amongst yourselves", Ms. Unsworth told her class as she looked at the paper, Asta wasn't very concerned with her he was just worried that his mom was gonna whoop his ass,"Man I really shouldn't have done that", he thought about the altercation, the silver haired girl, Kiato who he didn't even know that he was such a big deal or that people were talking about the incident , Although Asta had been on auto pilot mode knowing that most of today wasn't really that important so maybe they were and he just never noticed,"Ah this is too much for me to think about right now", Asta looked as the class spoke, hearing people talk about how their summers were, what new expensive thing their parents bought them, going to a different country, and then there was Asta someone who had spent the last month of summer grounded for getting caught in the underground, but even before that was more or less just hanging out with his friends which he enjoyed but compared to what the people who were around him it definitely made him feel more out of place than ever, "What's wrong?", Ms. Unsworth tapped Asta on the shoulder, "Oh nothing mam", Asta offered up a pretty weak smile, "I know that's not true young man", she showed her skepticism of that, "It's true", he kept trying to wave her off, "Alright kid, but I still would like to talk to you after class", she gave Asta a pat on the back, "Yes mam", he sighed putting his chin in his palm,"Great", he thought to himself knowing that he was likely to be in trouble

"Alright guys have a good lunch and rest of your day", Ms. Unsworth dismissed her class seeing the students pour out, "Not you Mr. Staria", she called Asta out as he tried to sneak away with the crowd, "Nice try kiddo", she laughed at the attempt, "Sorry it slipped my mind", Asta tried to play it off, "Uh huh", she smiled at her student, "Earlier I asked you if something is wrong and you said no", "Yeah", "Well I'm not gonna lie I don't really believe that", she typed something into her computer, "Why's that?", Asta asked her, "Well in my first class of today I heard students talking about an altercation from earlier with the head of the football team", she turned her computer to Asta showing him the video of him headbutting Kiato, "Yeah I uh-", "Hold on to that thought. So, I decided to go through your record, and I did find some interesting stuff", "Wait-", "Let me finish please, suspension's during middle school and a few during your freshman and sophom*ore year, a few brushes with law enforcement, and unsanctioned fighting", she looked up at Asta, "I know", he looked away, "Now I don't want your time here to be short neither do I want it to be miserable", Asta was pretty surprised by her statement, "So I was gonna say that I think having weekly meetings to discuss how you feel about your new environment could do you some good", she switched to writing in a notebook, "Our discussions will be between you and me only I won't tell the school, I won't tell your mom, and I won't even tell the alley cat that hangs around the greenhouse", he laughed a little at the last one, "Thank you", "No problem, I want you to succeed while you're here. This IS supposed to be the bestt time of your life", she held out her hand for him to shake, "Thanks Ms. Unsworth", "Please just call me Dorothy", they shook hands, "Now you go and have a great year, ok?", "I will", Asta walked away feeling a lot better than he did when he first talked to her, "Well that went way better than I expected", he began walking to the cafeteria

At the Cafeteria

When he made it there though the line was crazy long, "UHHH", he groaned getting in line, "NEXT", the cooks yelled one after the other before they got to Asta, "What would you like sir?", "You guys got anything high in protein?", "Yeah lemon teriyaki chicken with stir fried vegetables and quinoa", "I'll have that then", "Alright", the cashier held her hand out, "Cash or card?", she looked at the tablet, "Uh card?", Asta handed her his student ID, "Thank you", she scanned it and asked for him to wait eight minutes, he looked at the glass while his food was being cooked which was admittedly cool, "Mr. Staria", he turned his head to see Kira, "Oh hey Kira how've you been?", Asta gave him a nervous look, "I've been fine, but I would like to speak with you in my office", "Oh yeah sure my food is-", "Don't worry Mr. Staria I'll wait", the last five minutes went by really slow, "Alright lets go", Kira motioned Asta after he received his food

In Kira's office

"It seems you've had quite the debut Mr. Staria", Kira bawled his hands together, "Hehe yeah", Asta nervously tried to not make eye contact, "Now I know that Kiato is the one who engaged the encounter, but still it's not a good look for that to be your first day", Kira rearranged some of the papers on his desk, "I know", "It has also come to my attention that Ms. Unsworth has arranged for you two to meet weekly", "Yes", "Ms. Roselei also told you about detention", "Yes", "Now I understand that our school maybe very different from your last one, and I can understand that it may be hard to adjust, but that type of thing can't go unpunished wheater", Kira sifted through the papers, "She also tried to call home, but no one answered","YES", Asta thought to himself that he got saved from a whooping, "Ok", Asta responded, "So I will be sending a letter home","NO", Asta thought as he got thrown into the whooping again, "Ok", "I'll have Ms. Roselei give it to you after detention", he began to write on the piece of paper, "I do hope that your future here will be better than today", Kira looked up, "I promise you sir it will", Asta assured him, "Alright you can go", Asta got up to leave, "And Mr. Staria", Kira stopped him, "Yeah?", "I don't want you to feel like I'm or anyone else is attacking you", "I know", "It's just this was a big risk to take, and I want you to do well here", Kira gave him a reassuring smile, "I know and I promise I will try my best", "That is all I ask", Kira gave him one last smile as Asta left the room eating his food

Outside

"I gotta find a place to sit", he went outside with his tray Asta decided to just eat by the fields sitting on the bleachers, "Man this is so good", he almost cried tears of joy at the food he was eating, "Hey", Asta looked up to see Yuno and Klaus, "Oh hey what's up", Asta wiped the sauce off his face, "Mind if we sit with you?", Yuno asked him, "Yeah no problem", "So what did Kira want to talk to you about", Yuno asked, "The incident from earlier", Asta answered, "I never got your name", "Asta", he replied, "Well Asta you've kicked up a hell of a lot of dust", Yuno laughed a bit, "Unfortunately", he slumped down, "You get in trouble?", "Yep, detention for the rest of the month", "Ouch", "Tell me about it", "Klaus told me about you", Yuno looked over to Asta, "Yeah?", "Yeah, said you were here for kickboxing", "Yeah", "Congratulations you are the one of like five other students who are doing a combat sport, these days", "Really?", "Yeah", "Huh", Asta was really shocked to hear that, this was a school built on combat sports so to hear that, "So what do you think so far?", Yuno asked him, "Boring and kind of tense", Asta answered, "Really?", "Yep", "I would've thought that you would've heard about earlier more", Asta thought about it remembering the silver haired girl from earlier, "Hey so that silver haired girl she's Noelle right?", Asta asked, "Yeah why?", "Well her locker said Silva", "Ok?", "And she kinda looks like-", "Acier Silva?", "Yeah", "Yep she's her youngest", Yuno faced the field watching a group of people run laps, "So is she one of the-", "Nope", "Really?", "Yeah she seems more fitted to just be an actor or something, not bad but she isn't as tough as her old lady was", Yuno remarked with a bit of a scough, "Huh guess tough parent doesn't equal tough kid", Asta continued eating before the shadow of someone loomed over him causing him to look up

"I've been looking around for you awhile", the guy told him, "Um ok", Asta just tried to get back to eating, "Well I-", he was interrupted, "Hold on, you see my names Sekke I'm a part of the schools combat sports program", he kept talking, "And I've been hearing about you a lot today", "Apparently everyone has", Asta rolled his eyes, "Yes and I have to say I'm not too impressed y'know with you just cheap shotting a guy who plays football", "Ok well he swung at me first so that sounds like a him problem", Asta grabbed his food and tried to leave before Sekke got in his way, "So I was gonna ask you if some friendly sparring was something you might be interested in?", Sekke asked him, "Sure dude just after school cause-", "Why wait till then, we still have twenty minutes", Sekke gave him a smug look, "Well I was gonna say later so I could finish-", "If you don't want to I understand, I do have a pretty good reputation around here", He pointed to himself proudly, "You saying I'm scared?", Asta began to grit his teeth, "Why else would you not accept?", Yuno cut into the conversation, "Hey man he said he doesn't want to right now so back off", "So he can't-", Sekke seemed like he was gonna tell Yuno something, "Alright then", Asta interrupted, "Good just follow me", Sekke beckoned him. As they walked it was rather quite aside from some of the whispers from other students who were wondering what they were doing before piecing together that they were likely going to fight

In the gym

When they did get to the gym there were a few people in there a guy with red hair who was practicing foot work drills, a tan girl who was running on the treadmill, two people sitting on the ring apron talking, "This is it", "I know I've been in here before", Asta just rolled his eyes, "Really? I haven't seen you before", Sekke didn't try to hide his skepticism, "Yeah during a tour like a month ago", Asta looked at the people who were working out of which they turned their attention to them, "Sekke what are you doing", one of the two talking on the apron asked, "Just looking to spar the new guy", he walked passed them, "I'm gonna go get ready in the locker room you do as you please", Asta just took off his shirt and shoes, "You really gonna fight this tool?", Yuno leaned over to Asta, "It's not fighting he said sparring", Asta made his way to the ring, "I know but he has a reputation for saying that then going as hard as he can", Yuno followed , "Well I'll hit him as hard as he hits me", "Alright dude just don't say I didn't warn you", Yuno put his hands up, "Looks like we have company", Klaus tapped him on the shoulder pointing his thumb back to the entrance as students had begun to come in to watch the two, "Hey I left my gloves in my locker so-", "Use mine", the red haired guy walked up to him, "Really? Thanks", he looked at the gloves

"ARE YOU SURE?", Asta held the pair of Winning gloves, "Yeah go ahead", "MAN THESE ARE SO EXPENSIVE", he put one of them on, "SO COOL", the other guy laughed, "You never seen a pair of gloves before?", he laughed, "Well yeah but not ones these expensive", he marveled at them, "Expensive?", the red head gave Asta a weird look, "Yeah these are like 400-500 yuls", he couldn't believe he was even holding a pair right now, "Huh that's not that much", "NOT MUCH MY ASS", he finally Asta began to one of the gloves with his, "Come on now no need to be afraid", Sekke interrupted the two, "Oh yeah I forgot about you", Asta made his way into the ring while more students began to surround it even some teachers did, "Alright", Asta tried to touch gloves with him, but was laughed away before Sekke got in his face, "You should've really thought this out more, cause now I'm gonna show these people you don't belong here", he pointed to the crowd where he had noticed that Kiato, Noelle, and her friends watching as well as the tan girl who had stopped her work out to see what was going to happen. he also noticed that Kira and some blonde guy were watching, "You got here to try and touch elbows with the elite, but the sad truth is after today you'll be going straight back to the dirty streets you came from so enjoy it while it lasts", Sekke walked to his corner with the sound of the buzzer going off signifying the beginning of the round

Sekke walked forward with a traditional Muay Thai stance, "You ready?", he asked, Asta didn't responded though, he was the first to engage throwing a few jabs to start off the round however, Asta was just leaning back and parrying when necessary, "YOU GOT THIS SEKKE", Asta looked over to the crowd where more than a few people were cheering him on, "DON'T TAKE YOU EYES OFF", Sekke was about to come in with a hook, of which Asta simply leaned out of the way pivoting to get away from the ropes, "Ok you got some pretty ok foot work", Sekke gave him a back handed compliment, still bouncing he tried to throw a straight right which just barely missed Asta who pulled away again, "Come now there's no reason to run", Sekke lifted his arms up and down trying to elicit a response from the crowd, Sekke walked forward throwing a leg kick that was checked, and trying to blitz Asta with a jab straight jab combination, but Asta kept weaving and moving away, "Alright that's starting to get a little annoying", he came forward yet again trying to catch Asta with a round house which again barely missed with Asta getting away, "STOP RUNNING AWAY", Sekke tried to rush in with a heavy hook

He caught him on his way in flatlining him causing the crowd to go silent, "I'm not here to rub elbows with the elite or whatever you said and I'm not here to try and meet the kid of some celebrity, I'm here cause I fought to be and because this school has turned out some of the best fighters in the world which is something Iwillbe some day", Asta told him as his friends tried to pick him up

Kira was impressed to say the least, sure there weren't many students who were apart of the combat sports program, but to take Sekke out with one punch was seriously impressive,"You keep getting emotional and running in with your chin in the air he's gonna find it and take you out" "FRUSTRATE HIM POINT HIM OUT", Kira thought about the man in Asta's corner that day, "I told you he's the real deal", Kira looked over at the blonde man, "I have to say I wasn't sure about him when you first told me but I do have to admit he's impressive"

"Seems like he's not half bad", the tan girl looked over to the red head, "Huh Leo?", "No kidding", Leo smiled watching as the he got out of the ring and handed him his gloves, "Thanks for letting me borrow these", "No problem man", he gave the grey-haired boy a little tap on the arm, "I can't wait to work with you, huh Sol?", "Yeah color me impressed", she gave him a small wave as he returned the gesture and began to walk over to Yuno and Klaus, "Maybe that'll give her some motivation", he looked over to Noelle

"WHAT", Noelle thought to herself as she watched the short guy take off the gloves and hand them to her cousin, "This guy-", she thought about what Kiato said earlier,"You didn't notice it did you?" "Notice what?" "His face" "What about his face?" "It was filled with scars, and his knuckles were an entirely different color than the rest of his hand", it hit her,"Let go" "NO", "HE COULD HAVE HE",Noelle clinched her fists thinking about when she had confronted him

The crowd was very surprised most of them sort of whispering amongst themselves, "Hmm I thought he would be a little bit more of a brawler", Dorothy commented with Ms. Roselei just standing there, "hm", she looked at Asta as he began to get out of the ring

"Looks like you were right about him", Klaus chuckled a bit with Yuno saying nothing only cracking a small smile at him, "What class you guys got after this?", Asta asked the two, "History with Granvorka", Klaus answered, "Sweet we can go together", Asta said while he put his shirt and shoes back on, "Mr. Staria", he saw as Kira came up to them, "What's up Kira?", "I was actually going to ask about the guy in your corner that night", "Oh Yami", "So that's his name? Well yeah", "What about him?", "I was gonna ask if he might be able to come here and train you?", "REALLY?", Asta jumped up, "Yeah I noticed that you took his advice from that night and thought he might be able to help you out if you feel you don't giv with the coaches here", Kira patted him on the back as the bell ring, "Sorry but I have to get to class, I'll ask him though", Asta, Yuno, and Klaus left the gym

In the Halls

"That was a pretty clean knock out", Klaus looked over at Asta, "Thanks", Asta stared at his phone, "What are you looking at?", Yuno asked, "My friends want to hang out Friday", he put his phone back in his pocket, "You guys wanna come?", Klaus and Yuno looked at each other, "Um sure what are you guys going to do?", Yuno asked, "Not sure yet but they want to hang out", "OH THAT'S RIGHT, what's your guys numbers", he took his phone out again, "Here", Klaus took his out and handed it to Asta, "Cool, Yuno?", "Here", he also handed him his phone, "Alright I'll text you guys later when I find out", the trio continued to walk to class, "You guys ever do any martial arts?", Asta asked the two, "Nope", "Oh well I got a few belts in taekwondo", Klaus answered pushing his glasses up, "Yeah when we were like eight", Yuno laughed at him, "HEY I STILL GOT IT", Klaus sarcastically yelled at him, "Plus it really isn't all to applicable", "That's not true", Asta cut in, "Huh?", "It's not useless it's like most martial arts, you need a lot of self-involvement y'know?", "I don't", Yuno gave Asta a blank stare

EXPLANATION

The Legendary Bruce Lee once said, "Absorb what is useful discard what is not and Add what is uniquely your own", meaning that it is up to the individual to find out what works for them. A prime example is Wonder boy Stephen Thompson a Kempo Karate specialist. A form of karate believed to have been long outdated and surpassed by other styles of karate such as Kyokushin-kai or Shotokan, it was also largely believed that it was far worse than other kickboxing styles such as Muay Thai and Dutch Kickboxing, However, Wonder boy had managed to climb to the top of the welterweight division and have very close contests with Tyron Woodley someone who is widely regarded as the fourth greatest welterweight in UFC history, and impressive displays of high level striking against people such as Robert Whittaker, Jeorge Masvidal, Geoff Neal, and Vincente Luque, all through his style of touch and go as well as an emphasis on managing distance with the lead leg side kick utilizing it as a push back and get away tool. And because of this we was able to make what was considered far too traditional to be effective in the highest level of mixed martial arts, uniquely his own work at that level of mixed martial arts. In that same vein Taekwondo has had its high-level representatives such as the current interim UFC feather weight champion Yair "Pantera" Rodruguez and Anthony "Showtime" Pettis who is a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion. So yes, it can be applicable, but it is up to the user to make it such

Klaus and Yuno were pretty surprised by Asta's speech as when they talked to him throughout the day, he didn't seem all that smart, "Couldn't have said it better myself"

the girl from earlier strung her bag with her, "hey you're one of the people who were there before me and Sekke", "Yep names Sol Marron but you can just call me Sol", she pointed her thumb to herself, "I have to say your speech earlier was pretty neat, but I guess you understand more about fighting than I thought", Sol laughed at him, "HUH?", "Calm down dude it was a compliment", she kept pace with the three, "So you're not gonna elaborate?", Asta asked her, "What is there to elaborate on? You pretty much said what I've been thinking", "Really?", "Yeah, so I was pretty happy to see you leave Sekke flat on his face", she laughed, "I thought you guys were friends?", "US NOW WAY! He's a total ass, plus he was saying some pretty similar stuff about taekwondo", she gave Yuno a bit of a glare, "You do taekwondo?", "Nope", "Then why do you care?", "Cause I also think that almost anything can work if applied right", she thought about what he said, "So what do you do then?", Asta asked her, "I do Judo", she proudly announced "So you must be pretty good", "Yep, already got my black belt", she put her hands behind her head, "REALLY", Asta marveled at her, "Yep", she gave them a smug smile, "So have you won anything yet?", Klaus asked, "Um no, but I got eighth at summer regionals", she nervously scratched the back of her head, "That's still pretty cool, I only ever fought in the underground before this", Asta gave her a small bit of reassurance, "Oh yeah I remember Kira told me and Leo about someone like that, I guess that was you?", "Yeah", "Well hate to interrupt but we're here", Yuno told them, "That's fine this is my next class anyways", Sol replied, "Really? Then you can sit with us", Asta offered her, "Sure"

In class

"Classes today, have been boring", Asta groaned as he leaned back in his chair, "The first day is always like this", Yuno leaned his head into his hand, "Sorry guys but tomorrow will be more eventful", Mr. Granvorka patted Yuno on the back, "Your friends decided what to do yet?", Klaus tried to elevate the boredom, "Who's friends?", Sol asked, "Asta's, his friends said they wanted to hang out Friday", Klaus answered, "Nope, but I got an idea of who's going to come", Asta stretched his arms across the table phone in hand, "I see", Sol looked over him, "Wanna come?", Asta asked, "Really?", "Yeah-", "Dude we don't even know her", Yuno commented while returning the glare from earlier, "Hey the more the merrier", Asta turned his attention back to his phone, "And besides I don't know you guys too well and I invited you", Yuno nor Klaus could really deny it, "I'm gonna be in the gym a lot so I'll see her anyway", "YEAH", Sol blew her tongue out at him, "Ok", Yuno just rolled his eyes trying to ignore her, "You know where it's gonna be?", "I'm not sure probably somewhere around where I live", Asta scrolled through his messages, "Where do you live?", Sol asked, "Hage", "Really? I thought you'd live at least at like Kikka", "Nah that's too expensive for my mom to afford", "Hm", Sol looked at him, "How many people are going to be there aside from us?", "Uh like five maybe seven", Asta counted on his fingers, "You still do that", the tension between Klaus, Sol, and Yuno was broken by them laughing at him, "HEY", "Keep it down", "Yes Mr. Granvorka", the four went back to conversing

for Asta history wasn't bad at all, probably because he had a few people to talk to, "Asta you coming to the gym for free period?", Sol asked before the four parted ways, "Free period?", Asta was really confused about what she was talking about, "Check your schedule last class says free period right?", Asta took out his phone to see, "It does", He looked at it, "How did you know?", "All of the combat sports students get the last period free to train", Sol explained to him, "How did I not notice that earlier", "You don't notice a lot of things", Yuno remarked as he walked away, "HEY OH WHATEVER", he yelled at him, "Yeah sure then", "Cool see you later", the four separated, "So this is my last class for today", Asta walked away, "AWWW MATH", he groaned, "Whatever it won't be that bad today, Morgen Faust hm sounds familiar"

In front of the math room

"So, this is it", Asta looked seeing he had actually been the first student there with the teacher sitting at the desk, "Hi", he waved to him, "Hi", Asta passed him not really paying attention while he looked at his phone, "You're rather early", he looked up from his phone

"Most students usually get here as late as they can get away with", Asta shook his head trying to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, "What's wrong?", Mr. Faust asked him, "Nothing I just......Have we met before?", he asked his teacher, "I don't think we have", but Asta was still skeptical of that, "Weird question but do you have a brother?", his teacher seemed to have been a bit bothered by the question, "Why do you ask?", he kept his close eyed smile, "Nah it's just you look exactly like my friend", he began scrolling through his camera roll to find a picture of him, "You sure?", "Yeah I'm positive you look like him", he finally found a picture of the two, "Here", he lifted his phone to him

Morgen opened his eyes wide seeing the picture of the two, "Yes I do", he finally answered the question, "His name Nacht?", "Yes", Morgen clearly seemed a bit sad about the subject, "That's weird he's never mentioned you", "Is that so?", he looked at the ceiling, "Can I ask why?", Asta had becomeREALLYcurious about what happened between them, "I think it's best you ask him yourself it's not my place to say anything about it", Asta nodded and decided to leave it having the two of them remain silent for a while, "So how is he?", Morgen broke the silence, "Huh?", "Nacht how is he?", Morgen clarified, "He's been good", Asta thought about him, "He's got an apartment, a pretty good job, a girlfriend, and he's a really good friend", it made Morgen happy to hear, "That's good", he sat on his thoughts for a few seconds, "What's his girlfriend's name?", "Her names Ichika", Morgen had been caught off guard by the name, "What?", "Nothing it's just I never thought the two would actually get together", Morgen stared at the ground this time with a more soft expression, "I'm glad", he looked back at Asta, "Where does he work?", he couldn't help but ask wanting to find out what his brother had been up to, "He works with my coach at his body shop", Asta thought about the first time they had met when his mom needed work on her car done, "That's right you are one of the combat sports students", Morgen looked at role sheet, "Asta?", "Yes", "Hm. So, what's your coaches names?", "Well his first name is Sukehiro but I just call him Yami", Morgen almost fell over in his chair, "YOU KNOW HIM?", he pulled his chair back, "Yeah I've known him since I was pretty young", "So how's he doing?", Morgen leaned in, "He's cool his shops doing well, likes cars, he's also a great coach", "How do you like the coaches here compared to him?", Morgen asked, "I didn't get to train with any of them, but he's probably going to start coming here so it doesn't really matter", Morgen's eyes seemed to pop out of his head, "WHAT?", Morgen couldn't believe what he was hearing and not to mention he probably still wasn't ready to see him again, "Does Charlotte know?", "Who's Charlotte?", "Ms. Roselei", "Why would she?", Asta was super confused, "Nothing never mind", morgen saw more students began to come in

class went by quickly which made the first day a bit more bearable, "I also want you guys to know that there is tutoring for math on Thursdays", Morgen told the class Asta waved him goodbye started heading to the gym deciding since he had a free period to end the day to take his time checking out the map seeing where things were and after looking at it for a while his head almost overheating from how big the school was he decided to head over

"ASTA YOUR LATE", Sol berated him, "Yeah I know", Asta covered his head as she kept chopping him over the head, "WELL DON'T MAKE IT A HABIT", the other four in the gym looked over at the two, "Hey the guy who let him use his gloves earlier called out to him, "Oh hey I didn't get to thank you for the gloves earlier", Asta shook his hand, "Don't mention it", he laughed, "Well I'm just gonna get to work", Asta placed his bag near the ring, "Wanna do a couple rounds?", the red head asked, "Sure", Asta said as he took his shirt off and was stopped from taking off his shoes, "Sorry I'm no good with kicks", he scratched the back of his head, "Ok", Asta was rather surprised, "Y'know I think I've seen you somewhere", Asta got a closer look at him, "You probably know my siblings Mereoleona and Fuegoleon", he nervously rubbed his arm, "OHH", a light bulb went off in Asta's head, "Yeah but you can just call me Leo", "So you must be a really good fighter", "I'm ok", Leo looked at the floor, "What's up?", "Nothing let's just start", Leo put his gloves on and went into the ring, "What's his problem?", Asta asked Sol, "He's a little self-conscious of his name don't worry", she pushed Asta to the ring, "Ok", Asta went in, "Ready?", Asta extended his hands for a glove touch, "Yep", Leo returned the gesture, "Alright guys", Sol put her hand over the timer, "GO"

Leo started off lightly with a few jabs Asta parried them and tried to throw a straight hand hat Leo weaved to the outside off giving Asta a very solid body shot, "Alright that was good", Asta held his side, "I got ya", Leo laughed a little, the two ended the quick verbal exchange getting back to circling each other. Asta threw a right hand that barely missed him but did open him up for an overhand that Leo blocked trying to catch Asta with an uppercut Asta leaned as far back as he could and stepped out of Leos range

the two went back to circling each other before Leo stopped and got into a stance Asta hadn't seen before

Leo was standing bladed with his back hand facing half to Asta half to himself while it covered a bit of his chin, his lead hand was put across his side with his forearm blocking the sweet spot in-between the rib and abdomen, he also squeezed his head between his lead arms shoulder and his back hand, "What's that?"

EXPLANATION

The philly shell a style popularized in the 1950's and 60's by a man named George Benton one of the greatest middle weights of his time regardless of championships or not, this particular style of boxing would go. However, it had first rose to championship prominence by someone named Bernard Hopkins who displayed the possible excellence that the style of boxing could achieve. But it was shown in its greatest form by the legendary Floyd "Money" Mayweather, a boxer who had a crewed 50 professional wins and 0 losses, and while he may have never claimed undisputed he did go on to beat some of the greatest boxers of our time Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, "Sugar" Shane Mosely, "The Pac man" Manny Pacquaio, "The Hitman" Ricky Hatton, Marcos "El Chino" Maidana and "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya and in doing so had secured a place in combat sports history and it was largely due to his defensive style of boxing that allowed it, but how?

Asta threw a few jabs that were parried, but as his second jab faded, he tried throwing a lead hook which Leo used the same hand to block the hook and circle away

You see the back hand is used as a guard against jabs and hooks

Asta tried to aim for his body to open him up, but Leo used his elbow to push his body shot down

the lead hand that is covering the body is used to block and prevent body shots and on occasion is used for jabs or quick shots meant to catch your opponent off guard

As his body straight was pushed down, he come over top with an over hand that Leo deflected by rolling his shoulder with the punch while also using it to guard his chin

as for the shoulder and its purpose is to simultaneously to deflect right hand punches and protect the chin should a shot not rollable

Asta quickly pulled away avoiding an upwards jab from Leo's lead arm and geared up for a straight down the pipe

And when all of these things work in tandem, they create unique opportunities

When he threw the straight Leo Rolled and hit him with a clean cross counter snapping his head back a bit causing him to step out of Leo's range once again

So, if this seemingly impenetrable defense is as it seems, why doesn't everyone use it? It's simple it takes a mixture of a high-level understanding of boxing psychology and reaction times to use it properly

Asta kept throwing combinations having each be blocked, rolled, and evaded, "Ok", Asta threw a test jab, having it be parried yet again

But if the user has both what would stop them from being beaten? The answer Lies within two possible counters

It was strange Asta had fought many boxers, well kickboxers who had a larger emphasis on their hands and admittedly none of them really were super defensive or technically sound,"What could I do?", he thought to himself,"Worth a shot",Asta swung trying to get to Leo's back and while he did threw a fake out jab that caused a little bit of a reaction from,"Got you", he swung back with Leo needing to readjust to the which opened him up for a straight to the body making Leo try to circle away which got him caught with another straight this time to the face

Semi advance foot work is the simpler answer, as when doing constant swings and cut offs because of the nature of the philly shell, the user can't always cut off the movement leaving time to try and expose the weak side AKA the back, giving the one swinging an opportunity to hit them since the one shelling needs to constantly readjust leaving them open for a hook or straight when they do. This way was also shown by Mayweather himself in 2005 against Arturo Gatti

However, as the saying goes everything has a weakness, and even this counter to the shell has a counter to it and it is equally as simple, by bending to the waist of your opponent and pivoting to the outside of your opponent's lead hand and circle away

Leo picked up on what he was doing, and when he started to adjust it felt like nothing was getting that close again, in fact nothing did. It seemed like Leo had downloaded him, when he would throw the jab straight it was blocked and rolled, every rear hook got rolled, every standalone jab parried, each combo was stopped and Asta kept getting a counter and would step back, "Hmmm",Asta thought while Leo kept the same smile on his face, "I get it", Asta switched to a southpaw stance, "Huh?", Sol and Leo were really confused by what he was saying

But what was the second counter? Answer the southpaw stance. But what is south paw? It is a stance where your lead hand is your right hand, and you back hand is your left leaving you in a mirrored position from your opponent

Asta began throwing the same combinations that he was throwing when he was in orthodox, but each time the timing was a bit different. While Leo was still mostly deflecting and blocking, it was strange, sometimes when he needed to block the jab he would extend his back hand, "Does he get it?", he thought

But why? Why does this work? Because when your opponent is boxing you in a symmetrical plane, orthodox to orthodox the jab will naturally go towards the back hand negating the most important tool that a boxer has, but when this is flipped it falls apart at a fundamental level suddenly the power shot isn't what is being rolled and since you can't parry the jab cause the lead hand is down you so to make up for it you bring the back hand up for the power, but now that the power shot can't be rolled it leaves you vulnerable, even Mayweather knew this and switched stances when facing southpaws he switched to a more traditional high guard, but this only came with many fights and sparring sessions as well as trial and error with boxers such as Zab Judah, Victor Ortiz and Manny Pacquiao. Meaning if you don't have that experience or an alternative answer you may find yourself in a bad way such was the case for Bernard Hopkins against Joe Calzaghe

Asta launched a rear hook,"It doesn't seem like he learned anything so what's with the confidence?", Leo parried it and prepped a cross counter, but it was interrupted by Asta's jab,"Ok", Leo and Sol were shocked that he managed to get through, Asta threw another jab which Leo got ready to parry this time using his backhand to parry it which he did but Asta swung a power hook right as the jab was parried*BURRRRRRRRRRRR*the alarm to signal the end of the round went off Asta's glove inches away from Leo's face, "THAT WAS AWESOME", Sol yelled as she got in the ring but Leo, well he couldn't believe it, Asta almost did him in it was.......................................................................................................... unasuring, Asta went to go grab a drink of water from the fountain, "That was close huh?", Sol remarked to Leo, "Yeah", he looked over to Asta, "You ready to go again?", he asked causing him to smile, "YEP", he ran back to the ring

The two sparred forever going round after round unfortunately all good things come to an end, "Man that was a great session", Leo and Asta both sat down after the intense session, "Well time to go", Sol grabbed her stuff, "You guys coming with?", she asked the two, "Nah I gotta go home my sisters visiting", Leo replied, "I got detention", Asta put his head down, "Damn maybe next tin", she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "well see you guys", she waved, "I should get going too", Leo got up, "Thanks for the work man", he gave Asta a high five and a fist bump, "Yeah man", Asta put his shirt back on, "See you tomorrow", Leo waved as Asta was the only one left in the gym, "UHHHHHHHHH", he groaned getting up, "Welp might as well get this over with", he shut the lights off and headed out

At the detention room

Asta made it outside seeing Noelle was there,"Oh great", he thought to himself, Noelle herself looked up from her phone, "It's you", she glared at him, "WHATEVER", Asta yelled at her, "DON'T YELL AT ME", she got in his face, "I'LL YELL AT YOU ALL I WANT", "OH YEAH?", "YEAH YOU SPOILED BI-", "ENOUGH", the two of them looked over to see Ms. Roselei, "What are you doing?", she watched the two pull away from each other, "Inside now", she unlocked the door opening it for the two of them to walk in

"So, as you know you've got this for the rest of the month", Ms. Roselei looked as the two sat in the two corners of the room furthest of each other, "As such it will be your duty to clean as much as you can in the two hours that you'll be here", "AW WHAT", the two shot out of their seats, "Punishment for Noelle this is the third year in a row that you've caused trouble in the first few weeks let alone the fact this time it was the first day", Noelle slouched back into her chair, "And for Asta it's for first day and you caused quite a stir", Asta sat back down in his chair crossing his arms, "I know you don't want to but it is the consequence of you doing what you both did today", Ms. Roselei left the room and returned quickly with a few rags, sprays, a bucket and mop, and a broom, "You take these clean this room and when your done move onto the next", she left the stuff on the desk and left, "This is all your fault", Noelle leaned back in her chair, "HUH", Asta snapped his head around, "I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THIS LADY BUT YOU AND YOUR BOYFRIEND ARE THE ONES THAT STARTED IT", he yelled at her, "YOU HIT HIM", Noelle got out of her seat and began to walk over to him, "HE SWUNG FIRST HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT", the two of them bawled their fists, "STOP IT", they hear Ms. Roselei call from outside

As the two cleaned it was very quiet as they sprayed and cleaned the desks one by one, well Asta did. Noelle however, she was just sitting down, "Are you seriously not gonna help?", Asta asked her really annoyed, "Do you know who I am?", she looked up at him, "Yeah and I don't care", Noelle felt anger, "Well if you know who I am you should be on your hands and knees begging me to help, hell maybe I'd even give you a shoutout to my follo-", "That's not what I was talking about", he went back to cleaning, "Then how do-", she was interrupted again, "I was talking about your mom", Noelle felt a weird pit form in her stomach, "I'm a...... was a fan of her when she was still kickboxing", she began to quickly tap her foot, "So when I saw your name on the locker when I went on that tour, I assumed that you were one of the combat sports students", she clinched her fists, "And when you gripped my shoulder, I thought you would be smart enough to know that it was a bad idea", blood started dripping from her hand as her nails dug into them, "But I was very wrong and you ended up being a spoiled-", "SHUT UP", she finally exploded, "IT'S NOT MY FAULT SHE NEVER EVEN LET ME TRY"

Flashback

She could remember it clear as day, the day she brought the kickboxing signup sheet to her mom, "No", she told her, "WHAT WHY NOT?", Noelle was confused, "Cause I said so, besides there are plenty of other things that you could do while your there", Noelle was very frustrated, her mom didn't get it. THERE WASN'T, Nebra had tried to get her a position in a music company, but she had no rhythm with an instrument and her vocals were said to be among the top three worst they had ever heard, When Solid tried to get her a modeling gig at the magazine he was writing for she got turned down cause they said she didn't have "It" whatever "it" was, and the most cringe inducing was with Nozel who got her a guest spot on a T.V show he was acting for that ultimately scrapped cause she constantly forgot lines and they said she felt to stiff, so naturally she thought fighting was something she could do, after all she loved her mom's fight career more so than her acting one, and was lucky enough to catch her last few in person as a kid. Yet her mom didn't let her, it didn't help that her best friend and cousin Mimosa's mom had let her start boxing when they entered high school it was it was........................................................................................................................................................Disappointing, her family were famous people who in her eyes were talented enough to get there, and she just settled for what her friends did and became a social media influencer. The least cool or interesting thing someone from her family could be doing was what she was, and it hurt a lot. Cause every time someone drew comparisons to her and her siblings it felt like she was nothing, but when she got compared to her mother for something out of her control it made her feel like less than nothing like she didn't even exist

Back with them

Asta wasn't really all that shocked that she was angry since she was the person that yelled at him for putting his stuff away. So imagine his surprise when he watched her get up and walk over to him, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME SO SAY WHATEVER CAUSE I DON'T CARE", he noticed her hands were bleeding, "Are you-", "SHE NEVER EVEN LET ME TRY TO DO IT SO WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COMPARE ME", "I-"*SMACK*she hit him leaving a blood print of her hand on his face, realizing what she had done she braced herself remembering what he did when Kiato missed a punch, but it never came. Because to Asta this time seemed different like she wasn't a normal angry, the best way he could describe it was like.......................................when Rebecca broke up with him, after she did he ran away trying not to cry and in order to not, he began punching a brick wall in an alley to the point where his knuckles were bleeding, he was sad but instead of crying he just let out a bunch of anger, that what he felt like she was doing, "Huh", she opened her eyes to see him seemingly trying to not laugh, "WHAT?", she felt herself heat up again, "HAHAHAHAHAHA DUDE YOU DON'T HIT HARD", he laughed at her causing her to grow red from embarrassment, "So are you done?", he asked her, "With what?", she folded her arms and flipped her hair, "Your tantrum", he said as he grabbed a spray and a rag, "It wasn't a tantrum", "Yeah yeah just help clean already"

Ms. Roselei had finally come back, "YOU TWO", she saw that the room was actually clean, "Oh you guys did it. with no problems?", she looked at the two, "Nope", Noelle looked at him in confusion, "Noelle no problems?", it was her turn to answer, and she thought about it he did hit Kiato sooooooo, "No", she answered looking at him, "Really? I thought you two would try to rip each other's heads off. Alright then onto the next room", Ms. Roselei showed them to the next room

The second one was far more quiet, yet somehow more relaxed, "Why did you do that?", Noelle ended the silence asking Asta, "What do you mean?", Asta looked up, "Why didn't you just get me in trouble?", she asked, "Why didn't you?", "I'm serious", she looked at him "Cause it wouldn't have helped", he went back to cleaning, "What does that mean?", "Nothing", Noelle felt unsatisfied by the answer but decided to end it, "Thank you", "No problem just help clean", Asta waved her gratitude off, "Yeah"

Surprisingly the part of the day that the two of them thought would be the longest actually ended up feeling pretty short, "Alright you two, you did a good job today, so I expect this to be the standard", "Yes mam", the two of them answered, "Ok then go and have a good rest of your day", she dismissed them, "Yeah", the two of them left, unknowingly walking together, "So what did you mean by that?", Noelle finally started talking, "What do you mean?", he asked back, "When you said that it wouldn't have helped, what did you mean by that?", she looked at him, he seemed different he was just blankly staring ahead with a blank face, "Like I said nothing", he finally gave an answer, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING?", she flailed her arms, "Exactly that nothing", the two finally made it to their lockers, "OH YOUR HOPELESS", she opened it getting some of her stuff, "HAHAHAHA CALM DOWN LADY OR YOUR HEADS GONNA POP", he laughed at her, making her go red again, "MY HEADS GONNA POP? YOURS ALMOST DID CAUSE YOUR TOO SHORT TO REACH THE TOP SHELF WITH THE DUSTER", she yelled at him, "Whatever", he walked away, "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU", she followed him all the way outside

She kept yelling at him, with Asta just ignoring it, "ARE YOU LISTENING", she kept going, "Nope", he began walking away from the parking lot, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?", "Home", he kept walking, "HEY-", she was stopped by someone

"Are you ok?", she asked as she grabbed her by the elbow, "Oh Mimosa what's up?", she asked her, "What's up? You're literally screaming your head off at that guy", Mimosa looked worried for her as she watched the guy she was yelling at go out of sight, "Him? he's just a jerk", she replied, "Mhm", Mimosa seemed obviously unconvinced, "What?", "Ok. Anyways where's your boyfriend?", Mimosa gave a roll of her eyes at the last part, "Kiato said he had a team meeting", Noelle answered, "Really? Cause I saw David y'know the team center leave just right now", Noelle knew what was coming, "Mimosa", she gave her a side eye, "Noelle I'm telling you he-", she got cut off, "Mimosa, I've already told you you're over thinking it", the two began to walk to Mimosa's car, "I'm just worried that you're gonna get hurt over a guy that isn't really all that great", she tried to reason with her, "Mimosa stop it already ok? I like him and he is great", "So great that people are saying he was with some red-haired hussy when he told you he was with his dad?", "That's just a rumor, you know full well how the people here can be", they made it to the car getting in, "Fine ok whatever", she started the car, "Look he's a good guy you just got to get to know him", "Sure", Mimosa was over the conversation, "Really-", "Ok I get it I'm wrong your right let's just go", Noelle looked at her, "Ok"

"So how was it?", the two drove in silence before then, "How was what?", Noelle wasn't sure what she meant, "Detention with-", Mimosa had a bit of a laugh slip out, cause if it wasn't already clear sheHATEDKiato and found itREALLYsatisfying to watch him get folded like that, "It was", Noelle thought about it, it started off kinda bad but as it went on it became ok, "Not too bad", Mimosa was made a faked gasp, "BUT I THOUGHT HE HIT YOUR PRECIOUS KIATO", they stopped at a red light, Noelle playfully pushed her, "Yeah but it we did start it", she nervously rubbed the back of her neck, "Ok now you're worrying me", Mimosa looked over to her, "What?", "You literally never admit when your wrong so what's with you?", Mimosa was serious this time, "Maybe...........................................Maybe he wasn't as bad as we thought he was", she leaned overlooking out the window, "WE? I was happy seeing him-", "Ok I get it", she ended it right as her favorite song came on "When you were young" by the killers a band that she listened to only when it was her and Mimosa, who she looked over to seeing she was smiling, "C'MON NOELLE", she nudged her with her elbow, "I don-", "C'MON", Mimosa began to shake her shoulders, and Noelle had to admit it was getting to her, "Ok lemme just- YOU SIT THERE IN YOUR HEART ACHE WAITING ON SOME BEAUTIFUL BOY TO SAVE YOU", the two began to sing along Noelle fully aware she sounded terrible and Mimosa not caring, "TO SAVE YOU FROM YOUR OLD WAYS, YOU PLAY FORGIVENESS WATCH IT NOW HERE HE COMES", she guessed that's why even though they don't hang out at school anymore, they're still close, "HE DOESN'T LOOK A THING LIKE JESUS BUT HE TALKS LIKE A GENTLEMEN JUST LIKE YOU IMAGINED WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG", the two of them went on a Killers binge listening to their music on the way home

Time skip

Asta had finally gotten home feeling good since Ms. Roselei forgot to give him the letter, "Hey guys", he walked in seeing Liebe and Zenon on the sofa playing video games while Vanica was reading a book as she hung upside down from the lounge chair, "What are you reading?", Asta asked Vanica as he put his backpack down, "it's this new manga called White Spade it's about this guy trying to become the head of something called the magic defense force, but the catch is he has no magic", she answered, "Sounds stupid", Zenon said while leaning into Liebe trying to mess him up, "Yeah I mean how are you gonna become the head of something called the magic defense force and have no magic", Liebe added after he pushed Zenon off, "I think that sounds cool", Asta sat next to her as she pulled herself up, "So how was your first day?", she asked, "It was", Asta thought about everything, yeah he had made new friends that seemed cool, but on the other hand he made a fair share of enemies, "Ok", Asta answered seeing that the three of them looked like they were trying not to laugh, "What's up?", "Nothing", a bit of air slipped from Liebes's mouth, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", the three finally cracked, "DUDE THAT'S ONE HELL OF A START", Zenon showed Asta his phone which played a video, the video of him headbutting Kiato, making him cringe, "DUDE IT'S EVERYWHERE, EVEN VANESSA AND LUCK", Asta began blushing, "Awwww c'mon dude it's not that bad", Vanica wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "Plus mom doesn't got social media so she won't whoop you and I deleted the voice mail", Liebe turned his attention back to the T.V, "THANK YOU", Asta slouched back in relief, "Also mom said she and Dante were gonna get pizza on the way home", "YES", All things considered though today was a win for Asta

At the Marron residence

Sol gotten back home a while ago, but was waiting for her mom to come back for dinner, and in that time, she had thought about Asta's invite since as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't really have friends outside of Leo at school, "I'm home", her mom called out

After a while dinner was ready and Sol and her mother sat down, "So how was school?", she asked Sol, "The usual", she answered as she picked at her food, "I made some new friends ", her mom almost spit her food out, "REALLY?", Sol was kind of annoyed by the response but she guessed after two years of her coming home saying she hung out with Leo to now having a few friends was surprising, "Yeah they actually invited me to hang out with them this Friday", her mom this time spit her food out, "SERIOILY", "Yeah", she scratched the back of her head, "That's awesome honey", "Thank you", the two laughed a bit and went back to eating

At the Grinberryal estate

Yuno and Klaus didn't get to see Asta at the end of the day, but he did send them a text saying he had gotten back home, right now though they were at the dinner table with Yuno's parents, "So how was today?", Loyce his mom asked, "It was cool", Yuno responded, "Make any new friends?", Ciel his father asked worried for his son as, since freshman year he hadn't made any friends, "Yeah", his mom and dad were surprised, "Really what's they're name?", his mom asked, "Asta", Yuno gave yet another dry reply, "Where is he from?", his dad asked, "Hage", and hearing that the smile on his moms face go down a bit, "Oh", "Yeah", "Ok", the mood had become a bit awkward, "So what's he like?", Ciel tried to keep the conversation going, "He's a part of the combat sports program", Yuno answered as the help had come with their food, "I see", she could feel he didn't want to talk about it, "He invited Klaus and I to hang out with him Friday", Yuno started to eat, "Are you going to go?", Loyce was seemingly unsure of what he was being told, "Yeah don't see why not", "It's just that Hage is a bad area and I don't-", "Mom", Yuno looked at her, "No it's fine I just don't trust people from there", Loyce tried to make it sound not bad, but it didn't work causing Yuno to grab his plate and leave, "Should I leave?", Klaus broke his silence, "No, sorry you can go eat with him", Klaus got his plate and left

At the Vermillion estate

Leo along with his siblings were enjoying dinner together for the first time in a while, "Leo you ok?", Fuegoleon asked, "Oh yeah why?", "Well usually you eat it in a few bites, but you haven't even touched your food", "Hm", Leo just looked at his food, "If you have something to say then say it", Mereoleona was obviously annoyed, "Are you guys disappointed in me?", Leo asked them, "No of course not why would you think that?", Fuegoleon wasn't sure where this was coming from, "It's just that I haven't got first place in anything in a while so", "Don't think about it too much ok your still young and have time to get better", Mereoleona assured him, "I met a guy who was really good today as well", Leo thought about the hook that almost hit him, "I'm pretty sure if the buzzer didn't go off he would've flatlined me", hearing that his siblings thought he was joking, but Leo's down face said otherwise, "Hey you can use that to get better", Fuegoleon, "AND WHEN YOU SEE HIM NEXT TIME TAKE HIS HEAD OFF", their sister yelled, "I don't know about that, but definitely try to learn from it", his brother went back to eating, "I will", Leo began eating like normal before checking his phone

Sol: Asta wanted to know if you wanted it hang out with us Friday

Me: Really?

Sol: Yeah

Me: I'll see

At the Silva estate

"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night again?", Mimosa asked as Noelle left her car, "It's all good see you tomorrow", she waved at her while she drove away, "Oh boy", she sighed knowing that her mom or brother were going to lecture her when she got inside. That is if they were home

"I'm home", her voice echoed in the seemingly empty mansion, "Of course", she began walking to the stairs passing a whole bunch of rooms, she made it to her room and checked her phone seeing that her text to Kiato had been unread, "Uhhhhh", she groaned, "You ok?", she looked up to see her sister, "Everyone seems to be asking that today", she sat up, "I saw the video", Noelle immediately went back down, "And?", "And I don't think mom's gonna be happy", her sister answered the obviously sarcastic remark, "When is she ever", Noelle turned over to face the window, "Could you blame her? I mean you and-", "OK I GET IT", Noelle yelled at her, "Alright I'll leave", she closed her door. Noelle thought about today it was.......................................Bad she was still sort of angry, "It wouldn't have helped",she thought of, Asta was his name? She thought of what he said before that, how she wasn't like her mother at all. Yeah, like she needed anyone to tell her that, but she guessed he wasn't all that bad,*SMACK*, she also thought about the slap,"HAHAHAHA DUDE YOU DON'T HIT HARD", she turned to face the ceiling, "Not my fault I never got to train so it may not be hard to you", she looked at her hand as she raised it in the air, "Maybe you aren-", her sentence was cut off by her phone buzzing followed by her looking to see who it was

Kiato♥️: Sorry club meeting went longer than I thought it was

Me: Its ok☺

Kiato♥️: I'm tired so I'm going to sleep see you tomorrow

Me: You can't talk for a little longer?

Kiato♥️: I'm sorry I have to get up early for practice

Me: Ok love you Delivered

And it remained like that until she put her phone down,"What was I thinking about?", Noelle's eyelids began to get heavy,"I'm too tired to try and remember",she closed her eyes, "Today was.............................................not too bad", yet she couldn't really figure out why before finally falling asleep

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

The week came and went, and it was finally time to hang out, and Asta was really excited, "Hey mom can I borrow the car?", he asked her, "Sure just make sure everyone pitches in for gas", "I will", Asta went to his room, "So, what did she say?", Liebe asked, "She said yeah", "Nice", "OH BUT BEFORE THAT TAKE THE CAR TO YAMI'S THE BREAKS WERE MAKING A WEIRD NOISE", their mom yelled from the kitchen, "Will do", Asta called back

And

"Hmm?", Noelle and Mimosa were driving home, "Leo's gonna hang out with that guy you have detention with", Noelle wasn't as bothered by it as Mimosa thought she was going to be, "Like I said he isn't as bad as I thought so I don't care", the two went back to listening to music before the car stopped, "What happened?", Noelle asked her, "I don't know", Mimosa tried hitting the wheel, "Well that didn't work", Noelle laughed, "YOU DON'T SAY", Mimosa turned to her with the most sarcastic smile she'd ever seen, "Well there's an auto body shop not too far from here we might be able to push it", "You don't have triple A", "It's not that mom said if I get another increased rate they'll take away my car", "Geez", "I know, anyways it's called, Black bulls Auto it's in Kikka", "How far?", "A mile", Noelle winced hearing that part, "Or two", hearing that made her wince even louder, "Please I'll make it up to you", Mimosa begged, "Fine since you need my help", she sarcastically gloated, "Thanks"

Chapter 3: Car troubles doubled

Chapter Text

The week came and went, and Friday had finally come to an end, and he was now cleaning with Noelle

Asta was cleaning Noelle however, "Yeah sure", she responded to someone over the phone, "I would love to go there", Asta just tried to let it slide so she wouldn't throw a fit, "NO WAY", she began to get on his nerves a bit more, "NO SHE DID-", "ARE YOU GONNA HELP OR JUST SIT THE WHOLE TIME", he snapped at her, "Hold on I'll call you back babe", she put her phone down, "What's your problem?", she gave an irritated lift of the eyebrow, "My problem? My problem is that you haven't helped clean today", a vein popping out of his forehead, "Sorry I can't today", she went to pick her phone back up, "Why's that?", "Cause after school I'm going on a date, and I can't be smelling like chemicals, can I?", she sarcastically shrugged her shoulders, "Well that doesn't seem like it should affect me does it?", he expressed his annoyance with her, "I just told you, I can't-", "And I don't care so get to cleaning", Noelle got up and twitched her brow in annoyance, "You know what your problem is?", she looked over at him as she sprayed the window, "What?", he replied with a similar look, "You're jealous", she slightly turned her head to him, "Jealous of what?", he scoughed looking up at her, "Jealous that Kiato can keep such a beautiful girl in his life and you can't", she looked back seeing that his face completely changed, "What?", he ignored her and went back to cleaning, "Hey I was talking to-", "Shut up", he interrupted her, "EXCUSE ME?", she felt a wave of anger came over her, "I WAS-", "Just shut up and clean", he went back to it, "Whatever", she turned her head back to the window,"What's his problem?"

Time seemed to move way slower than any bit of the week as the two of them stayed silent while they cleaned, "Can you lift this?", Noelle asked him getting no response other than the assistance, "Thank you", again he ignored her, "Hey I-", she was again interrupted this time by Ms. Roselei coming back into the room, "Alright guys times up", she looked at the room running her fingers across a few desks, "Looks good, alright then you two are free to go", "Alright mam", Noelle was the only one to say anything, "I'll see you guys Monday", she told the two, "Yes mam", Noelle again the only one to respond looking to see that Asta had already left, "He's in a rush", Ms. Roselei left right after, "He's still mad?", Noelle said to herself as she went for her phone, "Hm?", she noticed a wallet on a front desk, picking it up, "Must be his", she put it in her bag,"I'll give it to him on the way out"

Noelle walked out into the hall making her way to her locker,"Damn he's fast", she thought while she put her stuff back into her backpack,"Guess he's not getting it back till Monday", an annoyed thought formed in her head as she began walking outside

Asta was outside meeting with Sol, Leo, Yuno, and Klaus, "Took ya long enough", Sol hopped of the bench she was sitting on, "Sorry Noelle wasn't helping for a while", he sighed knowing that Monday was probably going to be worse, "Figures", Sol rolled her eyes, "She's not that bad", Leo spoke up for her, "Maybe, but when you don't help anything cause you're talking to someone about something stupid and it gets the way of someone else, then it's a big problem", Asta rolled his eyes, "Told ya suited to be a influencer", Yuno gave a sarcastic remark, "Whatever the case let's just get going", Klaus stood up, "Alright c'mon the metro takes line 4 to my place", Asta past them, "Metro? You don't have a car?", Leo raised his brow at him as he kept walking, "Nope", he kept walking, "WAIT UP", Leo yelled as the group came up behind him

Noelle herself finally made it outside seeing that Asta was out of sight already,"Guess he really isn't getting it back till Monday", she rolled her eyes looking around the parking lot, "Where is she?", her eyes moved around seeing that Mimosa wasn't there*BZZZ*her phone began to ring she got it from her pocket seeing it was Mimosa, "Hey", she answered, "Sorry I'm pulling in right now", she finished as she saw her car pulling in, "Where were you?", Noelle asked her, "I dropped off Letoile", she answered knowing that a bit of complaining was coming, "Alright well let's just get going cause-", "Sorry but I have to get some work on the car done today", Mimosa stopped her, "Seriously?", she looked at her, "My car my rules", Mimosa just shrugged her off, "Ok, but can you please make it fast because-",*BZZ*a ring from her phone came up

Kiato♥: Sorry I have to cancel today I promise I'll make it up to you

Me: No worries Love you

Kiato♥: Love you too "Noelle Liked a message"

"What?", Mimosa saw as she deflated into her seat, "Well I was gonna say we could make it quick so that I could go on that date with Kiato but-", "He canceled?", Mimosa had a clearly irritated face, "How'd you know?", "Because this makes it how many times he has?", Mimosa brought up the many times he had, "Mimosa-", "Noelle I don't know when you're going to learn", "He's busy", she gave a shake of her head signaling her annoyance, "Ok so was he busy last time and the time before that and the time before that", she looked over to Noelle with a raised eyebrow, "Don't you think that after so many times you'd think it was at least a little sketch?", Noelle about it before but she believed in him, "I guess", "Alright I just........worry that you're gonna get hurt and it seems avoidable at least to me", she thought about what she was saying I get, "Look if it goes sour you'll be the first to say I told you so", Noelle just leaned over, "I don't want to be the first to tell you, that's why I'm telling you now", "I know", she thought about it, "But I trust him plus Nozel Mom they all like him", "I think that's also a problem you keep looking for they're-", "Mimosa just drop it ok?", she stopped her knowing what she was going to say, "Ok fine", Mimosa agreed, "Thank you"', "Let's just get going", Mimosa decided that she wasn't going to fight it today

At the Staria residence

"This is it", all of them walked up to it, "It's uh cozy?", Sol spoke up as the rest of them didn't really want to come off as insulting, "I know it's not what you guys are used to, but it's home so", he unlocked the door letting them in, "Sup", they saw Vanica and Zenon sitting on the sofa, "Uh hi", Klaus awkwardly waved to them, "Hey mom", the four of them turned to see that the kitchen wasn't a different room, "Hey kiddo", she turned around, "Oh who are you guys?", she had a surprised look to see some new people in her house, "These are my friends from school", he "MOM", Asta's face began to redden with embarrassment a new sight for the four, which gave reason for them to turn around trying not to let him know they were about to burst only to face the other two in the living room trying not to laugh as well, "WHAT I'M JUST HAPPY MY BABY MADE SOME NEW FRIENDS", was the last straw before everyone began laughing, "MOM", she finally let go, "Ok ok, but I'm serious I was worried if you were going to be able to get along with anyone there", "I know", Asta felt bad for pushing her away, "So thank you guys for being his friends", she bowed to the four of them, "No worries mam", Sol waved her arms, "Yeah he's an.........ok guy", Yuno gave a bit of a side eye, "Ah whatever", Asta just looked back at his mom, "Where's Liebe?", he asked, "He's in your guys room", "Alright thanks", Asta went down the hall with his friends following, "Hey dude you ask mom to borrow the car?", Liebe asked him the moment he opened the door, "You guys share a room", they looked at it a narrow room with a desk on each side and against the back wall a bunk bed each of the two layers distinctly decorated, Asta having posters of fighters such as Acier Silva, Lumiel, Vetto, and one that was actually signed by Tetia Vermillion, "You met my aunt?", Leo asked Asta, "Oh the Tetia poster, uh yeah no, but my mom did and she got her to sign it", "I see"

The top bunk had Liebe blocking a bit of it but, he had some drawings and some posters of metal bands, "Nice place", Yuno looked at the walls noticing the posters of bands like green day, nirvana, the killers, foo fighters, and Radiohead on one side. the other had heavier metal like Black Sabath, Iron maiden, and Metallica, "So which is which?", Sol asked, "Left is mine right is Liebe", "Not to be like snobby but, where do you keep your clothes?", Leo looked around, "Right here", Asta kneeled down to open the drawers under his bed, "Oh", they saw the small plastic drawers that were make shifted into dressers, "Where do you use the restroom?", Klaus noticed there was nothing other than what they could see, "It's down the hall", "Hm", "What you need to use it?", "No I just didn't see a restroom attached to your room so", "Ok, anyways", Asta looked up at Liebe, "Why didn't you ask her?", "Cause", he laid down, "I'm lazy", "Aight man", Asta left the room, "So you guys are his friends huh?", Liebe finally engaged a conversation with them, "Yeah", Yuno answered, "He's pretty cool", Leo smiled, "Yeah", Sol just agreed, "I must say you guys do look a lot alike", Klaus told him, "We get that a lot", he sat up having his legs hang off the side of the bed, "So where you guys from?", "Royal Castle", Yuno, Klaus, and Leo answered, "Hmmmm rich boys huh? What about you?", he nodded to Sol, "I'm from Elysia", she rubbed her arm, "Damn you guys are living good", he hopped down, "I guess you could say that", Sol tried to just brush past the subject, "Cool"

"Hey mom can I borrow the car?", Asta asked his mom, "Sure just makes sure everyone pitches in for gas", "I will", he went back to his room, "She said yeah", he came back seeing Liebe look through his drawers, "Nero's coming?", Asta raised his eyebrow and nudged him with his elbow, "Yeah she wanted to meet some of your friends", he pushed him away, "Cool then, Also mom said everyone's gotta pitch in for gas", Liebe shrugged while Asta looked through his backpack for his wallet, unlucky for him he didn't have it, "sh*t", he rummaged through his stuff, "What's wrong", Yuno asked, "My wallet isn't in here", Asta began looking through his desk, "Damn it I think I dropped it somewhere", he sighed, "ALSO BEFORE YOU GUYS GO DO ANYTHING TAKE THE CAR TO YAMI'S I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE BRAKES", Lichita yelled from the kitchen, "Will do", Asta stuck his head out of his door, "Alright c'mon guys"

With Mimosa and Noelle

Much like last time the mood was a bit down so Mimosa decided to turn the radio on singing along, "CAUSE I'M MISTER BRIGHT SIDE", the two of them were singing along once more to the killers, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", the two laughed as the song ended, "Mimosa you have such a good voice, why did you end up doing boxing?", Noelle asked, "I just found it to be a fun hobby", she looked ahead watching the road, "You ever want to be like-", "My mom?", Mimosa knew what she was going to ask, "Yeah", "No not really", Mimosa gave a really clear answer, "I see", Noelle began to get a little mopy thinking about it, "You ok?", Mimosa turned over to her, "Yeah I'm fine", she pulled her self-back to sit up right.

There was a noticeable silence after Noelle popped the question, "Leo's hanging out with him", Mimosa was the one to break the silence, "Hmm?", Noelle just looked up at her in confusion, "Leo's hanging out with the guy you have detention with", she clarified surprised to see that Noelle didn't seem bothered by it, "Like I said he's not that bad so I don't mind", Noelle remembered his wallet, "sh*t", "What's up?", "I forgot to give his wallet back", she took it out of her bag and looked at it, a beaten up, cracked leather wallet, "Why didn't you give it back to him?", "He was gone before I could", Noelle answered opening the wallet to see his student ID laughing at it, "What?", Mimosa looked at her as she gave a slight smile, "Nothing his ID photo is just a little funny", she turned the wallet to her laughing as she did, it made Mimosa happy, to see that she looked happy even if it was for a moment

THAT was until the car suddenly stopped, "What happened", Noelle asked, "I don't know", Mimosa tried to rev the engine again having it fail multiple times, "NO NO NO", she hit the dashboard a few times, "Well that didn't work", Noelle gave her a sarcastic look, "YOU DON'T SAY", Mimosa slowly turned her head with an really wide open mouth smile making the two of them laugh before Mimosa remembered her car just died, "So what now?", Noelle asked her, "Lemme see", she got her phone and opened the maps app, "Well there's a shop that's not too far from here", "Why don't you just call-", "Can't mom and dad said that if my rate increased again they'd take away the car", "Why? Can't they afford it?", "Yeah but they said I don't take care of it enough", Mimosa looked at her phone, "What's it called?", Noelle asked, "Black bulls auto", "How far", "A mile", Noelle winced hearing that, "Or two", and even louder wince, "Please I'll make it up to you", Mimosa begged, "Ok since you NEED my help", she gloated, "Then let's get to pushing", the two of them left the car

With Asta and the others

"HEY YOU HEY YOU I DON'T LIKE YOU GIRLFRIEND", Liebe, Asta, Vanica, and Zenon sang along making the others laugh, "Well can't say you guys don't have fun", Sol commented on the performance, "I like it", Leo got ready to sing to the next, "Call me maybe" By: Carly Ray jepson, "I HAVEN'T HEARD THIS IN FOREVER", Zenon and Liebe slapped each other on the arm while they laughed, "I THREW A WISH IN THE WELL DON'T ASK ME I'LL NEVER TELL", Asta, Liebe, Zenon, Vanica, and Leo this time started singing, "I LOOKED AT YOU IT AS IT FELL AND NOW YOUR IN MY WAY", Sol joined in, "YOUR STARE WAS HOLDING RIP JEANS SKIN WAS SHOWING", Klaus followed, and lastly was Yuno everyone was looking at him while they sang causing him to roll his eyes, "HOT NIGHT WIND WAS BLOWING", Yuno tried his best to ignore them, "WHERE YOU THINK YOU GOING BABY", Yuno finally budged and sang along, "HEY I JUST MET YOU AND THIS IS CRAZY SO HERES MY NUMBER SO CALL ME MAYBE", they laughed together before the car stopped in front of a house, "Where are we?", Leo asked, "Nero's house", Liebe unbuckled himself, "Hold up guys I'm gonna go get her", he left the car, "How many more people are coming?", Sol looked at the car noticing that the last seat was taken, "Five more", she widened her eyes, "DUDE THERE IS ONE SEAT LEFT", she yelled, "Well yeah we're just gonna cram the rest in where they fit", Asta looked as Nero and Liebe came back, "Hey kid been a while since I last saw you ", Nero said as Liebe got back in the car, "Yeah I know I was grounded for a while", "Told you to stop with the underground stuff", she got into the car sitting on Liebes lap, "Yeah yeah", he replied driving off, "So these guys are your new friends?", Nero asked, "Yes we are", Klaus answered, "Gotta say thought, none of you seem super talkative", she kept going, "Oh come on babe, you remember when I first brought you home and you only spoke when my mom spoke to you", Liebe gave her a silly smile causing her to blush, "Whatever", she looked away, "Don't be like that", he nuzzled his face into her neck, "Babe", Nero laughed as she tried to push him away, "What?", the two laughed as Asta looked at them, "How many more stops?", Yuno tapped him on the shoulder, "Two", "Luck and Magna coming?", "Ok", "Then Mari, Fana, and Mars", "That's a lot of people", Nero looked at the car noticing that all but one seat was taken, "Yeah but we'll fit", "Alright", she shrugged her shoulders

Each stop the car got progressively fuller, Luck and Magna being crammed into the trunk part of the van, Mars and Fana took the last spot, and Mari going on the floor between Sol and Yuno who were sitting in the middle seats, "Is this safe?", Sol asked nervously, "Who cares", Magna piped up from the back, "I do cause if we crash then you guys back there-", "We'll be fine", Mari shrugged her shoulders, "Ok", Sol nervously agreed, "YEAH WE'LL BE FINE", Luck popped his head out pushing Magna's head down, "HEY", "SORRY NOT SORRY", "THATS IT", Magna and Luck began to try and hit each other, "GET HIM LUCK", a Mars and Mari cheered for him, "KICK HIS ASS LUCK", Fana, Liebe, and Nero cheered for Luck

"Alright guys", Asta stopped the car in front of Yami's shop, "This it?", Yuno looked out the window, "Black bulls auto?", "That sounds kind of familiar", Leo looked at the buildings sign "Really?", Asta looked back at him as he stopped the car. The gang all poured out of the car Magna and Luck chasing each other in the car park, "Hey Yami", he called out to his coach as he pulled out from under a car, "What's up kid", he looked at the new faces, "Friends from school?", he got up and wiped his four head, "Yeah, this is Yuno", "Nice to meet you", "Klaus", "Hello", "Sol", Sol didn't say anything for a few seconds trying to figure out if she'd seen him before, "You ok?", Asta asked her, "Oh yeah sorry nice to meet you", "And this is-", "LEOPALD?", Yami began to laugh, "SUKEHIRO?", "LEOPALD?", Asta was so very confused, as Sol, Yuno, and Klaus, "YOU TWO KNOW EACH OTHER?", Sol cut in ,"Yeah I gave his brother an ass whooping a long time ago", "WHAT?", the three of them were yet again shocked, "You beat his brother?", Yuno couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Not exactly"

Flashback

"Alright man you got this", Nacht and his brother rubbed his shoulders, "Go and show them who we are", he heard his little sister tell him, "Yeah"

"Get this guy out of your way and you'll be in the rankings", Fuegoleon heard Theresa as she cleaned his face, "I know", "Now go out there and prove your name", "YEAH"

"LADIES AND GENTLE MEN I PRSENT TO YOU THE OPENER OF THE PRELIMS", an annoucer screamed into his mic, "INTRODUCING FIRST, HE IS CURRENTLY UNDEFEATED AT 7 AND 0, A DISTANT RELATIVE TO THE LEGENDARY LUMIEL SILVAMILLION, THE BLAZING LION FUEGOLEON VERMILLION", he walked out as the crowd cheered, "GET THIS GUY", "SHOW HIM HE'S NOT ON/YOUR LEVEL", "TRY NOT TO KILL HIM", he found it very annoying as he made his way to the cage being wiped down to make sure he wasn't greasing, "You got this", he turned to see his sister in his corner, "Yeah"

"INTRODUCING SECOND, HE IS CURRENTLY 9 AND 1, FROM KOSHU HINO, THE BLACK BULL SUKEHIRO YAMI", the crowd was mostly unreceptive throwing things at him, "FUEGO'S GONNA KILL YOU FUEGO'S GONNA KILL YOU", they chanted as he had the same inspection as Fuegoleon

"Alright I want a nice clean fight, you may touch gloves if you please if not go back to your corners", they touched gloves as the round began

As it started Yami threw a front body kick which made a loud noise causing Fuegoleon to shoot for the legs, but got his takedown stuffed only pushing Yami against the cage. While they were against the cage Fuegoleon threw a few knees to his thigh, but Yami got wrist control and broke his grip opting to clinch throwing a knee that wobbled Fuegoleon, He retreated back only for Yami to chase after him hitting him with a kick to his, Calf? He ducked the right hand from Yami and locked in a body lock tripping Yami. He was able to secure it, but he couldn't win the scramble Yami getting right back up, "JESUS", he thought as the buzzer went off

the two went back to their corners, "WHAT WAS THAT?", Theresa yelled at him, "He got me early", "THAT'S NO EXCUSE", she yelled at him

"DUDE YOU ALMOST HAD HIM", Nacht cleaned him off and Morgen, "GO GET HIM", Yami got up from his stool as the second round began

This time Fuegoleon went to shoot a takedown immediately, again only pushing him against the cage, instead of keeping a body lock from the back he opted for wrist control keeping Yami locked for the first minute and a half, but Yami managed to break his control and threw a hook on the break, "Have to-", Fuegoleons thoughts were interrupted by another kick to his calf? and another and another, "What is he doing? He's missing my thigh", Fuegoleon thought about why he was doing it before a head kick caught him making him panic shoot another take down, finally getting him down and securing his back, keeping a body triangle which, he held for the rest of the round throwing ground and pound attempting submissions

"Ok finally round, you have to win this", Theresa poured water on his face which was cut above the eyebrow on the cheek and his left eye was closing, "He's rocking you so keep it on the ground", "Alright"

"DUDE, YOU HAVE THIS IN THE BAG YOU WOBBLED HIM A BUNCH SO GO FOR THAT FINISH", Ichika yelled sensing that her brother was closing in on a win, "Alright"

The final round began Yami chasing a finish, which unfortunately lead to him being taken down yet again, but unlike last time he was able to get into Fuegoleons full guard ground and pounding him until he got up kicked off. Again, he got his ankle picked and was put back on the ground where Fuegoleon laid in half guard not alternating positions, after most of the round had elapsed Yami managed to get up, Fuegoleon followed and the two began a striking exchange of which Yami kicked his calf again, "Why is he stil-", his leg gave out, "WHAT THE", on the way down he was hit with a looping right that knocked him down with Yami following to the floor looking for the finish *BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* the clock had different plans though

Fuegoleon and Yami were brought to the center of the cage, "THE JUDGES HAVE SUBMITTED THEIR SCORE CARDS AND THEY READ.............................................................29-28 IN FAVOR OF VERMILLION, 29-28 IN FAVOR OF YAMI, AND THE LAST ONE READS..............................................28-28 MEANING THIS FIGHT HAS ENDED IN A DRAW", the crowd felt a bit cheated many arguing which man really one

But back in the locker room Fuegoleon was trying not to cry, "You ok", Leopald who was five at the time asked him, "Yeah", he tried to smile feeling it waver a bit, "Hey", he looked up to see Yami, "What do you want?", he snapped, "Sorry I-", "No it's cool first time not winning I get it", Yami looked at him, "Someday we'll run it back so don't cry like a little kid", Yami left the room, Fuegoleon sucked it up, "You were gonna cry?", Leo asked him, "Yeah", "But dad says", "Dad's an asshole", he thought a bit before speaking again, "Leo if you feel you need to cry do it, it doesn't help it hold it in", "But you're holding it in", "You're right I was, but it still isn't healthy", he put his hand on Leo's head, "Please don't be like me, like Leona, and please don't be like dad", "I WON'T", Leo have him a salute making him laugh a little, "C'mon let's get going", the two left Unfortunately, as fate would have it him and Yami never got to fight again

Back to the now

"REALLY", Sol looked at Yami thinking he wasn't much, "I do remember hearing about that, but it was really early on in his pro career", Klaus spoke up, "Yeah", "WHY DID YOU NEVER COMEBACK?", Leo asked, "HE ALWAYS WANTED THAT REMATCH", "Sorry kid but fate just got in the way", "BUT", "Look we can talk about it later, for right now though, what's the problem?", he looked over at Asta, "Mom said there was something with the breaks", he tossed the keys to him, "Ok I'll have a look, NACHT", he screamed for him to get out of the garage, "What's up", he walked out shocking Sol, Yuno, Klaus, and Leo again, "YO he looks like-", Asta nudged him shaking his head no Leo caught on, "You and Asta go get some brake pads and fluids from Henry's shop ", "Aight c'mon", "Sorry guys", "Don't be we'll take care of your friends", Magna put his arm around Sol, "Yeaaaaah no", she lifted his arm off, "Ok", he walked away, "But yeah don't worry", Sol assured him, "Cool see you guys in like thirty minutes", the two of them walked away, "Alright I'll get to working on it and you guys can wait out here", Yami was about to walk away, "So your his coach?", Leo asked him, "Yeah", Yami turned around to face them, "Why are you asking?", Leo thought about the first time him and Asta sparred, how close he got to getting blasted, "I can tell", he looked down, "What does that mean?", Yami began to turn around, "He almost Ko'd me", he turned to look at him again, "I could tell cause of how good he was", he thought about him Knocking out Sekke, "Thanks", Yami gave him a smile and got the car and pulled into the back

With Asta and Nacht

While they were walking Asta was rather quiet, he was trying to find a way to bring up his brother organically, "What's up with you man? You usually talk my ear off", Nacht looked over at him, "Nothing", Asta smiled it off, "I know that's not true man", the two stopped at a light waiting for the signal to let them cross, "Ok fine", he thought about how he was going to word what he was about to say, taking a deep breathe, "I met your brother", Nacht's eyes widened, "And I was just kind of wondering what happened between you guys", he looked at Nacht who was clearly a little uncomfortable, "We just grew apart", he looked ahead his eyes seemed a bit watery, "If you don't want to tell me that's ok", he looked at him, "Thank you", the two had made it to the shop getting what they needed all of it in silence. As the two were about to exit the store Nacht finally said something, "Hey man I-", "No worries, man if you don't want to talk about it right now you don't have to", Asta assured him, "Thanks"

the two left the store and when they got to the sidewalk, they saw two people pushing a car, "Damn that looks like expensive", the pair crossed the street giving Asta a better look, and when he realized who was pushing it tried to speed walk away, "OH HEY", he heard the orange haired girl call to them, "What's up", he awkwardly turned around, "Can you help us?", she asked, "UH" Asta paused while Nacht began to approach them, "So what happened?", he asked them, "Well my car just stopped and we've literally been pushing this thing forever", she told the two, "mmm", Nacht stroked his chin as he looked at it, "We can take a look but I can't promise anything", he looked at it, "At this point that's all I could ask for", she clasped her hands together and bowed her head, "Cool I just need a list of a few things that might be wrong with it and we'll get it to the shop in no time", Nacht motioned Asta to help them push, "Alright", he decided to just do it, "So how far is your shop?", she asked him, "A few blocks down", Nacht answered, "Wait, are you the Black Bulls Auto guys?", she asked him, "Yep", "Awesome", she gave a sigh of relief as the four began to push the car

"Well, I had some work to do on the car today but it broke down a few hours ago", she talked to Nacht about the car, "You get told what work needed to be done?", Nacht asked her, "I think it had something to do with the engine", she answered, "Well that could be a lot of things so we might just have to wait to run diagnostics on it", he replied the two continued to talk, Asta and Noelle however were both silent not talking to each other an obvious tension ran between them

At the shop

The gang were talking getting to know each other better, "So you guys do martial arts?", Leo asked them, "Yeah I do wrestling", Magna proudly pointed to himself, "I do Sanda", Luck answered, "Nope" "No" "I do not" "Nada", Nero, Fana, Zenon, and Liebe answered , "You guys?", Sol looked at the rest, "Dutch kickboxing, same as Asta", Mars answered, "Shotokan", Vanica gave hers, "Bjj", Mari replied as she looked at her phone sitting in a stack of tires, "Hmmm a pretty even split between grapplers and strikers", Leo put his hands on his hips, "I suppose", Mari kept scrolling through her phone, "Here they come", she looked up seeing them help two people push a car, "YAMI WE GOT ANOTHER", Nacht yelled as they finished pushing it into the drive way, "REALLY?", they heard him yell from the garage, "YEP", "ALRIGHT BRING HER ROUND BACK", Nacht sighed and started pushing while the other three stayed, "Mimosa?", Leo looked at her, "Hi", she nervously waved, "What are you doing here?", he asked her, "Well the car kinda just turned off", Mimosa nervously scratched the back of her head, "HEY HOW COME YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE GYM?", Sol stomped over to her, "Huh?", Asta shook his head in confusion, "Sorry me and Letoile have been working on events for the semester", she began to touch the tips of her fingers, "you're a combat sports student?", Asta interrupted, "OH yeah I do boxing", "Wait I thought that there were only five?", he asked, "Well yeah", Mimosa wasn't sure where this was going, "Then who were the two with Sekke?", Mimosa still wasn't sure what he was saying, "OOOOOOOHHHHH, No those two aren't", it finally clicked, "Really? Guess I never would've guessed you don't have a face that screams you've been punched a lot", he laughed a little, "I'll take that as a compliment", she gave a small laugh of her own, "Well it's nice-", Asta got cut off by Magna putting his arm around Asta's shoulder, "Looks like our friend here is a lady killer", he commented, "WHAT?", Asta screamed making the people around laugh, "Its ok you can tell us when you're ready", Vanica laughed from a far, "HEY CAN YOU TELL THEM?", Asta looked at Mimosa, "Oh, yeah totally", she smiled, "WHAT", Asta screamed again making them laugh once more, "C'mon man don't be embarrassed", Liebe ruffled his hair, "YEAH AND MAYBE SHE'LL HELP YOU FORGET ABOUT RE-", Luck was stopped by Magna bumping him with his elbow, and after he said that it felt that the mood took a complete 180, "Well uh-", Liebe tried to say something, "Hey kid I got what was wrong with the car", Yami came outside, "Like I said earlier it is just some worn brake pads and some bad braker fluid", he looked up from his clipboard seeing that the mood felt a bit tense, "What happened here?", he looked around, "Nothing", Asta just gave a short answer, "Mhm", Yami gave a little squint, "Well anyways and you young lady", he turned his attention to Mimosa, "Have had terrible work done to the car so it's probably going to be 3-4 hours before I can authorize letting you drive it", he switched back to his clipboard, "Really but, we paid so much for the work?", Mimosa wasn't sure how that was possible, "Yep, so I guess in the mean time you kids go out and have fun or something", he turned around to go back to the garage, "Well you want to hang out with us", Asta rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh", Mimosa was about to answer before Noelle pulled her to the side, "NO WAY", she whispered to her, "Well no way yourself", Mimosa pulled away, "HEY are you kidding me, he hates me", she pointed to Asta, "Well I'm not just gonna sit her doing nothing for 4 hours", she answered, "So you can come or you can stay", Mimosa gave her look as if she was asking, "Fine", Noelle followed her, "Well we'll be in your care", she wrapped her arms around Noelle and pulled her closer, "Great", Asta just sighed making Noelle glare at him, "LET'S GET GOING THEN", Luck bolted out of the lot, "WAIT UP"

At the Arcade

The first stop was the arcade a place where the gang including some others had great times, "C'MON", Magna smashed the buttons on a Tekken cabinet, "WHOOPS", Luck pushed him to mess him up which did, "KAZUYA WINS", the cabinet sounded letting Magna know he lost, "WHY YOU", Magna got back up and began to chase him again, "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN", Luck taunted and bolted, "Alright my turn", Liebe came up and put a coin in, "Anyone want to try me?", he gave a smug look back, "I'll do it", Zennon came forward, "Ok", the two began playing prompting everyone to look around, "This is a pretty cool place", Sol looked around, "Yeah", Leo agreed seeing a lot of machines, "Hey you two come try this out", they turned they're attention to Mars and Fana who were by a punch power machine, "COOL", Leo ran over to it, "I guess", Sol followed

"So what do you think so far?", Klaus and Yuno watched as Magna chased Luck in circles around the place, "Honestly?", Yuno looked at him, "Honestly", Klaus clarified right as Magna fell over a trash can, "Awesome", he gave Klaus a blank look before the two of them began to laugh, "WHY YOU?", Magna pulled a greasy plate from his head, "TOO SLOW", Luck taunted him again making the two of them laugh

"Noelle, can you pretend not to be angry?", Mimosa gave Noelle an annoyed look, "Look I don't know these guys so-", Mimosa put her finger over her lips, "Lemme stop you right there", Mimosa seemed really annoyed, "I have hung out with Kiato, I have hung out with Charmy, I've even hung out with Grey, so why can't you just do this, and I'm not even asking for you to do this multiple times so can you stop pouting like a child", she finished asking, Noelle a little more than upset, "Hey you two", they felt as someone wrapped their arms around their shoulders, turning to see the girl with the eyepatch, "Names Vanica nice to meet you guys", she let her arms down and held her hands out to shake, "Nice to meet you too", Mimosa shook her hand Noelle just using her finger tips, "Yeah", she saw that Mimosa seemed actually angry, "I'm just going to sit down", she left sitting in one of the food booths looking at her phone

Kiato♥: Sorry I had to cancel today I promise I'll make it up to you

Me: No worries Love you

Kiato♥: Love you too

Me: So how's it going? Delivered

"UUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH", she groaned as she lamented how today had gone, "You ok?", she looked up to see the Girl that was holding hands with the guy that Looked like Asta, "Yeah", she waved her off putting her hand in her palm as she scrolled through her phone, "Really? Cause it doesn'tSEEMlike you're ok", she sat down across from her, "I'm just", she thought about today so far, it didn't start off bad, but then there was Asta who suddenly snapped at her, then there was Kiato canceling the date, and to top it off she was stuck with people she felt probably didn't like her, "I guess today just hasn't been great", she looked up at her, "Well kid some days are going to be like that", she looked over seeing that Liebe scream cause he lost, "Not much you can do than try and learn from them", she looked back at Noelle, "What is there to learn from?", she looked back on it, "Asta blew a gasket for no reason, My boyfriend canceled a date, and now I'm stuck here", she sarcastically waved her arm in the air, "No reason?", she lifted her eyebrow, "Yeah", Noelle stopped and thought for a second coming up short with possible answers, "That doesn't sound like him", she gave him a skeptical squint, "Well that's what happened so", Noelle assumed her previous position, "What's your name?", she asked her, "Names Secre but everyone just calls me Nero", she answered, "Alright well Nero that's what happened so I can't really say much", she stared at her being returned a blank stare, "What?", Noelle was confused by the stare, "Well whatever the case I think it's best for you to just think about it", she got up and put her hand on Noelle's shoulder, and she did thinking about what the short blonde one said, "Who is Re?", she looked up at Nero who was obviously surprised by it, "Why do you want to know?", Nero answered with another question, "I don't know it just reminded me of something", she thought about the first time they met when he told her to let go or when earlier he told her to shut up, "Well I think it would be better if you asked Asta himself", she walked over to Liebe, "But-", "ALRIGHT WE'RE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE", Liebe folded his arms causing everyone including Asta to come back together,"How am I supposed to know if he won't tell me?"

The bowling alley

It started off cool as they conversed but a little taunting from magna had caused a small competition to break out between a few of them

"OH YEAH", Magna pumped his fist down as he got a strike, "Wow so cool dude you're good at bowling", Mars rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a sour puss", Fana pulled his cheek, "Alright who's next", Magna sat back down, "Me" Klaus got up and walked to the lane, "You got this man", Yuno gave him a thumb up, "Ok", he grabbed the ball like a shot put one, "I don't think that's how you-", Nero tried to steer him in the right direction, but was stopped by Liebe who was glaring at him, "Nah I wanna watch this", he looked as Klaus wound the shot up, "That Tekken loss is really getting to you huh?", Zennon laughed at him, "SHUT UP", Liebe turned his head back to him, "Whatever", Zennon looked as Klaus through a gutter ball, "HAHA", Liebe laughed causing Nero to pinch his cheek, "HEY", "That wasn't nice", she told him, "Ok sorry", she let go, "Good, now who's next?", "Me", Sol got up nervous since she hadn't been bowling before and saw how they laughed at Klaus, "I'm not very good at this", she rubbed her arm, "C'mon just throw it like this", Magna walked up to her and motioned how to throw it properly, "Ok I think I get it", she picked up a ball, "Like this?", she tossed it watching it roll into a strike, "I DID IT", she cheered going back to her seat, "Mari you're next", Fana motioned her, "Alright", she got up and threw it getting a low score opting to not do her spare, and one by one they went all except two

Asta was outside looking through his phone, "Hey", he looked to his side seeing Noelle, "What?", he looked at her making her think about what Nero said,"I think it would be better if you asked Asta himself", she decided to get her answer now, "I wanted to ask you about what the short blonde one said", she folded her arms and stared at him, "Luck?", Asta expressed obvious annoyance, "Yeah", she stood waiting for his answer, "Why would I tell you that?", he looked at her with shock thinking he would ever express that to her, "Well it's just that-", Asta cut her off, "Actually I don't care", he walked past her, "HEY I WAS TALKING TO YOU", she flailed her arms, "SO YOU'RE NOT EVEN GONNA TELL ME WHY YOU'RE SO ANGRY", she looked as he went inside, "WELL WHATEVER", she turned back around clinching her fists,"What the hell", she thought, "I did what she said but-"

"This isn't the restroom", Noelle heard someone talk looking up seeing Vanica, "What?", she wasn't sure what she meant, "I was looking for the restroom", Noelle slowly blinked at what she was hearing, "And?", she questioned her, "What do you mean and? This isn't it", Vanica stood there staring at Noelle, "I've seen you before", Noelle felt a little proud knowing that at least one person there knew who she was, "Well thanks I do have 1.7 million followers", she flipped her hair, "Nah that's not it", Vanica got closer getting a better look at her before snapping her fingers, "I KNOW", Noelle felt really confused, "YOU LOOK LIKE ACIER", an immediate deflation of her pride followed, "Oh thanks", she twitched her brow, "Yeah I'm a big fan of hers", Vanica began to scope her out, "But you don't seem all too bad yourself", she finished, "Oh thanks", Noelle rubbed her arm, "No problem", Vanica began to go back inside before she saw that Noelle was staying behind, "Well come on let's go and play the last game at least", Vanica began pushing her inside, "I uh ok", she agreed going back inside

At Jamo's Deli

Another stop at the gang's favorite place to eat

"Hey Jam, what's up?", Liebe came in with a huge smile, "OH Well if it isn't Mr. put it on my tab himself", Jamo leaned over the counter, "Hey I paid it didn't I", Liebe gave him a wide-open smile, "Yeah yeah", he waved him off, "What'll it be?", he asked him, getting a whole slab of lunch meat cutting it as if he already knew what he was going to say, "The usual", Liebe responded, "For you and her?", Jamo asked him while he pointed at Nero, "Yep", Nero answered for him, "Alright, what about the rest of you?", he looked to the group, "Wait a minute I haven't seen any of you before", he pointed his cleaver at the people from school, "We're new friends of Asta", Yuno spoke up, "Ahh well a friend of his is a friend of mine, what'll it be?", he asked them getting each of their orders one by one until it was Asta's turn, "Hey kid haven't been coming in lately", he teased him, "Yeah sorry schools a bit far from here and the food there is free", he rubbed the back of his head, "Ah I see too good for my food now?", Jamo joked, "It's not like that", he tried to answer, "Don't worry kid I get it, so what'll it be?", he asked, "The usual", "Alright that'll be 5.99", ringing him up, "Alright", Asta looked through his pockets, "That's right my wallet", he forgot he lost it earlier, "It's all good kid think of this as my present for you getting in to the academy", Jamo waved him off and went to cook his food, "Thanks", "'Don't mention it"

it was silent for a bit, the only sound coming from the deli being Jamo grilling, frying, and slicing stuff*BZZZZZ*the ring for Asta's phone went off ending the awkwardness, "It's Yami", Asta looked at it, "I'll see what's up", he got up and left the deli

"You really shouldn't have said that Luck", Magna and a few others looked at him, "I'm sorry I just thought that she was with him", he pointed to Mimosa, "I'm sorry", Mimosa bowed her head, "It's not your fault you didn't know", Mars just slouched in his chair, "What happened?", Noelle asked, which too be honest was a question for her, Klaus, Sol, Leo, Mimosa, and Yuno, "She was-", Mari bumped Magna with her elbow, "When Asta wants to tell you he'll tell", Liebe began eating Noelle noticing that Nero was looking at her, "Well when do you think that'll be?", she followed with another question, "Not sure, but when he is he will", Liebe seemed a little annoyed that she kept pushing, "Alright", Noelle decided to drop it since it was obvious that it was bothering him

the gang kept talking getting to know each other, "You have really pretty hair", Fana looked at Noelle, "Oh thank you", she started stroking her hair, "You too, I haven't seen anyone with pink hair before", she returned the compliment, "Thanks I tried to dye a pattern into it a year ago, but it didn't work out", Fana also nervously stroked her hair, "Really? It looks fine", Noelle assured her eating some of Mimosa's food, "You and Mari have similar eyes", Luck pointed at her, causing her to look at her and yeah, they did, "We do, don't we?", Mari looked at her, "Yeah", "WHAT ABOUT ME?", Vanica popped up between the two with her hands under her chin, "Ummmmm you have a nice eye patch?", Mimosa answered sounding much more like a question rather than a real compliment, "Thank you", Vanica stood back up and looked at Noelle, "So are you the other combat sports student?", the question caught her off guard "I-uh, no I'm not", Noelle nervously rubbed her arm, "I see", she could feel the disappointment getting into an obviously bothered mood, "Well that's ok", Vanica tried to help it, "How bout you ask me a question?", she proposed to her , Noelle thought about it for a moment, "What happened to your eye?", she asked, "NOELLE?", Mimosa looked at her shocked that she would ask, "Hey no worries I touched a sore subject so I think it's fair she should", she touched the eye patch as she thought about it

Flash Back

"She has retinoblastoma", the doctor informed a young Dante unaware that Vanica was listening from the door, "What's that?", Dante wasn't all too sure what she was saying, "Well it's a cancer that forms in the retina", she pulled out a diagram, "It begins there and slowly begins to eat the eye", Vanica began shaking, "It's also possible that it could spread to other parts of her body", Dante felt his heart be torn out, "WELL THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT", he shot out of his chair, "Well there is long term chemo therapy", Dante panicked knowing how expensive it would be, "But there is the option to remove the eye", Vanica busted into the room, "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY EYE", she cried clinging to Dante's leg, "I'm sorry ", he held her not sure what to say, "PLEASE I DON- DON- DON-", she couldn't finish, "We need time to think about it", Dante told the doctor , "I suggest you decide soon or she might experience long term complications"

Later that night Dante was putting the two of his siblings to bed, "Dante?", Vanica stopped him from leaving, "Yeah?", he sat next to her bed, "Am I gonna die?", hearing the question made Dante feel like his heart was being ripped out, "I don't know", his eyes began to water, "I'm sorry", she could feel the tears begin to flow, "No don't be, it's my fault I can't help you", he tried not to cry, "What's going to happen" "I will do anything we have to do to pay for the treatment", Vanica thought about it, they were not in a good way as it was and it might've made things worse, "But we'll", Dante stopped her, "I know", she thought about it more, "Is it going to hurt?", she asked him, "What?" "Is it going to hurt to lose my eye?", Dante finally cracked and cried trying to make it quiet at least so that Zenon wouldn't wake up, "I don't know", is all he could muster, and he didn't, taking care of his siblings since they were young, he never thought he would ever have to explain something like that to any of them, "I can do it though", Vanica stopped crying or at least it wasn't as obvious, "I can be strong just like Acier", she smiled, "Ok I uh I'll call the doctor and we'll set an appointment, ok?", "Ok", he gave her a hug before she went to sleep

The next day all three of them were waiting in the lobby as a talk show played the guest of honor, Acier Silva,"So what's your secret, y'know how come you never seem afraid?", a woman asked Acier,"Well that's the thing, I'm always scared",Vanica's eyes opened really wide, "I mean how could you not? I get punched and kicked for a living, so no matter what happens there is always a possibility that something irreparable might happen",she could feel her eyes water,"But even when I'm afraid, when I feel like I don't want to go on, I just swallow that fear and go forward",unconsciously the tears began to fall,"And sometimes that's all you can do, take a chance and keep going forward even if it hurts" "Well you heard it here ladies and gentlemen "The Lancer" Herself", "Vanica Zogratis?", a doctor came out looking for her, "Here", she got up and walked over to him, "Are you scared?", the doctor noticed she was crying, "Yeah", she looked up at her, "Well you are one strong little lady to be doing this", she gave her a smile, "Thank you", Vanica turned to her older brother, "Thank you", she hugged him, "No I should really be thanking you", he smiled back wiping tears from his eyes, "Alright then young lady let's get going"

The present

Vanica put her hand down looking back at them, "Wow", Sol almost couldn't believe it, and Mimosa she was basically speechless, Noelle however, "I'm sorry", she apologized not even sure why, "Don't be", Vanica smiled and immediately went back to eating, "No sense of tone", Zennon laughed at her, "Whatever", she looked up with her mouth stuffed with fries immediately lifting the mood, "Hey Yami said the cars ready", Asta came back inside, "Alright then we'll finish up here and head back", Liebe went back to eating, "Yeah", Noelle looked up at him, "MAN I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT TIME", Leo stretched , "This was pretty fun", Sol thought about it, "Next time be here though ok?", Yuno gave him a sarcastic remark, "Yeah", Asta nervously rubbed his neck

At the auto shop

Yami closed the hood of Mimosa's car, a job well done, "Jeez wonder who was working on this thing", Yami looked at the car, "Tell me about it", Nacht went to wash his hands of the grime that built up on his hand, "Asta asked me about Morgen", he told Yami as he washed his hands, "What?", Yami trying to make sure he heard it right, "Asta, he asked me about Morgen", he turned around leaning on the sink, "And?", Yami followed to the sink, "Nothin he told me I didn't need to talk about it if I didn't want to", he looked ahead, "Are you ever gonna tell him?", Yami asked, "Someday, what about you?", he looked over to Yami, "Maybe", he flicked the water off of his hands, "Well they're here", he turned to the garage door seeing the large group pouring into his shop, "Alright", the two of them went outside

"Sup", Liebe called to Yami as he walked out, "Well your guys car like I said earlier just had a few problems with the brakes", Yami tossed the keys to Liebe, "Cool, how much?", he asked him, "It's all good Asta will make it up", "AH WHAT", Asta looked at him, "You couldn't pay today so you're going to be here for the weekend", he patted him on the shoulder, "Fine", he folded his arms, "Good now get to cleaning the garage to starts", "NOW", "NO COMPLAINING", Yami grabbed him by his head, "Excuse me", Mimosa interrupted him, "What's up?", he shot his attention to her, "What about my car?", she nervously fiddled with her hands, "Oh about that I need to talk to you about the work you had done on the car", Yami pointed to Nacht, "C'mere the office is this way", he motioned for her to follow him, "Noelle come with me", the two left to the office, "Alright than man I'll see you later?", Liebe gave Asta a fist bump, "For sure", the crew loaded into the van and drove off, "Alright kid you go and clean", Yami began walking to his office, "I know"

"Ok so can you tell me who worked on the car before", Yami took out a piece of paper, "I never met them, but it was some guy that my parents pay to work on it", Mimosa responded as Yami wrote it down, "Ok, any previous issues aside from today?", he asked, "Not that I would've known of", another reply came, "Alright now this is very important how much did your parents pay them?" "I think around 10-20 thousand", her answer left Nacht and Yami's eyes almost popping out of their sockets, "WHAT?", the two of them couldn't believe it, "What's wrong?", Mimosa looked at them, "What's wrong? That price is completely outrageous", "Really?", the Mimosa and Noelle looked at each other, "Well the spark plugs blew, and the alternator was completely burned so if that's what they're charging you that's highway robbery", "I had no idea", Mimosa hadn't really asked about the car too much other than a few times for when she picked it up, and even then she never really got too much out of them, "Ok well I'll whip something up and Nacht can go show you what we're talking about", Yami got a piece of paper from his desk, "Come with me", Nacht again motioned for her to follow, "C'mon Noelle", she nodded her head for her to follow, "Alright", the three got up and went outside

After Nacht got done explaining Mimosa thanked him and went inside the, "Well today was cool", Mimosa slouched in her seat exhausted she looked at Noelle who to her surprise was actually smiling a little, "See today wasn't so bad", "Yeah", Noelle looked out the window seeing Asta get a trash bag and go around the back, "Hey what do you think they were talking about earlier?", she looked over to Mimosa, "What?", she thought for a moment about what Noelle was talking about, "Oh uh when Luck talked about Re or something, I'm not sure why?", "Noelle's gaze followed as Asta began to roll some of the tires inside, "I'm not sure", she thought about today how he snapped at her, how Kiato canceled on her, but Asta's friends weren't so bad, Vanica was cool, Fana was cool, Nero was cool, she thought about what she said earlier,"That doesn't sound like him", "Then why would you-", her train of though was cut off by a sudden realization,"MAYBE SHE CAN HELP YOU FORGET RE-", oh......oh.............oh, she looked down, then she noticed it, his wallet, the one he forgot because she was a jerk, "Oh no", she grabbed it, "I'll be right back", "Ok", Mimosa turned the car on the radio blasting

Asta finished cleaning the restroom and came out turning to see Noelle, "Hey", he let out a annoyed groan, "Look if this is to-", "I'm sorry", he stopped in his tracks

"Oh, I love this song", Mimosa turned the radio up as "Give me a shot at the night" by: The Killers came on

"Once in a lifetime"

"I had a chance to think about today, and I'm sorry", she rubbed her arm thinking about what Nero told her

"The suffering of fools"

"I'm not sure who Re is and I shouldn't have pushed for you to or anyone else to tell me", she remembered how annoyed Liebe seemed at her pushing for an answer

"To find our way home"

Asta stared at her as the moon illuminated her hair, "And I think I understand why you were so angry", she thought of all the times Mimosa had told her about Kiato, if any of it was true, she would be crushed

"To break in these bones"

"I'm sorry really I am", she looked at him

"Once in a lifetime, (Once in a lifetime), Once in a lifetime"

"I was being really insensitive", she held out his wallet, "I had a cool time, and your friends are good people", she began to cringe a little when she thought about asking Vanica about her eye

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Since you and Mimosa are going to be seeing each other often and I would definitely like to hang out with some of them again some time", Asta smiled at her, while she thought about talking to Fana and Vanica who kept trying to include her throughout the night

"GIVE ME A SHOT AT THE NIGHT"

"I would like to be friends or at least friendly", Asta grabbed his wallet seeing that her hand was still out stretched

"GIVE ME A MOMENT SOME KIND OF MYSTERIOUS"

Asta thought about it for a second, and when he did, he realized he was being a little awkward throughout the night, "Why do you have this?", he looked at his wallet, "You forgot it in detention", she put her hands behind her back and nervously played with them, "I don't need you to tell me about it right now or even ever", he looked back at her, "Yeah ok", Asta put it back in his pocket, "Friends?", he held his hand back out to her, "Friends", she shook it a small smile forming, "Oh I love this song", Noelle commented on what was playing, "You like The Killers?", Asta was surprised as at least to him she didn't seem like the type to listen to it, "I-", Noelle thought about it no one aside from Mimosa really knew she liked it, even so, "Yeah I love The Killers", she nervously rubbed her arm, "Nice", Asta said while he began to walk to the office, "Oh wait when are you gonna do this again?", Noelle stopped him, "I'll text you", Asta waved, "Ok", she turned, "WAIT I don't have your number", she saw as he turned, "Ah I forgot", he walked up to her, "Here", he handed her his phone to copy the number, "Cool", she walked away, "See you Monday", she waved at him

When she got back in the car Mimosa was staring at her a smile strewn across her face, "What's up?", she asked her, "Nothing", she replied, "You ready to go?", "Yep", the two drove off into the night

Asta got back into Yami's office, "I cleaned the place", he looked at Yami while he finished writing something down, "Nice", he put it away and got up, "Where's Nacht?", Asta asked him, "He went home", Yami replied, "I see", he looked at Yami as he grabbed his keys, "Alright let's head out"

Later at the Staria residence

"Thanks Yami", he got out of his car, "No problem", he was about to drive off, "WAIT", Asta stopped him, "What?", he rolled his window back down, I forgot to tell you earlier, but the guy that got me in to the academy actually wanted you to start coaching me there", Asta leaned onto his car, "Really?", "Yeah", "I don't know kid I don't think I could teach a bunch of you", Yami rubbed the back of his neck, "That's the good thing each student has an individual coach so since you've been my coach for so long I thought it would work out better than someone from there", Asta got off his car, "Well", he thought about it , he had been his coach since he was a kid, "Alright just text me the place and time and I'll be there", Yami gave him a wave, "Thank you", "No problem kid"

Asta inside to see Liebe and Nero sitting on the sofa, "Took you long enough", Liebe turned to look at him, "Yeah the shop was pretty dirty today", Asta sat next to them, "You ok?", Nero asked him, "Yeah why?", Asta gave her a confused look, "Well you've been acting kind of weird today", Liebe told him, "Really?", Asta thought about today, "Oh right", he nervously scratched the back of his head, "Well I'm just glad you're ok", Liebe gave him a smile, "Yeah..................I'm going to bed", Asta got up, "Really? It's pretty early, especially for a weekend", Liebe was surprised, "I'm just tired", "Sweet dreams then", Liebe turned his attention back to the T.V

Asta fell onto his bed, looking at his phone

Rebecca: Hey I wanna talk

Me: What's up?

Rebecca: Can we please talk in person

Me: Sure Seen 7:02 6/12/23

He looked at the old texts as his eyes began to water*MADA*his phone's custom ringer went off

Unkown Number: Asta?

he wasn't sure if he wanted to reply but decided to

Me: Yep

Unkown Number: Nice I was just making sure

Me: who is this?

Unknown Number: Noelle

Asta looked at the name and quickly replaced it

Noelle: Something wrong?

Me: No I was just putting your name

Noelle: Oh lol

Noelle: When do you think you guys are all gonna hang out again?

Me: Not sure but I'll let you know

Noelle: Cool

Noelle: i heard that guy tell you had to work at his shop this weekend

Me: Yeah cause I didn't have my wallet

Noelle: Sorry I genuinely forgot

Me: It's all good he usually pays me any way so it'll be to replace the money I spent on the train

Noelle: You take the metro?

Me: Yea

Me: The school pays for it so it helps my mom save gas

Noelle: Oh what does your mom do?

Me: Emergency hot line operator

Noelle: Like a regular job?

Me: You sound like Klaus when I first talked to him

Noelle: Don't compare me to him 😂

Me: He's not a bad guy

Me: Nerdy but cool

Noelle: I guess

Me: Well I'm pretty tired so I'll leave you to it👍

Noelle: Gn

Me: Gn

Asta put his phone down,"Today was cool", he thought as his eyes closed falling asleep

*bzzz bzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzzz* Missed call from Rebecca

With Noelle

Her and Mimosa were driving home, "You seem happy", Mimosa looked at her as she stared at her phone, "What? No, it's just Asta", "Wow for two people who seemed like they wanted to kill each other you are acting really friendly", Noelle thought about what she said, "I was being really insensitive, and it turned out him and his friends were pretty cool", she looked out the window, "Really?" Mimosa couldn't believe it, "Well at least you're not going to be annoying about rants with him anymore", "HEY", Noelle gave her a tap on the arm, "I'm just telling the truth", she shrugged, "Whatever", Noelle smiled

When they finally made it back to Noelle's house, "See you tomorrow?", Mimosa asked her, "Yeah", she waved as she drove off, going back into her house

She walked through the empty house back to her room yet again, this time not so miserable, making it back to her room she fell right on to her bed, "Today was good", she turned to face the window, "So how was it?", she turned back to her door to see Nebra, "How was what?", she asked her, "The date?", she clarified, "Oh that didn't happen", she answered, "Then why are you so happy?", "I just had a good time with some friends", she smiled as she laid back down, "Hm I thought you would've been way more angry", "Well I guess but, today made up for it", she began settling into her covers, "Going to bed", "Yeah", "Good night then", Nebra closed her door turning off the lights as she did,"Today was.................................good", she thought as her eyes closed falling into sleep

*BZZ BZZZ BZZZZ* Kiato♥: Hey Delivered

and the text stayed like that throughout the night

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

"So how was your weekend?", Noelle asked Asta at the lockers, "It was cool I spent it at Yami's shop", he said while he put some of his books in the locker, "Oh yeah he supposed to come here today right?", she closed her locker, "Yeah he's I can't wait to start training with him again", "Since when were you friends?", the two of them looked turned their attention to the left seeing Charmy with a raised eyebrow while Grey was behind her

AND

"Yami?", Ms. Roselei looked at him in the ring with Asta, "Hey Ms. Roselei", Yami rubbed the back of his neck, "So uh how've you been?", he asked her, "I uh", she thought about it everything she wanted to say, "Ok I've been ok"

Chapter 4: Awkward reunions

Chapter Text

The weekend flew by, Asta working at Yami's shop seeing people come and go, yet he felt happy waiting for Monday to come a first if he was being honest as school was always sort of boring, bad, terrible you get the idea, and as it came a few problems came with it

Asta was walking away from the metro looking at his phone

Noelle: You there yet?

Me: No you?

Noelle: If I was I wouldn't ask you if you were there yet

Me: Ok no need to be mean

Noelle: Lol I wasnt

Me: So is mimosa taking you?

Noelle: No I spent the night at Charmy's

Noelle: She offered to take me instead

Me: Ah I see

Noelle: How was the train?

Asta was about to reply before*HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK*he made a sudden jerk looking up to see Mimosa's car as the driver side window slid down revealing her, "Need a ride?", she asked him, "Sure", he shrugged and went to the passenger side opening the door

"Oh sorry", he scratched the back of his head making her laugh, "Nah you're good", she closed the door causing Asta to hop in the back seat, "So how was your weekend?", Mimosa looked at Asta through the hand mirror, "Cool", he looked over to the girl in front, "I don't think we've met before", she laughed, "We haven't but, I have heard about you from Mimosa and a few other people from school", "Ah", he scratched the back of his head, "Speaking of other people from school, you talk to Sol and Leo?", he looked over to Mimosa as she started driving again, "Yeah Sol said they were gonna bring in the coaches today so", "Nice", Asta thought about Yami and how excited he was to train with him again, "We're almost there"

A little drive later and the three of them were pulling up to the car park, "Thanks again for the little ride", Asta gave Mimosa and Letoile a little salute with his fingers, "What are you doing we're going to the same place", Mimosa giggled at him, "Oh right", he nervously scratched his cheek, "Well let's just get going", Letoile walked passed him, "Yeah", he nodded his head as him and Mimosa followed her inside, "So you gonna be in the gym today?", Asta looked at Mimosa as they walked down the hall, "Yeah, we were just setting up for the semester with the student council", "You're a part of the student council?", Asta asked forgetting about what she said Friday, "Yeah me and Letoile", she pointed her thumb to her, "So are you the other combat sports student?", he looked as Letoile pushed her glasses up, "No fighting isn't really my thing", Asta hummed thinking about what she said,"Then who are they?"

With Noelle

Noelle scrunched her face a little seeing that Asta had read her last text yet didn't reply, "What?", Charmy looked over to her, "Nothing", she put her phone back in her bag, "Didn't seem like nothing", Charmy gave a little side eye, "Really it was nothing. Anyways", Noelle looked back at Grey, "You get that Guy's number?", she asked making Grey cover her face, "Uhhhh", she", nervously spouted before Charmy answered for her, "No she didn't ", Charmy rolled her eyes, "I was nervous", Grey messed with her hands a little, "Grey you're so pretty I don't know why you have such low confidence", Noelle tried to cheer her up, "I guess", she just looked away, "Hmmm", Noelle sighed watching ahead as Charmy pulled into the car park, "Well we're here", she stopped the car parking it in front, "Thanks again for the ride", Noelle smiled as she got out of the car, "No problem", the trio were about to go inside before Grey and Charmy stopped, "What?", Noelle looked back at the two of them, "Sorry I forgot we have to go to the front office we'll see you inside though", Charmy waved as her and Grey walked towards the office, "Alright", she waved back her hands slowing closing, "See ya", she looked back to the door and went inside

Noelle looked at her phone as she walked down the hall swiping through the countless messages homing in on Asta's to see that he still hadn't responded, "Hmm", she let out an annoyed sigh as she got to her messages with Kiato

Me: You on your way to school? Delivered

"UHHHH", she groaned right before seeing Mimosa and Asta at the lockers, "Yeah I was thinking of focusing on combo drills when he gets here", Asta began putting books in his locker, "The guy from the Black Bulls auto?", Mimosa asked him, "Yeah", "I see", Mimosa looked back to see Noelle, "Hey", she waved to her, "Hey", Noelle waved back as she approached the three, "So how was Charmy's?", Mimosa asked her, "Cool we didn't do much though", Noelle thought about Friday, "So how was your weekend?", she looked over to Asta as she opened her locker, "It was cool I spent it at Yami's shop, got paid for it too", Asta leaned on his locker watching Noelle get her things, "So cool you ignore my messages?", she closed her locker raising her brow in a sarcastic manner, "Oh sorry Mimosa came and got me for the rest of the way to school", he nervously rubbed his arm, "It's cool though, I forgive you", Noelle made an exaggeration of each word she spoke, "Well thanks", Asta returned a bit of the sarcasm, "Anyways you were talking about the guy from the auto shop", she closed her locker looking at them while she did, "Yeah I'm really excited to start training with him again", Asta kneeled up and down with excitement knowing that today was going to be a good day of work, "Oh yeah he's supposed to come today isn't he?", she put her backpack back on, "Yeah I-", Since when were you two friends?", someone interrupted Asta causing the four of them to look over seeing Charmy arms folded, foot tapping, and a raised eyebrow with Grey standing behind her, "Well?", Charmy wanting an answer threw her arms up, "Well what?", Noelle raised her eyebrows, "We're gonna go", Mimosa tapped her on the shoulder walking away with Letoile, "See ya during lunch", she waved to Asta, "See ya", he waved back to her, "What's with you being buddy buddy with header over there?", she angrily pointed at Asta who rolled his eyes, "Who cares?", Noelle began to get annoyed with her friend, "Who cares? Who cares?", Charmy seemed like she was gonna explode, "I think your boyfriend would have a problem with it", she looked at Asta behind her, "Look I think we misjudged him", she motioned her arms to him, Asta giving a blank face to them, "Ok well I'll see you in class", he just turned and waved, "Well you don't have to worry about him now do you?", Noelle just raised her brow, "Fine I just........don't think he can be that great of a guy if he did that to Kiato when they had just met", Charmy unfolded her arms, "Trust me he's not too bad", she smiled at her friends, "Alright well we'll see you later", she watched as her friends made off, ""Well-", "Babe", she heard a very familiar voice and turned to him with excitement, "Babe", she walked over and hugged him, "Sorry we didn't get to hang out this weekend" "Nah it's cool I get it stuff gets in the way", she nervously rubbed her arm, "Well this weekend I'll make it up to you", he smiled at her, "How?", she asked, "Well a friend of mine got a job at that new place in capital so I thought it would be a good time to go on a date", hearing that made Noelle almost squeal, "AWESOME", she gave a few coughs, "I mean cool", "Alright I'll pick you up Saturday", he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "See you later", Noelle waved at him as she walked away unaware that Kiato had seen the whole thing and was feeling very bothered by it

In class

Asta leaned on his head into the palm of his hand looking ahead to the teacher as she gave announcements,"Who cares? Who cares?", he thought about the girl from earlier,"Why was she that explosive about it?", he thought as he tapped his finger,"Then again" "Look I think we misjudged him", he thought about Noelle defending him, "Right back atcha", he smiled, "Why are you so happy?", he looked up to see Noelle, "No reason, why are you?", he noticed a large smile plastered on her face, "Well Kiato made a promise that he would take me to this new place in Capital", she gloated placing her hand on her chest, "Nice", Asta just gave her a thumbs up, "Yeah I just can't wait", she sat down fantasizing about the date, "Well I can't wait for lunch", he thought about training with Yami again, "Is training all you think about?", Noelle's daydream came to an abrupt halt, "YEP", he smiled making Noelle feel a bit happy herself,"Hmm",she had a slight inward giggle

In the car park

Yami had a few doubts about this, but Asta was his student, and he wasn't going to let him down now, "Hmm", he looked at the school, "Big place", he looked around seeing a few students had come late, "Hey you guys", he kept calling only being ignored by them before he eventually found a guy with a green highlight in his hair, "Hey you", he saw as he stopped dead in his tracks, "Yes", he slowly turned around to face him, "I need help finding the office you know where that is?", Yami took a drag from his cigarette, "Umm yeah just this way", he nervously turned around and began to stiffly lead the way, "Thanks", Yami began to follow him finally being lead to the office, "Thanks...what's your name?", Yami looked at him, "Finral sir", he gave a rapid bow and legged it, "Ha what a weirdo", Yami laughed at him before turning his attention to the front desk, "Marx?", the bowl cut guy looked up, "Yami", he stared in surprise at him, "What brings you here?", Marx questioned, "A student of my started going here recently sooooo", he dragged the end of his sentence, "I see, you must be talking about Asta", Yami smiled, "So already making a name for himself huh?", he chuckled, "Well for better or worse", Marx turned his phone on, "Kira Asta's coach is here","Thanks I'll be there right away",Kira buzzed out leaving a little silence between the two of them, "So how have you been?", Marx broke the silence, "Good I've been good", Yami squirmed a little, "Good......good", Marx nervously tapped his fingers, "So I heard that you opened up a shop" "Yep" "Cool cool", the awkwardness was thick like so thick a dimensional rift wouldn't cut it, "I-", Marx was cut off by Kira finally entering the office, "Hello sir", Kira held out his hand for Yami to shake which he did, "Nice to meet you", Yami gave a firm shake if the hand, "No the pleasure is all mine", Kira returned it with a vigorous shake making Yami laugh a bit, "So you're Asta's coach" "Yes I am" "Great great uh would you like a tour of the place" "Sure", Yami agreed following him to the outside

After a very similar tour that Asta and his family received seeing the school thinking it was pretty great, "We'll print you a faculty ID and you can get to whatever you want", Kira and Yami stood around looking as the ID slowly printed, "I don't know if this is really all that necessary", he put his hand on the back of his neck, "I'm only gonna be here a few times a week", he looked back at Kira, "Well I guess, but you are Asta's coach so providing you with at the very least similar benefits makes sense", Kira gave a smile, "And it would be a shame to train him without any compensation", he clapped his hands together, "Well I'm not exactly doing it for compensation, or whatever", he smiled as he looked blankly ahead, "Kid's been my student since he was a kid", he thought back to the day they met, "All I'm doing is making sure he has everything he needs to be a world champion someday", Kira smiled hearing all he needed to hear from him, "Well if that's the case then I guess I was worried for nothing", Kira grabbed the ID and a case and lanyard, "What?", Yami looked back at him, "I wasn't sure if you were helping Asta for entirely honest reasons", he thought about Asta handing him a cut of his money for the fight in the underground, "So when I saw that you did accept the money he gave you that day", he packed the ID in and attached it to the lanyard, "Oh that", he laughed remembering it, "That cut cost me more than if I just kept my shop open for the day", a surprised raise of the brows from Kira followed eliciting a small chuckle, "Well I'm glad I was wrong", he held the lanyard out to Yami, "Yeah no problem", he took it and put it around his neck, "Oh and you get free lunch and can help yourself to the teachers' lounge", Kira began walking back to his office, "Thanks", Yami gave a two finger salute to him making his way to the cafeteria

In Dorothy's class

"So, I can see that last week ended on a positive note at least", Dorothy finished writing something in a notebook, "Yeah it was cool made friends, hung out with them, and had a pretty good weekend", he smiled back at her, "Well that's good to hear", she closed the notebook and placed it in her desk, "Well you're free to go today", she shook Asta's hand, "And have a good day", he waved at her student, "I will Dorothy", he laughed and waved back as he left walking into the hall, "Sup", Sol gave an arm raise to get his attention alongside Leo, "Hey guys", Asta gave Leo a high five and a fist bump doing the same with Sol, "How was your guys weekends?", he asked them while they walked towards the cafeteria, "Cool I got some good sparring in with my brother", Leo put his arms behind his head, "Really?", Asta gave a face jerk to show his surprise, "Yeah a lot of grappling", he slumped his head down, "Told ya", Sol laughed at him, "Ah whatever", he pushed her into Asta, "Woah calm down she's gonna toss you", he and Sol laughed, "For real no take down defense, no clinch, no grappling", she said Asta making a make shift boom sound effect each time, "Whatever", Leo laughed, "What bout yours?", Asta asked Sol, "Nothing that interesting just some practice with my mom" "Damn a lot of sparring" "Well yeah fall qualifiers are coming up", Sol looked back at Asta, "Huh?", he wasn't sure what they were talking about, "Oh that's right you haven't had any official fights", Sol stroked her chin before slamming her fist into her palm, "So each season has a main event" "Ok" "And of those events they all have a preliminary qualifier to try and get into the regional main event" "Ok" "But if you do good enough you Can make it to the World Triumph", she finished explaining, "WORLD TRIUMPH", Asta shot in her face stars in his eyes, "Yeah an event that the best amateur Jr. fighters from around the world participate in", "REALLY?", Asta almost couldn't contain his excitement, "Yeah but it's been a long time since anyone here made it", Leo looked at the ceiling, "Really?", Asta's excitement a little killed from what he said, "Yeah my brother for MMA", Sol looked at him, "Yeah we've gotten close before but", she nervously scratched her head, "WELL I'M GONNA MAKE IT TO WORLDS TRIUPMTH", Asta pumped his fists in the air making the other two laugh, "Well guess we'll have to make it there with you", they put their arms around Asta, "YEAH", he screamed bolting for the cafeteria Sol and Leo not far behind

"TRIUMPH TRIUMPH TRIUMPH", the trio pumped their fists up and down even in line, "What are you guys doing?", they stopped looking over to see Yuno and Klaus, "We're hyping ourselves up", Sol rolled her eyes, "Well to me it seems like you are screaming some nonsense", Yuno returned the eyeroll, "Nah I just heard about that WORLDS TRIUMPTH AND I HAVE TO MAKE IT THERE", Asta's excitement clearly not totally dead, "Well you guys are being rather loud about it", the two of them stood behind them, "Well not our fault we're excited", Sol shrugged her shoulders as she ordered her food, "Something you clearly don't know about", she gave Yuno a smug hum, "Yeah yeah", Yuno rolled his eyes again, "Anyways how was your guys weekends?", Asta looked back at them, "It was cool we just chilled at my house and played video games", Yuno answered, "Yeah wasn't very interesting", Klaus shrugged watching as Asta ordered his food, "Well it seems like fun", he grabbed his tray, "You guys wanna come with us to the gym?", asked them, "Sure", they agreed waiting for their food, "HEY KID", Asta turned his head to see Yami walking towards them, "YAMI", he waved to his coach, "Gotta say this place is pretty cool", Yami looked around as he reached them, "Yeah it's pretty cool", he smiled, "Haha love the energy kid", he ruffled his hair, "Hello sir", Leo saluted him, "Just call me Yami kid", he laughed at Leo's formality, "Sorry Yami", he nervously scratched his head, "Well get ready for today cause we're working hard", Yami laughed, "We're?", Sol looked at him confused, "It's a rule anyone that shares a gym with me goes to the same training as Asta", the color drained from their faces, "HUH", Sol screamed making Yuno laugh, "What are you laughing about?", Yami shot a glare at him, "Cause they aren't ready for it", he held his stomach, "Is that so? Well pretty boy you and your friend are gonna train too", he grabbed Yuno by the head, "Huh?" "If you're in the gym you get in work as well", Klaus smiled, "What?", he looked over to Klaus, "Nothing just appreciate the work", he grabbed his and Yuno's food, "Alright then let's get going", the gang followed as Yami left the cafeteria

As they entered Yami sent them to get ready, "We don't have any workout clothes", Yuno pointed out, "Asta you got the extra shorts", he looked over to him, "Yeah", Asta began digging around in his bag, "Hmmm", Yuno sighed in defeat, "Here you go", he tossed it to him, "Alright then we don't have a problem, do we?" "No sir", Yuno and Klaus went to the boy's locker room, "Ready to get work in today?", Yami looked at Asta, "YEP", he jumped up and down waiting for the others to get ready, "Yami?", a voice called from behind causing him to turn his head

A tall lanky guy was standing in the entrance of the gym with Sekke, "Jack?", Yami shook his head to make sure he wasn't seeing things, "What are you doing here?", Jack walked up to the two with his student, "What are you doing here?", he responded with another question, "Well I've been training Sekke here since he got into the academy", he signaled his arm to Sekke, "Ah well I'm training this kid here", Yami put his hand on Asta's head, "I see", Jack leaned over stroking his chin as he looked at Asta, "OOOOOHHHHH", a nervous sweat broke over Asta's head, "You're the one who Ko'd Sekke", he gave a slight glare at him, "HAHAHA YEAH", he nervously scratched the back of his head, "Is that a problem?", Yami put an arm between the two, "No", Jack stood straight up again, "Gotta say to do something like that is pretty impressive", he continued to stroke his chin, "Well I guess that means I trained him better than you di yours", Yami gave a smug shoulder shrug, "WHY YOU-", "We're ready", the rest of the gang yelled as they got out of the locker room, "Alright then", Yami clapped, "We're going to work on some conditioning", he looked at them ignoring what Jack was saying, "HEY DON-", "Also your student is also going to be doing this", Jack stopped what he was doing, "What?" "Your student is a part of the combat sports program?" "Well yeah bu-" "Then he's gotta put in the same work", Yami looked back at the rest of the kids, "Ok 50 laps around the ring area", Yami spun his finger in a circle, "That includes you", he turned to Sekke, "But-" "I said that includes you", he gave the young man a glare, "YES SIR", Sekke joined the rest of them causing Jack to chuckle a bit, "Well can't say you've changed all too much" "Well when there isn't much in between why would I?", Yami watched as they did laps, "I guess", Jack looked at him, "So how've you been?" "Good" "Nice", Jack nodded his head, "HEY NO FAKE JOGGING", Yami yelled seeing that Yuno and Klaus were doing more of a walk, "Haha", Jack laughed, "Well guess I get to see how that kid trains", he watched Asta and Leo tie neck and neck with each other in laps, "He always puts in 110% it's what makes him so good" "Huh" "That kid would train as hard as he could every day without fail, even if he collapsed the day prior he would go as hard as he could", Jack looked back at him with a smile, "Kinda reminds me of someone", he chuckled, "I guess", Yami closed his eyes still smiling, "What's going on here?", the two of them turned to the entrance to see Mimosa, "Ah you go get ready and run laps with them", Yami pointed to the locker room, "Why?", she raised her brow, "Cause I said so" "But-" "No buts", she let out a deep sigh, "Alright", she began walking to the locker room, "HEY", Asta and Leo waved at her as she did, "Hey", she waved back at them eventually getting done and joining them, "So how long have you guys been doing this?", Mimosa looked over to Sol as they jogged, "Not too long but those two over there are dying", she looked back at Yuno and Klaus, "WE SHOULD'VE JUST ATE OUTSIDE", Klaus groaned through big heaves, "SHUT UP", Yuno did much the same making Mimosa giggle, "Well I guess you can't fault them for trying" "I guess", Sol continued with a huge smirk on her face

With Noelle

She sat with her friends at a lunch table laughing as they talked about the weekend, "Yeah I hear Fragil's throwing a party in like the middle of September", Charmy said putting a fry in her mouth after, "Yeah she always throws a good party", Grey agreed while she took a sip from her shake, "I should be ungrounded by then", Noelle gave a nervous laugh making the two of them, "What?", Charmy raised her eyebrow in suspicion, "I'm not sure if my mom's gonna let me go to parties so soon", she scratched her cheek, "And you still want to be friends with him?", Charmy kept the same look on her face as she asked, "Charmy he's not that bad", Noelle rolled her eyes, "Well he's the reason you are grounded and can't go to Fragil's party" "I didn't say I couldn't I said I'm just not sure", she looked over to grey, "Right?" "Yeah", Charmy rolled her eyes, "Well I guess if you you go", she leaned her head into her palm, "Anyways me and Kiato are going on a date this weekend", Noelle announced with excitement, "Nice where are you going?", Grey asked, "It's that new place in capital, I guess he has a friend who works there", Noelle held her hands to her chest, "Ohhh I wanted to go there so bad", Charmy's mood instantly changed, "Yeah I'm pretty excited so I need you guys to help me pick out an outfit" "Sure", Grey and Charmy agreed, "Cool", Noelle began to look through her bag, "Alright hold up I'm gonna go to the restroom", she grabbed a makeup bag, "Hold up we'll go with you", Charmy and Grey stood up following her

"Well never mind", Noelle stepped into the Restroom seeing that it was really crowded people gossiping, arguing, and for some reason a fight was happening in the handicap stall, "What about the one in the gym?", Grey raised her hand, "Oh that's right I forgot about the gym", Charmy put her finger on her chin, "Alright then I guess the gym it is", the trio walked out making their way to the gym hearing pretty loud music coming from the inside of the gym, "Guess they're having a good time", Charmy commented, "Yeah Mimosa says she has a good time training", Noelle pushed the door open seeing the gang doing laps around the ring some of them heaving, "It smells in here", Charmy's brow twitched with annoyance, "Yeah", Grey held her nose, "Well we'll only be in here for-", "NOELLE", she turned seeing Mimosa wave at her, "Hey-" "What are you doing?', Noelle again turned her head seeing that the guy who worked in Mimosa's car was standing there, "Oh hey you-", she was cut off again, "You're interrupting the fighters" "Yeah I'm just trying to-" "Well if you're so ready to do that you're training with them" "What?", Noelle shook her head at what she was hearing, "Hey dude we were just trying to use the restroom here-", Charmy got cut off, "And you interrupted them", he pointed at the crew, "So if you have a problem with that I don't care", Yami looked back over to them as they began to jog again, "But-" "No but's you three in line", Yami didn't even turn to tell them Noelle was bothered by it, "Hey I'm wearing a skirt so-" "Go ask your friend to borrow something to wear", Noelle sighed, "Alright", she made her way to Mimosa as Grey and Charmy followed, "Hey can I-" "Yeah no worries just look through my bag", "Hi Mimosa", Charmy waved at her, "Hey", she returned a seemingly forced smile, "Ok I'm gonna go get changed I guess", Noelle rolled her eyes, "Did you just roll your eyes?", she turned to Yami, "Uh" "50 more", the crew collectively groaned apart from Leo and Asta, "YES SIR", they yelled

After she had went through Mimosa's stuff seeing she only had a pair of gym shorts that were a little small for her she awkwardly walked out to join them in the laps, "Well great there goes the rest of lunch", Charmy groaned as her, Noelle, and Grey joined in, "Sorry guys", Noelle apologized, "I didn't think this was gonna happen" "It's ok", Grey assured her, "Well it's not cause if you haven't noticed", Charmy pointed behind her where the two guys with Sekke were clearly checking them out, "Uhh", Noelle pulled the ends down to cover herself better, "Here", she heard someone say looking forward to find a jacket smack her in the face, "HEY", she saw Asta give her a small wave, "I'M GONNA GO PAST YOU", the wave was cut off as Leo charged past Noelle and her friends making her laugh as she tied the jacket around her waist, "Well Not so bad anymore", she smiled going the laps

When they had finally finished the gang were sitting down, "Alright 3-minute break to eat your food and we're gonna do some basic shadow drills and maybe some pad work later", Yami left them to use the restroom, "HOW DO YOU DO THIS EVERYDAY", Klaus fell over arms strewn across the floor making them laugh, "Well I've been doing this stuff since I was a kid", Asta leaned his head back looked at the ceiling, "Really?", Yuno gave a blank stare, "Yeah", he smiled thinking about the first training session he had, "Well my mom's about to be here so", Sol got up, "You're mom?", Asta shook his head, "Yeah she actually works here", she stretched her arms out, "Yeah she's the person I learned Judo from", "Hmm" "Oh yeah I forgot to thank you", he turned to see Noelle, "Yeah no problem man", he looked at her friends who had rather defensive looks, "So Asta was it?", Charmy looked at him, "Yeah", he gave a blank stare back, "Charmy", Noelle tried to stop her, "No Noelle it's fine, I just want to get to know your friend better, Y'know the one that gave your boyfriend a black eye", a sarcastic smile on her face making Asta chuckle, "What?", she snapped her head back to him, "You gonna do anything about it?", Asta stood up, "Well-" "Then shut up man", Asta walked over to the ring and reached into his bag pulling a set of wraps out, "HEY", Asta looked up at her, "I wasn't-" "Charmy seriously if you aren't gonna do anything about it than just cut it out", she turned back to see Mimosa get up as well, "Alright everyone calm down", Jack and Yami returned to stop them before it got out of hand, "Like I said we're gonna work on some shadow drills", Yami and Jack stood across from each other, "Pairs of two and your gonna copy what we do, got it?", he looked at the group all of which collectively agreed although some less than others, "Ok groups", Yami tapped his chin, "You and you", he pointed to Mimosa and Yuno, Leo and Klaus, Grey and Sol, Sekke and Charmy, Afro guy and Buzz cut guy, and Lastly Asta and Noelle

"So, you do this before?", Mimosa asked Yuno, "No I-", he was cut off by Klaus who corrected him, "He actually does Taekwondo", he said facing away from Leo, "Really?", Mimosa raised her brow confused on why he would lie, "Yeah a couple years ago, but I stopped", he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well how far did you go?" "Uhhh" "Second degree black belt", Klaus answered for him, "Wow that's actually pretty good", she again shook her head, "I guess" "Well I've been looking to learn better kicks maybe you could help me", she laughed, "Yeah maybe", Yuno returned the laugh

"You did taekwondo too?", Leo asked Klaus, "Yeah, but I wasn't as good as he was", he looked at Yuno who was continuing to converse with Mimosa, "I see, how far did you go though", he asked, "Well I uh", Klaus pushed his glasses up, "Blue", Yuno got a bit of payback, "HEY" "No dude it's fine lemme just show you how to do some boxing"

Sol just looked at Grey silently, "So uhhhh you box before?", Sol asked her, "No", a short answer was given, "Ahh", she nodded her head awkwardly as she sucked in her lips, "Well I'm not a very good striker so I can't say it's gonna look much better", she nervously laughed, "Ok", yet another short answer came, "Great", Sol patted her thighs

"Well, I would never put my hands on a-" "Save it man", Charmy pushed Sekke's jaw closed, "Ok", he nervously agreed

Asta was looking at Yami waiting for him to give some instructions, "I've never done this before soooo", he turned to Noelle, "It's cool just follow what he does and it should be fine", he assured her, "Cool", she smiled, Charmy just looked at them in annoyance, "Alright first drill", Yami clapped his hands, "Follow us", he signaled, "Jab, cross other person sticks their arm out and when they do roll to the outside and counter with a hook to the body like this", he showed them, "Hey not to neg but that's really basic", Mimosa raised her hand, "Wow Mimosa it's almost like this is the first time some of us are doing this", Charmy gave her a sarcastic smile, "Just be happy you weren't my partner", she returned the gesture, "Ok Ok just get to work"

"Alright", Yuno stiffly tried to mimic what the coaches did, "You have to be a little more lose", Mimosa told him, "Also always a bad idea to start with your hands down", she grabbed his arms showing him the proper guard, "Alright like this?", Yuno kept that guard, "Yeah", she smiled, "Now 1 2 8", she showed him the motion, "1 2 what now?", he raised his brow, "Oh uh", forgetting he was a kicker not a boxer, "Ok so like in boxing we have number notation to refer to certain punches" "mhm" "So 1 is jab 2 is straight/cross" "mhm" "and 8 is a right hook to the body" "Ahh I get it", Yuno nodded, "Alright you ready to go?" "Yep"

"Man uh", Leo looked as Klaus tried to do the same with five times the stiffness, "Ok well you have to have your hands up", he pulled his arms to his cheeks showing how to do it, "Like this?" "Uhh sure", Leo decided to just get on with it

"Dude", Sol looked at Grey who covered her head with her arms, wrapping them around herself, "I don't really know if you know this but that's not really what we're doing" "Well I don't want to get hit", Grey said still shelled up, "Ok man", Sol rolled her eyes

Sekke looked at Charmy as she folded her arms watching Asta and Noelle talk, "So" "Can it" "Ok"

As for what they were talking about, "HAHA", Asta chuckled making Noelle's face red, "What?" "Dude that's not how you punch", he stopped laughing but still had a big smile on his face, "Well I never learned so", she threw her arms down to her waist, "Alright here lemme show you", he grabbed her arms, "Alright so this is more or less for boxing and kinda applies to kickboxing too" "Ok" "So to start off you have your hands up and arms tucked in", he moved her arms accordingly, "Alright" "Now stay like that", he let go, "So like this ?" "Yep" "What now?" "Ok so to start off with the jab" "Mhm" "So you extend your arm and as it extends turn your fist", Noelle obliged, "Like that" "Yeah that's a good place to start" "Well was it bad?" "It was passable" "HEY" "Look calm down it ain't an insult" "What?", she raised her brow, "Everyone has to start somewhere so you aren't gonna be amazing at the beginning", Mimosa, Leo, and Sol smiled at what he was telling her, Yuno looking blankly on, "Ok back to the jab" "Ok" "So when your arm is about maybe half way extended step in with your lead leg", Noelle again followed the motion, "Good, so now when you throw the cross bend that lead leg and with you back leg you pivot your foot like this", and it went on like this Asta explaining the combo and small little micro movements that go into it, "That's kind of a lot", Noelle commented while Asta practiced the combo, "Yeah but hey it's not like you're gonna do this again", Asta shrugged, "Yeah", Noelle just looked off to the side*BZZZZ*the timer went off, "Alright", Yami looked at his watch, "We got like 20 minutes so I'm gonna practice some pad work with Asta and you guys can get back to whatever you want", he approached a wall with forearm kick pads, "Asta in the ring" "Yes sir", he took his shoes and shirt off, "What are you doing?", Noelle watched him, "Yami always has me do really hard pad work and this is my only shirt", Asta said as he got into the ring, "Sol you have your gi on?", they heard a familiar voice say as the door opened, "Sorry Asta's coach had us do some striking", she scratched the back of her head, "Alright no gi it is today", Asta watched seeing Ms. Roselei close the door, "Ms. Roselei?", Asta raised his brow, "Oh Mr. Staria and-", she looked at the students realizing there were like five more than usual, "What are you guys doing here?", she pointed spinning her finger at Noelle and Co., "They interrupted us", Mimosa answered, "Not exactly", Charmy tried to correct her, "Well if you asked Asta's coach that's what happened", she gave a smug smile, "Noelle would your mom be ok with this?", she looked at her while she stood beside the ring, "Oh I only did uh shadow boxing?", she looked at Asta looking at him to affirm, "Yep" "Hm ok", she put her bag down, "Alright Sol I guess we'll just wait for everyone else to begin", She waved at Jack who cracked a small chuckle, "What?", she gave a confused stare, "Alright kid long form combos today", and all too familiar voice echoed in the gym, "Yes sir", Asta bit his gloves Velcro down, Ms. Roselei though watched as he got in the ring, "Yami?", she looked at the pair in the ring causing Yami to turn his head to her, "Oh hey", he stopped dead in his tracks as they made eye contact, "You guys know each other?", Asta looked at his coach and for the first time since he knew him, he seemed speechless ignoring what he said, "So uh how've you been Charlotte", the name put a small sting in her heart, "I uh", she stopped herself from answering her eyes began to get a little watery, and everything she wanted to say seemed a little too painful, "I've been great", she blinked to get rid of the tears before they could fall, "Cool", Yami nodded, "Uh well", he turned back to Asta Charlotte turning back to Sol, "Long from combos" "No gi grappling today", the two said in unison causing an awkward silence, "Oh and I guess you guys can do whatever you want just make sure to do some work", Yami steered them away from the ring, "C'mere Sekke we're gonna work on clinch game today", Jack called to his student "Alright", he followed him to ring side

"So, 1 2 front body kick lead elbow into spinning back elbow", Yami called getting the attention of the others, "Cool", they looked at Asta*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*each hit to the pad echoing through the gym sounding like gun shots, "GOOD 1 2 7 leg kick" "Mhm"*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG *, the people in the gym listened and watched, "Leg kick 2 3 8 spinning back elbow",*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG *BANG*, "Talk about heavy", Leo smiled as he watched him hit the pads, "No kidding", Sol commented, "1 2 1 WHEEL KICK" "OK",*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *SMAAAACK*, the wheel kick echoed even louder than the spinning back elbow, Noelle however stared at him,"The same combo mom/aunty used", Noelle, Mimosa, and Leo thought simultaneously, "GOOD GOOD", Yami yelled, "You haven't changed a bit", Charlotte giggled before shaking her head, "Alright Sol let's just head to the mat" "Sure", Sol followed her, "Alright so what do you guys want to do?", Mimosa looked at Leo, Yuno, and Klaus, "I'm gonna do some bag work", Leo walked over to the aqua bag, "I'll watch him", Klaus followed, "So just me and you huh?", she laughed, "Guess so", Yuno did as well, "Well I did say I wanted to learn some better kicks" "Oh yeah lemme think", Yuno stroked his chin, "So what do you want to learn", he asked, "Is it possible to learn that?", she pointed at Asta, "The wheel kick?" "Yeah" "Ok sure", Yuno assumed a wide legged stance, "So with a wheel kick first step is to step off to your back legs front" "Ok" "Then bend and lift your leg" "Ok" "Turn" "Ok" "And as your turning extend the leg and quickly hook it", Yuno gave her a full speed demonstration, "OK so", she tried losing her balance when her foot connected with the bag, "Not quiet", Yuno helped her up, "Close?", she gave a sarcastic smile, "Let's go with that", the two laughed, "Got it to complex right now, but what about like a basic kick?", She asked, "Yeah well let's start off with the most basic a side kick" "Sure" "Ok I'll give a full speed then y'know" "Wow look at you teaching me now", Mimosa laughed, "I guess so", he got into stance

(Not quite what I was talking about as I was referring to the lead leg version of it, but it's a pretty good visual to give what the concept of a side kick is)

He kicked the bag making the chain chink hard, "Yo what the hell", he saw Asta laugh, "Dude that's a pretty hard kick-", he was interrupted by Yami hitting him over the head with one of the pads, "Don't take your eyes off the opponent" "Yes sir", he responded making them laugh, "Yeah I guess that was", Yuno looked back to Mimosa, "Seriously it was so can you show me" "Yeah ok so first is chambering up the leg", Yuno bent his leg, "Ok", Mimosa copied, "Then you lift and lean over on your back leg", "Ok" "And make sure to move your hips when you extend the leg", he gave a light demonstration yet again on the bag with Mimosa following, "Like that?" "Yeah that was pretty good, but make sure to turn your foot before you hit", he corrected her form, "So kinda like a jab or a straight in boxing", she said making Yuno think about it, "Yes actually" "Nice" "Let's just repeat this and we'll see", Yuno got back into stance, "Ok", she agreed and after a few really good attempts, "You're getting the hang of it" "Yeah I can feel it", Mimosa jumped up and down practicing the foot work, "Cool", he looked at the clock, "Well I'm gonna get ready to go so" "Yeah no worries", Mimosa nodded, "But hey I'd still like to learn more kicks", she nudged him, "Sure I'll stop by during lunch" "And if it helps I'll teach you punches", she laughed, "Hmmmm ok", Yuno agreed, "Alright kid five more minutes", he looked at the ring seeing that Asta was still doing long combos, "Welp can't say he doesn't have work ethic", Mimosa and Leo looked at him while loud bangs sounded through the gym*RIIIIIIINNNNNNG*the school bell went off, "Good stuff today kid", Yami patted Asta on the back, "Thank you sir", he nodded as he got out of the ring, "You guys ready?", he put his shirt back on, "Yeah", Sol answered, "Cool see you guys later", he gave Leo a fist bump and Mimosa a high five, "See ya" they waved at him, "FINALLY", Charmy power walked outside, "Wait up", Grey followed, "Well I'll see you later", Noelle gave Mimosa a hug, "See ya later"

"Hey, I thought you said your mom was coming?", Asta looked at Sol as they walked to class, "She did", he shook his head, "Where?", he stopped in his tracks, "The lady I was grappling with?", Sol raised her eyebrows, "MS. ROSELEI IS YOUR MOM", Asta yelled with his hands on his head, "Yeah", she nodded, "BUT YOUR LAST NAME IS" "Adoptive mom, she took me in a long time ago", she rubbed her arm, "OOOOOHHHHH", Asta finally understood, "It wouldn't take a genius to figure that out", Yuno gave him a side eye, "HEY", Asta yelled at him, "Looks it's cool", Sol smiled, "Sorry I just wasn't expecting that", he nervously scratched the back of his head, "I get it we don't look similar but she's my mom", Sol smiled while she looked at the ground, "Well I get it" "Huh?" "It's like with Liebe we're not related by blood but he's my brother and my mom's son no matter what", he gave a toothy smile making Sol giggle, "Yeah it's just like that" "Wait you and Liebe aren't related?", Klaus shook his head, "Well not by blood but he's been around my whole life so it'd be weird to say we aren't" "Mmmm", Yuno hummed along with a little nod and a small laugh from Sol, "Exactly", Sol agreed with what he said, "Anyway we should keep going", Sol once again began walking followed by the trio

In the gym

Leo had just left for his next class and Yami was cleaning up some of the bags, "Hey", he turned his head a small amount to see Charlotte, "Hey", he turned his head back to cleaning, "So I didn't really get to ask how you were", she rubbed her arm, "I've been cool", he finished wiping the bag, "I was surprised to see you had a daughter", he turned and leaned on one of the beams that were holding up the bags, "Yeah, I took her in a while ago, and she's been a big light in my life since", she chuckled, "That's good to hear", Yami smiled, "Look I also wanted to talk about-" "If it's about the crash than it's all good", Yami gave a friendly shake of his head, "No it's not actually", she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for the way things ended, I was scared and-" "Listen it's cool", Yami looked at the ceiling, "I get it wasn't a very stable thing to be around so leaving made sense", that same feeling when her called her Charlotte hit her again, "But that was a really long time ago", he switched his gaze to the floor, "And life's been pretty good to me, So I can't really complain", Charlotte lowered her hands to her side, "Jacks here which is something I wasn't expecting" "Yeah he did used to be pretty wild when we were younger", she rubbed the back of her head, "Really though he was a complete wild card, but when he asked about a job here a few years ago I thought I could help him out" "AAhhhhh that makes sense", he laughed a little and looked up at her, "So I guess you ended up finishing that degree?" "Yeah, I did, when I took in Sol things were pretty rough so a better job was pretty much necessary", Yami stopped a little, "So what did your parents think of it?", Charlotte shook her head, "They weren't enthused, but I didn't really want to live like they wanted me to, something I probably should've done way before that", she looked off to the side, "Important thing is, is that you're doing it now", he patted her on the shoulder and walked past her, "So if you excuse me I'm gonna have a smoke" "You still do that?" "Do you?", he gave her a sarcastic eyebrow raise, "Well I haven't in a while", she thought about their conversation it was the first one in forever and it seemed like it was going really well, "But I would be lying if I said I didn't think about it", she decided to follow, "Hey guys for real gonna leave me out", Jack yelled from across the gym, "Sorry I forgot", Yami laughed, "C'mon a little like old times", Jack approached them, "Alright alright let's go", the trio eventually exited the gym

An hour and a half later

History with Granvorka had ended our four students seemed to laugh through it mostly about how unathletic Klaus and Yuno looked, "Hey all I'm saying is that when I get back to it I'll be pretty good", Yuno tried to quell the clowning that was coming from Sol, "Yeah right", she laughed, "Ah whatever", a smile broke over Yuno, "On a serious note for a side kick that looked pretty hard", Asta commented with his arms behind his back, "See? The kickboxer thinks my kicks are impressive while the grappler thinks they're wack", he gave Sol a slack jawed meme smile, "Whatever", she laughed, "Well I'll see you at the gym", Sol waved to Asta as she broke from the group, "We should get going too", Yuno gave Asta a fist bump as him and Klaus watching as they left, "math", he slumped his shoulders thinking of it as his worst subject,"Oh right", he remembered the teacher he had for the class, "I wonder what he would think of Yami coming here now", Asta thought about it while he walked through the halls

"Hm", he hummed looking at the door, "Ok", he patted his face getting ready to tell his teacher opening the door looking at the front desk seeing Mr. Faust leaning in his chair reading a book, "Hey kid", he gave a Asta a small nod, "Hey Mr. Faust", he gave him a stiff wave back, "Something wrong?", Morgen took note of Asta's usually stiff behavior, "Nah", Asta gave a quick response followed by some fidgeting, "Riiiiiiight", Morgen gave a rather sarcastic stare deciding to leave the issue, "So have you done the homework?", he asked with a smile and a raised brow, "Yeah actually", Asta began burrowing through his backpack getting a few pieces of paper, "Here you go", he held his arm out for Morgen to collect it, "Hmm", he got up and grabbed the papers quickly sitting back down, "Asta" "Yeah" "Did you copy someone else's?", he looked up at him, "No", Asta avoided eye contact, "Really?", Morgen leaned in with a smile, "Yep", Asta whistled, "Cause the name says Sol", he lifted the paper for Asta to see making him remember that he just blitzed through it and copied Sol's line for line, "Ah man", he slumped in his chair, "Well I'll let it slide this time, but I do really suggest you go to tutoring on Thursdays", he laughed putting the papers away in a filing cabinet, "Will do sir", Asta put his head down,"I guess it doesn't have to be now", Asta thought hearing the bell ring and seeing students begin to pour into the class

"Alright guys page twenty-two through twenty-seven is the reading for tonight and the problems for page twenty-eight are due this Friday", Morgen dismissed the class, "Asta could you stay behind for a second", he stopped him from leaving, "What's up Mr. Faust?", Asta turned to him, "You, ok?" "Yeah" "Are you sure because you seemed out of it today?", Morgen leaned back in his chair, "Yeah no was just a pretty hard day in the gym", he offered a bit of an uneasy smile, "And you're sure that's all that was?" "Yeah", Asta answered, but Morgen could feel something was a little off, "Alright then you have a good rest of your day", ultimately deciding to leave it alone, "You too sir", Asta waved as he left the classroom,"Wonder what that was about?", Morgen thought while he got ready to grade the classes homework

Asta walked down the hall rather deep in thought,"Was that a good call?", he thought while he watched his feet,"I guess it would've been good to give him a heads up, but would he even interact with Yami?",a question formed in his mind,"And would Yami be all to ok with whatever happened?", he waved it away, "Ahhh too much thinking right now", he slapped his cheeks, "OK", he took a deep breath picking up the pace

"Hey guys", he waved to his friends when he finally made it to the gym, "Sup", Leo waved at him, "Where's-" "The coaches?" "Yeah" "Don't know they were gone when we got here", Sol answered shrugging her shoulders as she did, "I see", Asta sucked his lips in, "Well what are you guys doing?", he walked over to the ring placing his backpack down, "Not much I'm waiting for my coach to get here", Leo slipped on some easy fit hand wraps, "Waiting for my mom", Sol patted her thighs, "Same as Leo", Mimosa answered fitting on a similar pair of fast wraps, eventually he turned his attention to Sekke who was shadow boxing in the mirror, "Hey I coulda sworn Kira told me there were five students that do combat sports", Asta looked back to his friends, "Uh yeah but last guy hasn't been in since summer qualifiers", Leo looked up at the ceiling, "Mmmm", Asta gave a slow nod, "What's his name?" "Finral, he's cool but dude hasn't been here in a while", hearing the name Asta thought he had heard it before, "What does he do?" "MMA actually", Sol answered, "Really?" "Yeah, but his coach ended up leaving during last years winter main" "Unfortunate", Asta began to take his shirt off, "Yeah", Leo stretched his arms, "Down for some sparing?" "Sure" "Kicks?" "No" "Fair enough", the two of them got in the ring with Sol going to the buzzer, "Not so fast", Leo and Asta turned to the back entrance of the gym to see an old lady, "Speaking of my coach" "THE OLD LADY?", Asta's eyes were practically popping out of his head, "Have some respect young man", she began to walk towards the ring, "I have turned out world champions I'll have you know", she placed a bag down, "Hi Ms. Theresa", Mimosa bowed her head, "Hello", she smiled, "Hey Theresa", Leo waved at her, "Hello Leopald", Leo's face reddened a bit, "Dude I forget that's your name", Asta let a small laugh slip out, "Whatever", he rolled his eyes, "Any how", she turned her attention to Mimosa, "Where are the other coaches?", she asked her, "Well they weren't here when we got here so I don't know", Mimosa shrugged, "I see", she again turned her attention to Leo, "Mimosa get in there with him" "Him and Asta were actually about to-" Well-" "Hey old lady she said I was gonna spar with him", Asta leaned on the ropes, "Excuse me?" "I said I'm sparring with him" "I'm sorry but I don't think that a kickboxer is the best preparation for Fall qualifiers" "But I almost caught him before", Asta gave her a sarcastic eyebrow raise, "And that's good and all, but I would be more miffed to say that it was that your punches are a bit different than a traditional boxers", she reached into the bag pulling out a stop watch, "HEY", Asta tried to get her attention, "I'm not saying you're a bad fighter, but you can't crutch on everyone he faces being an unorthodox puncher", she looked back at him, "But-" "Kid stop arguing with her", Asta looked past her seeing Yami, Ms. Roselei, and Mr. Ripper, "Hey Yami", he waved causing Theresa to turn around, "Sukehiro?", she couldn't believe it, "Oh yeah you're", he paused for a moment, "I don't remember you", he shrugged while he made his way towards them, "I was Fugoleons trainer" "Ahhhh That's where I know you", he got on the ring apron, "Hey kid me and Jack decided it would be better for you and Bah-Ha over there to spar", he signaled his head to the open area, "Alright ", Asta got out of the ring as Mimosa made her way in, "Sorry about my student he has a pretty hard head", he riffled Asta's hair, "I'll let it slide this time", she smiled, "Thank you", Yami laughed, "Alright kid get your shin guards and head gear" "Yes sir", Asta gave a salute, "Sol over to the mat", Charlotte motioned for her to go, "Oh before I forget, am I entering no gi or gi this year", Sol asked her, "Well it's up to you", Sol sat on it, "Can I actually join both?", she scratched the back of her head, the question catching Charlotte off guard, "Well", she thought about it, "I guess", an unsure answer left her mouth, "If you don't want me to, it's cool I just", she paused for a moment thinking about what they talked about earlier, "I want get enough points this year to get to Triumph", the statement made the coaches, Sekke, and Mimosa look at her, "What?" "Actually, I was thinking the same thing", Leo leaned on the ropes himself, "Really?", Theresa looked at Leo, to her he did seem a little different when he said it, "But to do that you're gonna need to win the qualifiers and Main events for at least one and the other you'd have to make top eight", Charlotte gave a bit of a wince, "Yeah honey I don-", she stopped herself,"I don't think going with him is a good idea""Actually I think that's a good goal to work towards, but we will need to restructure the training for both of those", she smiled, Sol pulled her arms back in excitement, "ALRIGHT", she shouted with her arms in the air, "TRIUMPH TRIUMPH TRIUMPH", Sol, Asta, and Leo chanted much like they did earlier making the coaches laugh, "TRIUMPH TRIUMPH TRIUMPH", Mimosa joined in, "Alright alright let's just get to training", Theresa clapped her hands, "ALRIGHT", the students aside from Sekke yelled

After school

Asta laid on the floor along with everyone else sitting down after a hard session, "HAHA", he shouted at the ceiling, "Geez", Leo leaned back, "Told ya if you want to make it to Triumph we're gonna need to put in much more effort", Charlotte shook her head with a small smile, "I know", Sol fell over, "Well I guess we can try to incrementally increase the work load", Mimosa held her chin, "I think that would be for the best", Theresa began to pack her stuff, "Hey kid you need a ride?", Yami asked pulling out a cigarette as he did, "Yes please", a heavy sigh came out after "Alright kid", Yami looked at Jack and Charlotte, "Well it was nice catching up with you guys, but I guess you're gonna be off now?" "Yeah, Sol and I are gonna get some food on the way home", she scratched the back of her head, "I thought you needed to do some paperwork though?", Sol confused as she usually went home before her, "Well I thought about it, and I think working that much all the time is a bit excessive", Sol smiled hearing it, "Cool", Charlotte seemed like she was thinking, "Well that new place in Captial opened up and I thought we could go", Sol's eyes were almost popping out, "REALLY", Charlotte laughed at her, "Yeah", she nodded for her to follow, "SEE YA GUYS", Sol waved making a brake past her mom, "I'll be seeing you guys, and Asta" "Yeah?" "Kira said he would oversee the cleaning for the rest of the month", Asta deflated hearing it, "Yes mam" "Ok see ya", she waved to Yami and Jack, "It was good seeing you man but I promised a friend we would go drinking", Jack laughed, "Well don't wait up I guess", Yami gave a hard pat on the back, "Whatever Sek-", Jack looked around the gym to see that he had already left, "Huh guess he left", Jack left the gym, "Yo", Letoile walked into the gym, "Hey Lea", Mimosa put her stuff away, "What are you doing here?", Asta lifted his brow, "Here for student council stuff" "Oh that's right", Asta stood up, "What are you guys planning?" "Home coming", Letoile answered, "Hmmm" "You ever been?", Leo looked at him, "Uh yeah", the answer came as a bit of a shock to the others, "With-" "Alright kid get going I'm trynna get home", Yami stopped the conversation, "I'M GOING I'M GOING", Asta yelled from the hall, "NO BACK TALK", Yami yelled back making the remaining people laugh, "Anyway", Yami clapped, "See ya", he gave a two finger salute to Theresa who returned it, "What was that about?", Letoile looked at the spot the two once stood, "Not sure", Leo shrugged slinging his duffle bag over shoulder, "I'm out", him and Theresa left, "Ok then let's go", Letoile and Mimosa left the gym turning the lights off on the way out

"No back talk", Asta mimicked what Yami yelled at him as he walked down the hall, "Whatever", he pulled his phone out and scrolled through a few apps before looking at his call log and looking to his texts, "OH NO", his eyes widened, "NO NO NO", he tapped on the number waiting for a response, "What dude?", Liebe answered, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST WAIT FOR ME" "Sorry dude but I was hungry and bored", Asta lamented at the fact that his brother killed his fries, "Well are you gonna buy me more?", Asta tapped his foot angrily "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm", a long hum came from him before the answer, "No", Libe hung up quickly after, "NOOOOOOO", Asta's shoulders slumped down while he walked, "You ok?", he looked up seeing Noelle smiling, "Yea", he dragged his feet to stand beside her, "My brother just ate my food", the answer made Noelle laugh, "Is it that serious?" "IS IT THAT SERIOUS? OF COURSE, IT'S MY FAVORITE CHILI CHEESE FRIES WITH GREEN AND RED PEPPERS IS SERIOUS", a full-blown gut holding laugh came from Noelle, "I suppose", she smiled while she wiped some tears of laughter from her eye, "Whatever", Asta folded his arms making her laugh again, "Dude are you a child?" "No", he replied with his arms still folded, "You coulda fooled me", she went back to leaning on the wall, "Anyway you know where Ms. Roselei is?" "She said Kira is gonna be the one to over-something something cleaning" "Aaaaahhhhh", Noelle looked around, "Where is he?", she asked Asta just shrugged in response, "Sorry guys", the two of them looked as Kira power walked like a soccer mom to them, "Again sorry", a small sweat went over him, unlocking the door, "You guys wait while I go get the cleaning supplies", he opened the door and motioned for them to go inside

"So, what'd you think about it?", Asta asked Noelle while they sat next to each other, "About what?", Noelle shook her head in confusion, "About training", he clarified, "Oh uh", she thought about it, "It was actually really fun", she rubbed her arm, "Nice", he smiled up at her making her think about earlier, "Can I ask you something?" "What's up?", Asta gave her a confused look, "Can you teach me that spinning kick you did earlier?", she thought about it, how it was just like her mom, "Oh yeah", Asta slid out of his chair, "Right now?", Noelle asked, "I mean I'm not gonna teach you while we walk", he chuckled, "Hmm I guess", she reluctantly followed, "Ok so you're gonna want to put your lead leg slightly in front of your back leg", he showed her, "Ok" "And then you turn while looking back", he explained the technique to her, "Now try it", Noelle gave a worried look, "Alright", she tried falling over in the middle of the attempt, "HA", Asta laughed making her red, "Hey", she looked at the floor to avoid eye contact, "Hey it's a good start", he heled out his hand, "Well then I'm pretty good then", she gave him a sarcastic smile taking his hand, "Sure let's go with that", he chuckled, "Hey", she gave a small fake hit to the arm, "Sorry I forgot to ask Ms. Roselei where the cleaning supplies were", he opened the door with a big struggle trying to balance the supplies, "Don't worry we got it", Noelle and Asta went over taking the stuff out of his arms, "Ok well I'll be back in an hour and a half", he left them to it, "Does he know how this works?" "Well not our problem, is it?", the two looked at each other before laughing, "Let me try again", she got in her stiff stance, "Alright I'll judge", Asta folded his arms

In the parking lot

Yami leaned on his car waiting for Asta to be done, "An hour and a half", he looked at his watch, "Waiting on Asta?", Yami turned his head to see Jack and a guy with a burned face, "William?" "Hello Yami", he bowed his head, "Still as formal as ever I see", he chuckled, "I guess so", William returned the laugh, "Well how've you been?", Yami finally lit his cigarette, "I've been good", William watched, "Good too here", he took a puff before exhaling, "So where are you two headed?" "Remember that old bar in Hino town?", Yami smiled at Jacks answer, "Yeah I remember", another puff followed, "Would you care to join us?", William offered, "Uh uh Would you care to join us?", Yami mocked him an incredibly unserious tone making Jack and William laugh, "Well don't say we didn't ask", Jack and William began getting into Jacks car, "Before I forget here's my number", Jack tossed a crumpled piece of paper at him which he caught, "I guess we'll see you a few times this week", Jack waved from out of his window, "An hour and a half", he looked up at the sky while an orange tint went over it

The two actually had a rather fun time, being tasked with only cleaning one room was so much better than cleaning a set amount of them, "Alright looks good guys you're free to go", he motioned for the two to leave, "That was cool"', Noelle smiled thinking about it, "Yeah and for someone who doesn't fight it was an ok start", Asta walked with his arms behind his back, "I'll take it as a compliment" "Should've when I told you earlier", he laughed as they reach their lockers, "Well to be fair it sounded like an insult the first time around", Noelle quickly opned hers, "I got told I sucked all the time so you really shouldn't take it too hard", Noelle just gave a roll of her eyes with a smile, "Yeah I guess", the two began to walk again, "You gonna sign up for any of the programs?", Asta asked her, "Maybe", she thought about the question, "Charmy said she was gonna do cooking and Grey might do the cosmetic one", she tapped her chin, "Mm", Asta gave a little annoyed hum, "What?" "I don't know about your friend", Asta thought about how confrontational Charmy was, "Not her fault", she gave a soft blank smile, "She's just always worried about me", Asta smiled at the answer, "Yeah maybe our first encounter was just a really bad way to start", Noelle smiled, "I guess", she put her hands behind her back, "You did start it", a sarcastic smile went over her face, "HEY", a fake anger came out of Asta's voice making Noelle laugh, "Let's just get out of here", Noelle pushed the door opening it holding it open for Asta, "Why thank you" "No problem sir", the two laughed, "Hey kid hurry it up", Yami called out to him, "Noelle aunty said you guys are having dinner together today so hurry up", Mimosa called out to Noelle, "Well guess that's it for today", Noelle waved at Asta as they parted ways, "See ya Asta", Mimosa waved from her car driving, "C'mon I'm hungry", Yami grabbed Asta's head, "SORRY SORRY SORRY", Asta tried to make Yami's grip budge

Later at the Staria residence

Asta and Yami pulled up to his house seeing Dante and Lichita talking in the front yard, "Hey Yami", Dante lifted his arm to greet him, "Sup man", Yami signaled for Asta to get out of the car, "Hey Dante hey mom", Asta waved walking past them while Yami began backing up, "Wait up", Lichita ran to his window, "What's up Ms. S?", Yami asked her, "I was gonna ask if you want to join us for dinner?", Yami looked over at Dante who smiled giving a double thumbs up, "Sure"

"HAHA", Liebe laughed, "DUDE IT'S NOT FUNNY", Asta slammed his fists on the table, "Yes, it is", Zenon cut into the conversation, "BRO I-" "Honey calm done or you're gonna blow a blood vessel", Lichita stopped her son while she grabbed something from the oven, "Alright", Asta put his head down in anguish thinking about his fries, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", Vanica, Zenon, and Liebe laughed at him, "Whatever", Asta put his head back up as Lichita place a tray of lasagna on the table, "Well if it's any consolation I made this with the expensive cheese", Lichita removed her oven mitts, "Nice", Asta rubbed his hands together, "So how was training today?", Dante asked cutting a slice for himself and Lichita, "Great, Asta's always a really hard worker", he looked over to his student, "But before I forget", he looked at Vanica, "Asta's gonna need some kickboxer like sparring partners", Vanica's eye lit up, "SO-" "Yeah I was gonna ask you and Dante if it was ok to bring you in?", Yami looked over to Dante, "Alright with me", he nodded, "YES", Vanica shot up and down in her chair, "Great", Yami looked at a slice of the Lasagna that Asta past to him, "Well everyone I hope you enjoy", Lichita motioned for them to eat

At the Silva estate

Mimosa and Noelle sat at the dinner table waiting for her siblings and mother to arrive, "I just realized you're still wearing my shorts", Mimosa pointed at her, "Huh?", Noelle looked down at her waist, "I am", her eyes then focused on the jacket around her waist, "I forgot to give Asta his jacket back", she looked back up at Mimosa, "Oh yeah I forgot you came in today", Mimosa stroked her chin, "How'd you like it?", she asked her, "It was honestly pretty cool", Noelle thought about training, learning how to throw a punch.....kinda, and when the day ended she tried to learn her mother's signature wheel kick, "I actually asked Asta to show me how to do that spinning kick", Mimosa lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "Really? Huh that's funny I asked Yuno to do the same", Noelle copied the facial expression, "The skinny one with the black hair?" "Yeah" "Why?" "Well turns out he's actually 2nd degree black belt in taekwondo", Noelle again lifted her brows in surprise, "Hmm" "Yeah", the two's conversation was cut off by her siblings entering the room, "Hey Mimosa", Nebra waved getting one back, "So how was school?", Solid slid into the chair across from Noelle, "It was cool", she looked over to Nozel, "It's been a while since you've been here", Solid gave him a smug face, "I guess", he sat down looking at Noelle, "You seem rather happy", Noelle unconsciously gave a smile, "Yeah today was pretty good", the Silva siblings looked at each other before their mom came in, "Hey aunty", Mimosa greeted her, "Hello Mimosa", she sat down, "Hey mom", Noelle looked at her mom, "So have you decided on joining a program yet?" "No not really", Noelle put her head down, "Well that's alright no need to rush things", her mom assured her. A really loud silence overcame the room Noelle just tapping her fingers on the table, "Food is ready mam", one of the chefs broke the silence, "Thank you", she thanked him as more of the kitchen workers brought their food out, to which the family ate silently

At the Vermillion estate

Leo was scarfing down plate after plate as his brother watched him, "I know you usaully eat really fast but today you're eating way faster", Fugoleon pointed his fork at him, "SORRY I'M JUST REALLY EXCITED", he leaned back and forward waiting for another plate, "Why's that?", he smiled at his younger brother, "CAUSE THIS YEAR I'M GONNA MAKE IT TO TRIUMPH", Fugoleon smiled remembering the day he won it, "Well that's quite the goal", he turned his attention back to his food, "YEAH BUT I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE NOT AIMING FOR IT", Leo took another plate from the chef, To be honest it was pretty surprising neither Leo or Mimosa had ever brought it up, neither did Sol in the few times they had met, and Sekke didn't seem like he cared about it other than saying that he was a fighter so that must mean, "I guess this is the influence of the new guy?", he smiled noticing that Leo stopped eating, "Yeah actually", Leo slowed his whole demeanor, "His coach", Fugoleon leaned in waiting for him to finish, "Well, his coach is.........Sukehiro", Fugoleons eyes widened, "Really?" "Yeah, I met him this Friday, but you weren't here to tell", Leo picked the plate back up, "I see", Fugoleon frantically cut into his stake, "Well I wouldn't suppose coming in wouldn't hurt", a smile went over his face, "SERIOUSLY", Leo yelled through a stuffed face, "Yeah", Fugoleon clutched his fork,"I guess I'll get a little run back"

At the Grinberryal estate

Yuno was nervously playing with his fork and knife, "Is something the matter?", his mom gave him a concerned look, "Nothing I just-" "C'mon I know it's not nothing", His father gave a skeptical look, "Well it's not, but..........I found a program I want to join", Yuno looked up his face a little red, "REALLY", his mom excitedly shook her hands, "And what is it?", his father leaned in with a big smile on his face, "I was thinking of the combat sports program", Yuno looked off to the side, "Oh", his mom went back to a bit of a neutral face, "I see", his dad stroked his chin, "Well I don't see why not", Yuno shot his head up, "REALLY?" "Well yeah, it would be a shame to let that taekwondo go to waste", his dad smiled at him, "Cool I'll get the signup sheet after school tomorrow", Yuno began to eat smiling as he did

With Charlotte and Sol

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

"This is the friend I was telling you about", Kiato waved his arm, "Hi my names Rebecca", she smiled, she was pretty with really crimson hair, "Nice to meet you", Noelle shook her hand watching as she thought she grabbed Kiato's hand when she walked away, "Hehe", she nervously chuckled watching them, "That's a bit weird"

AND

"YOU WHAT?", Asta yelled at his brother, "Look man I just don't think going back-" "NO MAN I WAS......", Asta clinched his fist to prevent himself from saying something he'd regret, "I-", Asta could feel his eyes water, "WHATEVER" "ASTA WAIT", his mom tried to stop him Asta pulling his arm away and running out of the house, "Liebe what did you do?", Lichita looked at her son, "I-", "Rebecca called him the other day", he sat on it, "A few times during the night, but I deleted them"

Chapter 5: Hard feelings

Chapter Text

Noelle looked in the mirror admiring the outfit Mimosa had help put together for her, it was simple but effective, short shorts, a white lace top, and some open tan elevated flats that, "Looking good", she said to herself turning and changing poses to see the outfit in full, "Gotta say simple but effective", Noelle heard her brother as he walked in taking a seat at her desk, "Why thank you", she thanked him, her hand on her chest head held high making Solid laugh, "Maybe I should ask Mimosa to come and do a few articles for the magazine", he laughed causing Noelle to give a nervous chuckle, "Hehe yeah she is pretty amazing", Noelle rubbed the back of her neck, Solid picked up on the feeling, "Well hey you look good and that's all that matters right now, right?", he smiled at his sister, "Yeah I guess you're right", Noelle sat on her bed and looked at her phone, waiting for Kiato to call or text her that he was there, "How you feeling? I mean first date in a while", Solid asked her, "Feeling really good honestly", she smiled, "And I know he's gonna love the outfit", she laid out on her bed, "So yeah I'm feeling pretty good", Solid smiled seeing that his sister's mood had been lifted after the comment about their cousin, "Well that's good", he got up from the desk, "I leave it to you then", he waved at his sister leaving the room after he did, "See ya", she waved back getting up as she did, "Let's see", she began to scroll through her phone

Me: So you think hes gonna like the outfit

Mimosa: Of course you look great👍

Me: Thanks luv you<3

Mimosa: Fs <3

Noelle smiled at the messages, sure Mimosa didn't like Kiato, but she wasn't goonna rain all over her parade today, and even helped her truly a real friend

Grey: How you feelin

Me: Im good

Me: Confident

Grey: Thats good

Grey: Wish I had that

Me: Grey you easily could

Grey: Idk

Grey: Last guy didn't work out

Me: I promise you someones gonna come along

Me: youre a complete catch👍

Grey: Thanks

Noelle scrunched her face a little at what grey was saying about herself, she was being serious that she was a complete catch, pretty, nice, and not to mention she had the whole nervous energy that she knew a lot of guys liked, Maybe Asta would, Noelle stopped the last thought abruptly, Nah I don't think they would click, would they? Nah Grey was charming and Asta was a bit of a hot head even if he would never say that buuuuut they do say that opposites attract,"No probably not", she told herself shaking her head, "Besides Grey saw how upset Asta made Charmy so she probably wouldn't even give it much thought", she strangely tried to work out the possibility of the two before scrolling through her phone again

Charmy: Tell me how it goes

Me: fs I will

Charmy: good

Charmy: AND MAKE SURE HE TELLS YOU THAT YOU LOOK GOOD

Me: of course

she smiled at the messages; Charmy always did worry about her almost as much as Mimosa did, and while at some point she knew that it might get the both of them in trouble she didn't mind, "Kiato's here", she looked up seeing her sister lean in the doorway and just as she did a ping from her phone went off

Kiato: Im here

Me: great I'll be there rn

she shot up, "I'll see you then", she hugged her sister before making her way through the house and to the front gate watching as it slowly shifted open seaeing Kiato's car parked along the sidewalk, "Hey", she waved and even thought they had been together for a while at this point she did still feel a bit giddy to go on dates with him, "Hey", he waved back holding his arms open after he did to which Noelle went in for the hug, "You look great", he smiled as they separated making Noelle almost melt, "Thanks", she clasped her hands together while he opened her door. "Let's get to it then" "Yep", she got into the car looking through the windshield as Kiato did the same

With Asta

Asta slouched into the sofa scrolling through channels on T.V occasionally checking his phone and replying to a few messages

Magna: You trynna do anything tomorrow

Me: Sure

Me: what did you have in mind

Magna: Idk I was thinking skatepark

Me: Sure

Magna was Asta's best friend, well a pretty close tie between him and luck, and they were the people that he could just call or text and pretty much immediately get them to do something and he would do the same for them, "Asta what do you want for lunch?", he could hear his mom ask from behind, "Anything cool", he waved his arm not looking back, "Sandwiches it is", he could hear her begin to rummage through the fridge*MADA*he looked back at his phone to see a text from Mars

Brows?: Magna hmu

Brows?: You going?

Me: ofc

Brows?: Zen or Vanica comin

Me: I dont know ill ask em

Me: theyre coming over for dinner later so

Brows?: Nice

He laughed; Mars was a bit of a weirdo.........sometimes, but Asta always found it really funny, like when they first met Mars was really straight faced and never really seemed like the dude had any emotions, it was only after a particularly bad scrap that Fana ended up getting in between. She ended up catching a black eye though, and Mars kept trying to continue even more so, it was the first time in all of their scraps that Mars displayed any sort of emotion, anger, and after a long eight-nine-minute scrap they left with a bunch of scratches and cuts on their faces they ended up leaving the fight with a lot of respect for each other and the next time they met they ended up becoming friends cracking the shell that was Mars "The Diamond" Asta giggled a little remembering his nickname made worse that it was one he made up when they were like seven or eight, sometime before they met*MADA*he looked back at his phone

C.K.A

Yuno: Any word from Magna?

Me: AnY wOrD FRoM mAgNA

Me: super formal

Sol: FR

Klaus: I don't think it's a bad thing to text formally

"Sol disliked a message"

"You disliked a message"

"LeoPALD disliked a message"

Yuno: WOW

Yuno: You guys are really going to dog pile me?

"Klaus Liked a message"

Asta smiled at Klaus's loyalty to his friend

"Mimosa Liked a message"

LeoPALD: Mimosa y u siding with him

"Mimosa disliked a message"

"Yuno disliked a message"

"Klaus disliked a message"

He shook his head at the last one of the groups surprised with Mimosa "siding" with Yuno, but then again since he signed up for the combat sports program on Tuesday he and Mimosa had been exchanging knowledge on their respective disciplines Mimosa showing Yuno the boxing basics and some decent setups, footwork, and head movement, Yuno showing Mimosa some kicking fundamentals such as balance, the difference between power and snap kicks, as well as a few spinning techniques, so he guessed it wasn't all too surprising now that he looked at it, "Whatca doing?", Asta finally looked over his shoulder to see Liebe going through the fridge, "Just watching T.V and texting people", he again faced forward, "OH", he turned around, "Mom is it ok if I go to the skatepark tomorrow?", he watched her put together some food, "I don't see why not", she also looked through the fridge, "Just don't come back at some crazy time", Asta sat back down, "I won't", he began scrolling through channels*MADA*, "Hmmm", he flipped his phone over to look at the notification

Message from becca💖 I just want to talk, please?

His eyes widened at the message, "What happened?", Liebe looked over Asta's shoulder at his phone seeing the message, "HOLD O-", Asta was stopped by Liebe grabbing his phone, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?", Asta shot up and tried to reach for it*MADA*, "DUDE GIVE ME MY PHONE BACK", Asta pulled his lead arms, Liebe switching the phone to his back arm, "No man it's not good for you", he pulled away Asta falling over, "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING", Lichita snapped her head back to the duo, "LIEBE TOOK MY PHONE", he shouted, "Bro, it won't do you any good" "HOW DO YOU KNOW?", Liebe took a deep breath, "Cause she called you a while ago", Asta's eyes grew even wider, "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?", Liebe let his guard down causing Asta to snatch the phone from him, "Cause when I came in after Nero left I saw the notifications", Asta clinched his fists, "YOU WHAT?", Asta could feel a large amount of heat begin to well up in his head, "Look-" "NO MAN", Asta interrupted him, "I don't think going back to-", he was again interrupted, "NO YOU-", Asta bit his tongue, "I-", he could feel the tears begin to form in his eyes, "WHATEVER MAN", he tried to make a dash for the door, only being stopped by his mom grabbing his elbow, "HONEY WAIT", he tugged his arm away from her running out of the house, "Liebe what did you do?", she looked at him, "Well........", he sat on his thoughts for a split second, "Rebecca called him the other day and I deleted the call logs and message", a long silence came on, "And I silenced her calls"

With Noelle

Noelle and Kiato had arrived at the restaurant, Noelle seeing how high-class the building looked, it was definitely a very different vibe than their last date, but she didn't think it was a bad thing, "Well we should get going", she looked over to her boyfriend who was giving her a warm smile, "We should", she watched him as he circled round to her door opening it for her, "Why thank you sir", she took his hand to get out, "No problem mam", he returned the warm smiled from a second ago making Noelle giggle, "Let's go then", he began to lead her to the front where a vale was waiting, "Hello do you have a reservation?", the valle asked him, "Yes under Kiato", he nodded his head taking the key from him as he did, "Right this way", the one waiting the door lead them to the front, "This is so nice", Noelle looked around, "Only the best", Kiato followed the waiter to their table, "How long did it take?", she asked as she was seated, "Well I asked my dad to pay for a spot so", Kiato seemed to be actively looking for something, turning his head all over, "Is something wrong?", Noelle asked him, "Nah I was just looking around for someone", he turned his attention back to her, "Who were you looking for?", Noelle lifted a brow, "The friend that works here, Y'know the one that secured us this spot?", Noelle could hear a small bit of sarcasm but decided to just wave it off as her hearing to deep into it, "So what is he like?", she redirected the conversation into a more positive direction, "They're actually a girl" "Oh", Noelle was a little surprised, "So what's she like then?", a small amount of nervousness crept in, "She's pretty cool, I met her during the summer", he answered, "How?", Noelle messed with her hands under the table, "She was just working at the snack bar at the football retreat", he again gave an answer, "Oh ok", she could feel her nervousness go away, "I see that's nice", she put her hands on the table, "There she comes", Kiato pointed behind her prompting Noelle to turn around

A tall, pretty, red head with blue eyes walked up to their table, "Hello guys I'll be the one serving you today", she said with a smile and a few menus in her hand, "C'mon no need to be so formal huh?", Kiato laughed tapping her on the arm while he did making her giggle a bit, "Well it is my job to so", she replied, "Well this is the friend I was talking about", he motioned his arms to the red head, "Hi you must be Kiato's girlfriend", she commented with a smile, "Yeah hehe", Noelle nervously replied, "He's told me a lot about you" "Good things I hope?", a subtly nervous look crept over her face, "Nothing but", she replied, setting Noelle at ease, "But that's enough of that, What course would you guys like to go with?", she asked, presenting the two of them with menus, "Ummmm", Noelle looked through the menu and it's various courses, "I think we'll go with the ocean side experience", Kiato answered for the two of them making Noelle look at it, and it was a lot of food that she liked, "That sounds really good actually", Noelle looked at him, "What can I say? I know what you like", he smiled, "Yeah", she returned the smile, "Alright then I'll send some waters for now", she collected the menus before leaving, but the bit of ease that Noelle was given was again somewhat quelled when she thought she saw Rebecca hold onto Kiato's hand as she walked away, "Cool friend", Noelle nervously rubbed her arm, "Yeah, yeah she is"

With Asta

Asta walked down the street on his phone, calling Rebecca over and over getting no response, "AW WHAT THE HELL", he shoved his phone back into his pocket,"Bro, it won't do you any good", he thought about what his brother told him, "HOW WOULD HE KNOW", Asta kicked a stone into a wall which bounced back and hit him in the head, "AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH", he screamed throwing the stone only to have the same thing happen, "DAMN IT", he held his hand over the place that the stone hit him, "Uhhhh", he groaned continuing to walk until he reached the park*MADA*he quickly took his phone out of his pocket

Vanessa: Hey kid your mom told me you ran out

Vanessa: Just tell me youre ok and Ill tell her your good

Asta was a bit disappointed at the message, not cause his mom and her were concerned but because it wasn't Rebecca

Me: Yea

Vanessa: u sure

Me: Yea

Vanessa: Ok man

Vanessa: but if you need to talk im here

Me: Thanks

he put his phone down finding a seat on the bleachers of a kickball field,"I deleted the notifications", Asta clinched his fists thinking more about it,"I MEAN HOW COULD HE", he screamed in his own head, "HE KNEW HOW MUCH-", he again could feel as tears began to water his eyes as he thought about the time him and Rebecca had spent together, and yet...................................he thought about the relationship, more in particular how it ended, "OOOOOOOOOOOO", he closed his eyes and shot his head into his hands trying not to think about it, "You alright?", he took his head out of his hands and looked back down to see Nacht and Ichika, "Oh hey guys", he waved at them, "Hey", Nacht waved back, "You alright kid", Ichika gave a concerned look, "Yeah yeah", he waved it off, "What are you guys doing here anyway?", Asta asked the....................the couple, he sighed remembering it once again, "We were just trying to enjoy the day and Yami called me in to help with some stuff since he went to a outing or something", Nacht answered, "What are you doing?", he asked Asta, "I uh I was just getting some fresh air", Asta answered with a smile as he rubbed the back of his neck, making the two look at each other, "You sure?", Ichika asked him, "Yeah no I just wanted some fresh air", he forced a smile, "No you didn't", Nacht looked at him, "I'm sorry?", Asta looked at him with a confused face, "You did that thing where you smiled with your eyes closed", Nacht told him, "Which usually means you're upset", Asta's face softened a bit,"Damn he knows me better than I thought", he thought to himself, "You're right I just feel like...............................I need to blow off some steam", he answered him, "Hmmm", Ichika hummed, "Well you can come with us and use the gym", Nacht suggested, "It seems like I always go back there when stuff like this happens", Asta smiled at the ground, "Ok then", Nacht and Ichika motioned for Asta to follow them to which he did

With Noelle

After the weirdness that was what Noelle thought was Rebecca holding onto Kiato's hand the date had been going pretty well actually, but even so there were a few moments of uncertainty for example, "REMEMBER WHAT DAVID SAID?", Kiato laughed while holding onto Rebeccas arm, "Hehe yeah", Noelle nervously laughed, "Yeah sorry the entree is taking so long, the kitchen is pretty backed up", Rebecca apologized to the couple, "No no it's fine, you've been a very good host", Kiato assured her, "Why thank you", she giggled, "And you?", she turned her attention to Noelle, "Uh yeah it's been a really cool and you have been a really nice host", she answered, "Thanks" "TABLE THIRTY FOURS ENTREE IS READY" "Well I guess I'll go get that for you guys, but before I do it would you guys like anything else to drink besides water?", she asked the couple, "I think I'll just stick with water", Noelle answered, "Blueberry sparkling water please" "Sure thing", Rebecca went back to the kitchen, "So what do you think so far?", Kiato finally paid her some mind, "It's nice, fancy, and I really like the atmosphere", Noelle tried to sound very engaged to keep it that way, "Great I knew you'd love it", Kiato shot her a toothy smile, "Awwwww", Noelle sounded, he can still be this sweet. Was the case until Rebecca came back bearing the entrees, "Alright well I hope you guys enjoy and just tell me if you guys need anything" "We sure will", Kiato held onto Rebeccas arms once again,"Am I reading too much into it?", Noelle asked herself, "Probably", she assured herself, getting ready to eat*bzz*she could feel her phone go off in her purse, "Umm before that I'm actually gonna use the restroom" "Don't be too long", Rebecca waved, "Yep"

"Mmmm", Noelle hummed looking at her phone

Charmy: Hows the date goiing so far?

Me: Its going good

Me: Sorry I lied

Me: Its not

Charmy: What happened?

Me: Well just don't think he's too focused on me

Charmy: Well go out there and demand his attention

Charmy: And if he doesnt ill drive mmy ass over there to make him

Noelle laughed at the last message

Me: Thanks

*Bzz*

Noelle swiped down to look at her notifications

Mimosa: is it going well?

She stared at the message, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer, cause on one hand it would be a bit mean considering she was her bestfriend, and on the other if she told her how the date was going Mimosa would probably hit her with the whole speech about how bad a boyfriend Kiato was, SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Noelle: Yep

Noelle: Its going great

Mimosa: Hmmmm

Mimosa: Are you sure

Me: Yea

Mimosa: Ok

Mimosa: Well have a good time

Me: I will

Noelle patted her face, "Ok", she turned around to see Rebecca, "OH sh*t", she tossed her phone juggling it to stop it from falling, "You ok?", Rebecca asked her, "OH uh yeah I'm fine", Noelle assured her, "Alllllllright", she showed a little bit of doubt about that statement, "Well anyways, you should hurry up before the entrees get cold", the food had completely slipped her mind, "Oh yeah sorry I'll be out right now", she circled away from the red head, "Ok then.....I guess enjoy the food", she watched as Noelle awkwardly shuffled out of the restroom,"Is she suspicious?"

With Asta

Nacht had pulled up to the shop seeing someone waiting at the garage, "Aight man", he took one of the keys of his chain, "Just go upstairs and do whatever", he tossed the key in the back, "Thanks man", Asta opened the door and got out making his way to the back staircase, he opened the door seeing the same thing he had seen since he had started training with Yami and old room with a mirror on one side covering the wall, next to it an old beaten up heavy bag with tape wrapped around the lower half and patches of tape covering the middle, and across from all of it was an old sofa Asta walked over to the bag and put his hand on it, "It's been awhile", he looked at it thinking of all the times he had kicked, punched, elbowed, and kneed the bag, "Sorry I haven't been back", he began to think of the last time he was there, it was the night after he and Rebecca had broken up, "Now that I think about it you've taken a lot of beatings", Asta smiled. Almost every negative emotion Asta ever had was poured onto it, "Well I guess I'll just get to it"

After a couple of hours of non-stop working out Nacht and Ichika had come up, "You still at it?", Asta turned his head to the door as it opened seeing Nacht and Ichika come in, "Yeah", Asta answered getting back to work immediately after giving said answer. Nacht and Ichika sat on the sofa together watching Asta shadow box, the only sound that could be heard was the huff of air Asta would let out each time he threw a punch, kick, elbow, or knee, "You gonna tell us or not", Nacht broke that silence asking Asta a question, "Tell you what?", he looked over at the two, "C'mon dude?", Ichika lifted a brow at the question, "You don't normally act this quiet so something had to have happened", she clarified, "Nothing did man, so I don't know what to tell you", he turned his attention back to the bag, "I know that's not true", Nacht kept pushing, "Look man I didn't push for an answer when asked about your brother did I?", he looked over to them, of which Ichika stared at Nacht, "He knows?", she asked him, "Not really", Nacht stood up, "I'm just worried man no need to take it there", Ichika pulled on his arm, "Babe it's not that serious" "I'm not trying to do anything", he put his arms up, "I just want to know what happened, but if you don't want to then I won't push", he looked at Asta waiting for him to say something, "Thanks", he stopped talking and just got back to hitting the bag, "Fine we'll leave you to it", he sat back down Ichika giving a worried expression

Once again, a long silence had formed, no one had said anything mostly because of the tension between Asta and Nacht from a bit earlier

Ichika🖤: What do you think happened?

Nacht and Ichika kept quiet throughout, but it didn't stop them from texting each other int that time

Me: not sure tbh

Me: but i imagine it had something to do with Liebe

Ichika🖤: how can u tell

Me: well he brought up morgen when i asked

Me: so yea

Ichika🖤: mmmm

Nacht looked up at Asta,"Yep", he thought to himself as he examined Asta, it was the same look that he had come in with every time something bad happened,"But I can't help right now, can I?", a small frown formed, but before he could settle into it the door once again had opened, "Hey kid your mom called me", Yami busted into the room, "What are you guys doing?", he looked at the sofa seeing the couple, "Nothing", Ichika answered, "Oh that's right", Yami laughed drawing the attention of Asta, "Sorry if I interrupted you're guys date" "No it's fine", Nacht returned the laugh, "Anyways", he looked at Asta, "It's almost eight and your mom wants you home", he told him, "It's eight already?", Asta was surprised how fast the day went, "Yeah and your mom wants you home so let's go", Yami turned away from the entrance, "I can trust you two to close?", he looked back over his shoulder, "Yeah", Nacht assured him, "Well then me and the kid are gonna get going", he motioned for Asta, "Coming"

With Noelle

Noelle made her way back to the table watching Kiato wait for her, "Hey sorry I took so long, got a call from my mom", she lied while nervously rubbing her arm, "Really? What'd she say?", he asked her, "Nothing, just wondering how our date was going", yet another lie came out of her mouth, "And what did you tell?", he gave her a smile, "I said", she gave herself a second to think about it, "I said it was going great", Noelle assured him sitting back down after she did, "Great I was worried you weren't having a good time", he gave her a closed eyed smile, "Hehe yeah", a nervous agreement came from her mouth. This time Noelle was rather unsure if it was a lie, but if she had to put money on it.............................she put it on 'it was a lie'

The two had gotten through most of the course the entree, a small amount of high-quality caviar on top of a small bit of rice with a few sauces she couldn't pronounce the name of, then a sashimi and some kind of oyster muscle? she didn't really know what it was to be honest, but she enjoyed it nonetheless, Scallops with black truffle and some sort of wine sauce again she never really listened to what Rebecca was saying, just feeling a little zoned out every time she would talk, Sea urchin eww, Alaskan salmon and crab combo that was just to die for, and the part she was waiting on the most, King Crabs for Norway and she was pretty excited to try it, "Alright then guys here is the main event of the night, King Crabs from Norway with pea and an aged wine sauce, served together with some wagyu from the border of Hino and Japan, joined by a generous amount of caviar from the Caspian sea", Rebecca placed the dishes onto the table, Noelle's mouth almost making a waterfall, and Kiato rubbing his hands waiting to eat, "Thank you, you've been a great host tonight", Kiato complimented her, "Why thank you, I tried my best", she show her gratitude by grabbing the waist ends of her dress and kneeling making Kiato laugh, "And I thank you for your effort", Kiato again thanked her, but with a weird tone of voice, almost flirtatious, maybe? However, he meant it to come across, it didn't sit all too well with Noelle and after Rebecca had left, "Hey babe can I talk to you about something?", she asked him as the two ate, "Of course what's up?", he looked up wiping his mouth, "It's about Rebecca", Kiato shook his head nervously, "What about her?" "Well, it's just", she felt like it was a little hard to say, "Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Rebecca?", Kiato's eyes went wide, "What? Why would you even think that?", he answered her question with another question (Lol), "I know I know", she paused again, "It's just that you guys seem really friendly and-" "Let me stop you there", Kiato interrupted Noelle catching her off guard, "I wouldn't cheat on you, you know that right?", Noelle sighed, "I know it's just-" "So then why would you ask that?", he questioned her clearly a little annoyed, "I don't know you and her seem just really close I guess", she nervously began to rub her arm again, "And what about him?", Kiato began to raise his voice a little, "What about who?", she wasn't even sure who he was talking about, "THE GUY WHO CRACKED ME WITH HIS HEAD", a sudden explosion came out of him, "Are you talking about Asta?" "What do you think?", Kiato threw his arms into the air, "Well if this is about me hanging out with him and his friends that was cause Mimosa's car broke down and-" "Well what about in the hallway when Charmy and Grey were arguing with him hmmm? It seems that you didn't have a problem defending the guy THAT GAVE ME A BLACK EYE", he began to tap his foot really fast, "Well maybe he's not as bad as we thought" "NOT AS BAD, LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME WE MET HE HIT ME", Noelle began to clinch her fists, "WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE THROWN THAT PUNCH", a few of the attendee's began to turn their attention to the couple, "I SHOULDN'T HAVE? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO STARTED YELLING AT HIM" "AND LIKE I SAID HE'S NOT AS BAD-" "OK WELL IF HE'S NOT AS BAD THEN REBECCA'S NOT THAT BAD SO I'LL HANG AROUND HER ALL I WANT", he slammed both Hands on the table, "Y'know what? Whatever", she pulled out of her chair and stormed out of the restaurant, "Uhhhh", Kiato groaned, "So I guess you guys are going?", he turned his head to see Rebecca, "Yeah sorry", he apologized to her, "I guess I'll see you sometime", Rebecca smiled, "Yeah I guess I will", Kiato placed a kiss makig her smile, "See ya", he waved, "See ya", she waved back, "Finally", she rolled her eyes as she saw him go out side

"Noelle", he caught up with her, "NO", she yelled at him, "Just take me home", she folded her arms and flicked her hair, "Can we just-" "No", she told him clearly upset, "Fine", he agreed, "Let's just go

With Asta

Yami and him sat in silence for a while, "Your mom told me what happened", Yami told him looking straight ahead, "Really?", Asta put his chin into the palm of his hand while he looked out the window, "Yep", Yami pulled out the trucks lighter coil, "And?", Asta asked without looking at him, "Well", Yami lit his cigarette, "I can't say that I don't get it at the very least", the answer shocked Asta causing him to look at Yami, "What?" "I get it", Yami stared blankly at the road watching the stop lights, "What's that mean?", Asta asked, "I mean with young love", the answer made Asta slouches into the seat, "Oh", Yami chuckled at Asta's response, "I know it sucks kid", Yami finally took a large puff of the cigarette, "And when you feel like you met the person that you're gonna spend your life with......it sucks when it doesn't work out", Asta could feel a pit form in is stomach, "But in times like that you go to the people that you know are gonna have your back", he once again took a big drag, "Like your mom and brother", Yami looked at him as the car stopped at a light, "I know", Asta answered in small voice feeling his throat hurt, "And I know that you know", the car began to move again and the two grew silent, "Is that what happened to you?", Asta asked his coach after a while, "Yeah", a short answer was given, "Is that why you guys stopped talking?", Yami shook his head in confusion, "Stopped talking to who?" "To Nacht's brother, Ms. Roselei, and well the people from school", Asta clarified, "Kind of", Yami put his cigarette out, "So what did you do? I mean after all of that happened", the question was one Asta wasn't sure was going to get an answer, "Well", he thought about what he was saying and, "I didn't do much else different", Asta was surprised by the answer, "Really?" "Really" "So then how'd you get over it?" "Well, I'm not too sure if I did" "But-" "But all I can say is that you can only ever treasure the time you had with them and ultimately keep going even if them leaving hurt, cause trying to force someone to stay or being sad that they left doesn't do anything for you or them", Yami looked over at him, "I know it hurts kid, but time heals all wounds", Yami ruffled Asta's hair, "Thanks", Asta gave a small smile, "No problem kid"

Once they finally arrived back Asta had said goodbye and made his way to the door before taking a deep breathe,"Oh man", he thought to himself with his hand on the knob, "Let's just get this over with", he opened the door to see his mom sitting in one of the dinner chairs, "You're back", she gave a nervous smile, "Yeah", Asta nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Where's Liebe?", he asked his mom, "He's in your guys room", she answered, "But if you don-" "Nah it's fine", Asta walked past her, "Are you sure?" "Yeah", he continued to walk towards their room opening the door, "Hey", he called out causing Liebe to turn around from his bed, "Hey", he stared at his brother as his legs dangled over the edge, "Look man I'm-", Liebe tried to say something, "It's cool", Asta rubbed the back of his head, "No I shouldn't have done that without telling you or even asking", Liebe also rubbed the back of his head, "No I shouldn't have reacted like that", Asta could feel a lump in his throat, "I just", his eyes began to water, "I loved her so much", Liebe could hear his voice quiver, "I know man", he hopped down and gave his brother a hug, "I know", Asta hugged him back, "You two ok?", the brothers let go turning around to see their mom, "Yeah I just uh", Asta couldn't even really finish what he was saying, "I was just telling him I'd take it to Jamo's y'know to replace the fries I ate the other day", Liebe answered, of which Lichita didn't believe it, but anything for her boys to get along, "Well can I come? I've been really craving the club sandwich there", she rubbed her stomach, "I don't see why not", Liebe answered, "Cool let's get going", Liebe began to walk out of the room, "Wait what about Dante and them I thought they were coming over for dinner?", Asta asked his mom, "Yeah about that, I just told him that today wasn't a good time", Asta sucked in his lips feeling bad, since he thought it was his fault, "Don't worry honey, there's always tomorrow, and if you want you're other friends can come over", Asta smiled, "Ok"

with Noelle

Kiato and Noelle sat in silence as he drove her home, and the tension after they're argument was pretty clear, "Y'know I'm just worried", Kiato looked at Noelle, who put her head up with an irritated look on her face, "Worried about what?", she asked him, clearly agitated, "Worried that he's not who he says he is", Kiato answered, "And why would that be?" "I just don't think someone who would resort to violence first thing could ever be a 'good' person", he gave his answer,*SMACK*, "HAHAHAHA DUDE YOU DON'T HIT HARD", she thought about when they first had detention together, "Did she cause any problems?" "Nope" "Why did you do that?" "Do what?" "Why didn't you just get me in trouble?" "Why didn't you?" "I'm serious" "Fine, I just know that it wouldn't have helped", Noelle of course gave what her boyfriend was saying some thought, but what she had seen of Asta so far, she couldn't imagine him just being a guy that was either trying to get with her or use her, "Well I guess only time will tell huh?", she leaned her chin into her palm, the answer making Kiato a little nervous, "Look I'm just saying that you should be a bit wary of him", Kiato giving his final thoughts on the matter, "Sure", a short annoyed answer came out of Noelle

When they had finally made it back to Noelles home she opened the door and almost slammed it, "Hey", Kiato rolled down the window, "Yeah?", she folded her arms and turned around, "I'll see you Monday?", a smile came over his face, a small nervous one, "Yeah", she turned around to enter the gates, "I love you", she could hear him call out making her smile a little, "I love you too", she looked back and waved to which she waved back smiling that the two ended the day in a semi positive note watching as he drove off. After his car had gone out of sight, she made her way back inside, yet again she made her way through an empty house, "Where does everyone even go?", she asked herself, streaking her hand along the wall before getting back to her room, "Uhh", she groaned face planting into her bed, "How was the date?", a voice startled her, turning around to see her sister, "Oh it was", she thought about it, "Well to be honest it wasn't very good", she put her hands in her lap, "And whys that?", Nebra asked her, "It's just", she again took a moment to think about it, "We got into an argument", Nebra raised her eyebrows in surprise, "About what?" "About this guy I'm friends with", Noelle nervously fiddled with her hands, "And who's that", Nebra couldn't hide a skeptical look, "He uh" "You cheated on him?", the question caught Noelle off guard, "WHAT? NO OF COURSE NOT", she almost fell back in her answer, "Then why was he mad?", Noelle heard the question, and, "Well", she began to fiddle with her hands again, "Well?", Nebra shook her head, "He's the guy who head butted him", Noelle finally gave an answer, "Oh boy" "Look I know that sounds bad, but Asta is cool person", Nebra just sighed at her sister, "Ok, but I can't say that I don't understand why he would be mad", Noelle let out a sigh herself, "Yeah I know, but he didn't need to blow up at me", she looked at her hand as she lifted it in the air, "Well.....if he is gonna start yelling at you for stuff like that maybe just try to be the bigger person and diffuse the situation", Noelle thought about the advice, "And besides this is probably a wrench in the gear for your guys relationship, if he finds out this Asta is cool guy maybe he'd be fine" "Maybe", Noelle put her ear buds in

Asta and Noelle duel POV

"Hold on I just need to do something", Asta told his brother and mom, "Alright we'll be in the car", the two left the room, Asta picked up his ear buds and put his playlist on shuffle

"Ok well I'll leave you to it", Nebra left the room prompting Noelle to begin listening to music and scroll through her phone

Loving can hurt, Loving can hurt sometimes

Asta looked at the last photo that he and Rebecca had taken together before they had broken up making his eyes water

Noelle was looking at a photo from May of that year where he had won prom king, but Fragil had won prom queen

but it's the only thing that I know

he began to remember how much her siblings liked him,"HEY ASTA CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW TO PUNCH?", her little brother asked, "Are you gonna marry my sister?", her younger sister tugged on his jacket, remembering it, it made him a bit sad

She had looked at the photo of the two enjoying a couples Sunday together,"What can I get for you two?', the waitress asked the two, "We want that Valentine's sundae please", Kiato asked, "You guys want to have the heart straw?" "Please", remembering it made her blush

When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes

He looked at the picture before that, and he didn't know how he missed it when they took it, but her eyes seemed not to be in it,"Maybe it really was never meant to be", a few tears fell from his eyes

She was focusing on a few pictures of the two from June, where they had gone to a drive in with a few of hers and his friends, "Huh?", she looked at the photo of her and him kissing, and his eyes were open and he was looking away from her, the camera, just off somewhere else, it was a bit unsettling

It's the only thing that makes us feel alive

Asta dug through his stuff, finding a small box with his and Rebecca's name on it

Noelle went to her Instagram where a slide show of her and Kiato had gotten over 100,000 likes

We keep this love in a photograph

He dug out a photo of the two of them at a middle school dance, Rebecca with a goofy smile and face as red as a tomato, and Asta smiling because he had a girlfriend

She looked at a post from Kiato about her, "To the love of my life", a picture of her at the beach

We made these memories for ourselves

"I THINK YOU'RE CUTE PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME", a valentine candy gram read followed by, "From: Rebecca Scarlet", he giggled, he remembered how happy he was to find out a girl had a crush on him

Noelle went through a few of the drafts that she didn't post, not because they were bad, but because they were meant for her eyes only, "I love this guy", a picture of the two at a Christmas party under the mistle toe

Where our eyes are never are never closing

Another picture of Asta and Rebecca, their first kiss, well "First kiss" as in she had given him a kiss on the cheek and his mom snapped a photo

Noelle went to her favorite album in her phone's photos, a picture that Kiato had taken while she was asleep of him placing a kiss on her forehead

Hearts are never broken

Asta grabbed a photo of the two of them, prom of sophom*ore year, a few months ago and she was blushing like crazy as Asta lifted her by the waist and nuzzled his face into her neck,"BABE STOP", she laughed trying to get him to stop, admittedly not really wanting him to,"What happened?", he thought

Noelle watched a video her mom took at her birthday last year of the two slow dancing,"AWWW MY BABY", she could hear her mother's voice in the video, but she remembered what Kiato told her, "I can't wait to do this for real someday", she smiled looking back on it

And times forever frozen still

A picture the two had taken on Rebecca's birthday, a mockup photo shoot of her in a wedding dress that they did,"I do", the words rung in Asta's head over,"Guess not"

Photos from that birthday, a collection of him and her on the stairs of her house of him holding her hand like a princess leading her down the stairs, "Hmm", she smiled

So, you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jean

A polaroid that she had the other half to, but written on his half of the picture"I will", he could feel the tears coming a lot harder

Sets of pictures from new year's where Kiato had made a collage with pictures of the two since the first time they had met, "One day", a picture of a nice ring

And if you hurt me that's ok baby only words bleed

"Asta please sit down", she motioned for him to sit next to her, "What's up?", he followed as she said, "I need to tell you something", he remembered how much it hurt and began to sniffle to try and stop himself from bawling

"It seems that you didn't have a problem defending the guy THAT GAVE ME A BLACK EYE", Noelle thought about how Kiato snapped earlier, "OK WELL IF HE'S NOT AS BAD THEN REBECCA'S NOT THAT BAD SO I'LL HANG AROUND HER ALL I WANT", Noelle felt a bit uneasy about it

Inside these pages you just hold me

Asta looked at the texts from that night, "What the?", he scrolled down to see the ones from earlier

Rebecca: I just want to talk, please?

Rebecca: Sorry wrong person

he bit his bottom lip, since the only way that would happen is if they had the same name in her phone, "Lover💖 ", Asta could feel a wave of sadness finally hit as he began to cry into his hands

Noelle got up and began rummaging through her desk drawers, "There", she snatched up a letter that Kiato written her when they were in middle school

Dear, Noelle

You are incredibly beautiful, just like a goddess, and I was wondering if you would like to go out with me

Sincerely, Kiato

Sure, it was a little cringey, especially for a middle schooler, but no matter how much time passed she always thought it was cute

And I won't ever let you go

Asta looked at the messages, "Maybe Liebe was right", he slumped over sitting down

Noelle put the letter back, "Maybe Nebra is right", she laid back down

Wait for me to come home

he looked at his phone some more,"I guess I should let you go", he went to Rebecca's contact in his phone

Allen🙏

Becca💖

Brows?

Luck⚡︎

Magna🔥

Mari 🔪

he held down her info and went to the settings for the contact, "Block this number?", he clicked yes, "Are you sure?", his thumb hovered the button,"all I can say is that you can only ever treasure the time you had with them and ultimately keep going even if them leaving hurt, cause trying to force someone to stay or being sad that they left doesn't do anything for you or them", he remembered what Yami told him, "Confirm" "This number can no longer interact with you", Asta could feel a few tears still fall, but he wiped them away with his sleeve*HOOOOOOOOOOONK*"I'M COMING", he ran outside closing the door behind him

Noelle looked up at the ceiling in her bed thinking about all the memories and moments she went back on while she thought about Kiato, "Well I suppose waiting for things to get better might not help", she turned over the face her desk, "And talking it out is probably better", she thought about her and Kiato's argument, "Right, this is just a pot hole in the road of our relationship", she smiled pulling a blanket over herself, "I'm sure of it", she closed her eyes and fell asleep

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

"Alright this is the last week before fall qualifiers, so we'll be ramping up our training", the coaches announced to their students, "Wait I thought this was weight cut week?", Sol raised her hand, "Well about that", Charlotte looked at Yami, "After some careful consideration, we are prohibiting extreme weight cuts", she explained the students who had been in the program before Asta were rather surprised, "We've come to the conclusion that dedicating an entire week to draining yourself has likely been damaging performance, So no cutting more than five maybe even three pounds", Thereasa finished, "And the weight you walk around at is what you fight at" "But to make up for the lack of a possible weight advantage we will be bringing in sparing partners for you guys, but they'll be getting here later", Jack finished looking around for questions to which he got none

AND

With Rebecca

She had finally gotten back home after a long day of work, "Uhhhh", she groaned hitting her had on the top of the steering wheel turning her attention to the radio, "Eight huh? Guess they haven't made dinner", she unbuckled herself and got out of her car, making her way to the front door unlocking it, "I'm home", she announced hearing a bunch of small footsteps racing down the hallway, "REBECCA", her siblings grabbed onto her waist, "Hey guys where's mom?", she asked, "Oh she hasn't comeback yet, they asked her to stay overnight", Rebecca let out a sigh, "Alright, then have you guys had dinner?" "Nope", the two odd them answered causing Rebecca to let out a big sigh, "Ok, go set the table and wash your hands and I'll make something", she went into the kitchen putting on an apron, "The work never seems to stop", she got a pot out, "How's your new boyfriend?", her little brother asked, "Don't worry about it", she began to cut vegetables, "What's he like?", her sister asked a follow up question, "He's cool", she answered with a hint of annoyance audible in her voice, "Is he like Asta?", her brother asked yet another question, causing her to slam the knife, "No more questions about my love life ok?", she turned around to tell them to stop, "Ok", he put his head down making Rebecca feel a bit guilty, "Look it's just........me and him are temporary, ok?", he nodded his head, "So we can see Asta again?", her sister asked, "Uhhh", Rebecca thought about it, "Yeah.....Yeah he'll come around again sometime, so please stop asking", she answered, "OK", her brother ran off to the restroom, "You too", she pointed to her sister, "YES", she followed, Rebecca sighed and got back to cooking

"Alright guys time for bed", she ushered her siblings to their room tucking them in, "Good night you guys", she waved turning off the lights. When she got back to her room, she slid down her door,"Is he like Asta?", she thought about the question,"No he is not",*Bzzz*she looked at her phone

Lover❤️: You home yet?

She cringed a little, Kiato had gotten kind of suspicious that she was using him, so he asked her to change the name to...................................to Asta's old one, "I don't want to deal with this right now", she picked herself up and got on her bed, "What the?", she looked at the long string of notifications

13 Missed calls from Lover💖

Her eyes widened, "He actually called back?", she clicked on the notification to make sure it was the right one

Me: I just want to talk, please?

Me: Sorry wrong person

"So, can we see Asta again?", she thought about the question from her younger sibling, "Well I guess so", she went to his info and called, but it didn't ring, "What?", she looked at her phone trying a few times before letting it play out in full before calling again

This caller has restricted contact

"WHAT?",she looked at her phone tapping the call button once more, and once more she received the same message, "No there has to have been some sort of mistake", she went to her messages with him

Me: I just want to talk, please?

Me: Sorry wrong person

Me: Hey I tried to call you but it said you restricted contact lol

Delivery failed

She again couldn't believe what she was reading trying to send the message again, and much like when she tried to call him it still seemed like he had blocked her, "No way", she slumped on her bed, her back against the wall before throwing her phone,"Please I need to tell you something", she thought about that night as her eyes began to water as she put her head down into her knees before she looked up taking a look at the mirror above her desk, and on it a torn polaroid, she got up and walked towards its a torn picture with Asta on it, "Will you be mine?", in Asta's sloppy hand writing,"I will", she remembered what she wrote on his half of the picture, "I...I....I-", she leaned her head onto the mirror, "I'm sorry"

Chapter 6: Race to the starting line

Chapter Text

Asta sat on the metro thinking about his weekend, and it was eventful to say the least Saturday was a huge mess with everything that happened between him and Liebe not to mention arguing with Nacht. However, Sunday was way better since as they agreed he and his friends ended up going to the Skatepark the people from school included of which all of them seemed to have a good time, a few of the people from school tried to skate Klaus who ate it and Sol who had Magna help her balance on the board which unfortunately didn't help much since she ended up falling on her butt anyways. Even thinking about it made him laugh, "Line four stop seven", the intercom sounded, "I got a good feeling about this week", Asta stretched and smiled getting off the train after he did

In the parking lot

As he finally made it to the school he watched as expensive cars pulled in, some driven by their parents and some driving their own, some were driven in limos? "I forget how rich these kids are", Asta could feel a bit of self-consciousness about his situation begin to form, "Hey", he turned his head to see Yuno sticking his head out of a car, "What's up", Asta lifted his arm and walked towards the car, "How-" "HI"

a woman suddenly interrupted him by popping her head out of the driver side window, "OH sh*t", he dropped his phone making Yuno laugh, "HA", Yuno pointed at the fallen phone, "Ah shut up man", Asta chuckled while he bent over to pick up the phone, "Sorry", she apologized, "Nah it's fine mam I just wasn't expecting that", Asta scratched the back of his head, "Again sorry, I was just excited to meet you", she gave Asta a close eyed smile, "Huh?", he shook his head in confusion, "Well it's just that Yuno's never been very good at making friends, so when I heard that he had made a new one at school I was so happy", she gave the same smile, "MOM", Yuno fell out of the window, "HA", Asta pointed at him, "Whatever", Yuno dusted himself off unaware a tinge of pink had begun to burn onto his skin, "What? Is it so wrong that I'm happy you finally made some more friends?" "HAHAHAHAHAHA", Asta busted out laughing at a now furiously red Yuno, "ALRIGHT" "Alright then have a nice day my star baby" "Later Mrs. Grinberryal", Asta waved at her, "Please just call me Ciel", Yuno's mom waved back peeling off after she did, "Star baby", Asta gave a smug smile to his friend, "Shut up man", Yuno playfully shoved him, "Anyway", Yuno looked towards the entrance of the school, "Everyone we were hanging out with yesterday gonna be here?", Yuno asked, "Nah, just the ones that do martial arts", Asta answered, "Ahhh", Yuno gave a slight nod, "Anyway, where's Klaus? You two are usually around each other" "Dentist, he chipped his tooth and needed to pull a molar anyway", Yuno told him as they entered the hallway, "Were they mad? Y'know cause we made him get on?" "Nah they were just a little annoyed" "Cool", Asta was relieved to hear his parents weren't out for him, "WAIT UP", the duo turned around to see Leo bolting down the hall, "Sup", he gave Asta a high five and Yuno a fist bump, "Sup", they responded, "How'd you guys' sleep?", the three continued walking, "Fine", Yuno answered, "I went to sleep pretty late, I was just so excited to spar with everyone again", Asta was jumping up and down while they walked, "That's right", Leo snapped his fingers, "Who's coming?", he asked him just as they got to Asta's locker, "Mari, Magna, Luck, Vanessa, Gauche, Mars, and Vanica", Asta opened his locker putting a few of his books and his gloves in there, "Gauche?", Yuno raised his eyebrow, "Ah that's right he didn't come", Asta closed his locker, placing his hand on his chin, "He's a boxer, he kind of came up with me in the underground", he was finally able to put together an explanation, "mmmmm", Yuno nodded, "HEY", the trio turned their heads

"Fragil?", Leo watched as she ran towards them, "Who?", Asta asked Yuno in a whisper, "Girl who throws parties", Yuno answered in a whisper as well, "Ahhhhh", Asta nodded his head, "Sorry just thought it was better to catch you guys before you were too busy", she made a few weird movements with her arms,"What the?", Yuno and Asta looked at each other not saying it, but knowing what each other were thinking, "What's up?", Leo began to converse with her, "Not much just asking around about who wants to go to my party this year I know not as important as getting ready for class but Bla bla bla bla", Fragil continued to talk, but somewhere in the middle Yuno and Asta just began to hear nothing, "So what do you guys say?", the two finally snapped out of it, "Uhhhh", the two again just hummed in unison, "Well if you guys don't want to answer now that's fine, and if you decided to come to show up with Leo, oh and ask your friends if they want to come", Fragil finished before walking way, "So you guys gonna go?", Leo asked them, "I Don't know", Asta rubbed his arm, "Probably not", Yuno just shrugged his shoulders, "I see", Leo looked a little disappointed

"Hey guys", Yuno looked over his shoulder while Leo and Asta looked behind him, seeing Mimosa, Noelle, and.........Noelle's posse great, "Hey Mimosa", Yuno waved, "Hey", she waved back, making Asta nudge him with his elbow, "Cut it out- Hey how'd you sleep?", he stopped as soon as she was close, "Pretty good", she answered, "I forgot to ask yesterday, but how's Klaus doing?", she followed up with a question, "Wait yesterday?", Noelle interrupted the two, "Oh yeah sorry I forgot to tell you, but we went to hang out in Hage", Mimosa explained, "You guys went to Hage?", Charmy cut in with a little more than a hint of disgust in her voice, "Yeah Charmy I forgot to ask you if that was ok", Mimosa smiled at her, "Whatever", she rolled her eyes, "Hey it's cool", Noelle stopped the two from arguing any further, "Kinda wish you would've told me", Noelle looked at Asta with a sarcastic angry look on her face, "Sorry I forgot", Asta scratched the back of his head, drawing a bit of silent ire from the two standing next to Noelle, "But I promise the next time we hang out I'll invite you, and if I don't just ask Mimosa", Asta offered his solution, "Ok I'll hold you guys to it then", Noelle went to her locker, "Well imma head to class early", Asta saluted the group as he began to walk away, "Hold on dude", the group would again turn their heads to see Kiato approaching them, "Oh great", Yuno, Leo, Mimosa, and Asta, collectively groaned, "Hey what's with all the hostility?", he asked, getting a little close to Asta, "Babe" "Hold on Noelle, I just think me and him got off on the wrong foot" "It's he and I", Mimosa for some reason corrected him, "Whatever", he turned his attention back to Asta, "Look I just think that if you and Noelle are friends I should try too", Kiato stuck out his hand, "Seriously?", Charmy, Grey, and Noelle shook their heads, "Yeah, so what do you say?", Asta looked at his hand and looked back his friends who were all giving pretty unsure faces, but Noelle was smiling, for some reason it made him feel a little better about it, "Sure", he shook Kiatos hand, "Really?", Charmy lifted her brow at him, "Yeah", Kiato turned his attention back to Noelle placing a kiss on her cheek making her blush, "I'll see you later", the group began to disband, "I'll see you guys at lunch", Asta waved to his friends, "See ya", Leo waved back, "Yep", Yuno nodded his head, "Till then", Mimosa gave a small two finger salute, "Well that went better than expected", Noelle commented as her and Asta began to walk down the hall, "What?", Asta looked at her, a smile drawn clearly on her face, "I was sure either you, Kiato, Grey, and more than likely Charmy would be a lot more combative than that", Noelle stated, "Cool, but that doesn't really explain anything" "Right, well I was talking to Kiato yesterday, y'know when you guys hung out without me, and he said that since me and you are friends he wanted to try to be your friend too", Asta smiled, "Well I'm glad you're with someone who can compromise like that", he put his arms behind his head, "And why's that?", Noelle asked with a small smirk on her face, "Cause I literally never would", he looked at her with a smug smile, "Well you just did?", Noelle shook her head, "Cause you're not my girlfriend", he laughed causing Noelle to push him, "Whatever", the two giggled together as they made their way too home room

A few hours later

A couple of rather uneventful classes went by partly cause Noelle and Asta's homeroom teacher decided to do a small activity for the class to know each other better, which didn't really help since even after three weeks most people would've found who they like or didn't like, partly because chemistry was boring, cause Klaus wasn't there to help him and because it also meant that he didn't have anyone to talk to for the period, but as usual Dorothys' class tended to be pretty nice, "I understand if it's a hard subject to talk about", Dorothy rubbed Asta's hand to comfort him, "Yeah sorry", Asta chuckled as he shook his head to stop his eyes from watering, "No no, tears are nothing to be ashamed of, cause", she looked at him, signaling to say something with her, "Tears bore witness that a man had the courage to suffer", the two said together, a small reflection of what Dorothy had been teaching in class earlier, "Thanks Dorothy", Asta rubbed the back of his neck, "These talks help a lot" "Oh my pleasure, you yourself are a treat to talk to", the statement made Asta smile, "Now go and enjoy lunch with your friends", Dorothy gave Asta a pat on the back as she ushered him out, "Ok", she went back to her desk to write something down

"Hey guys", Asta greeted Sol and Leo, which had become the normal routine since they had begun hanging out, he would leave Psych class a little late and they would wait on him, walking to the cafeteria when he got out and meeting Klaus, Yuno, and Mimosa there, "So how was the talk this time?", Sol asked Asta as the trio began walking outside into the main hall, "Nice, y'know the usual", an obvious smile crept onto Asta's face, "That's nice", Sol smiled thinking about all the times she had confided in her, "You know her pretty well too, don't you?", Leo looked over at her, "Yeah", Asta raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You two know each other?" "Yeah, her and my mom have been friends for as long as I can remember, maybe even before she took me in", the answer surprised Asta,"Did she know Yami?", a question internally formed just as they made it to the cafeteria, Asta got in line for food only to realize that Sol and Leo were just outside the line, "What are you guys doing?", Asta lifted his brow in confusion, "Nah just trying to keep healthy before qualifiers", Sol nervously chuckled, "Oooooooook", he decided to just push it out of the way and get food, "What'd you get?", Asta turned around to see Yuno and Mimosa, "Steak with fries, and you guys?", "Chocolate lava cake", Yuno answered, "Nothing", Mimosa rubbed her arm, "Why?", Asta was again confused by the answer, "Asta you don't think eating something so heavy is gonna affect you?", Sol asked, "A week from now?", Asta and Yuno looked at each other, "Well yeah just to keep your weight low", Leo clarified for her, "Why would I do that?", still not sure where this was going, "Wait, Asta how much do you weigh?", Mimosa asked, "132 maybe 137 when I'm kinda heavy", Asta answered still confused, "Ok so how much weight do you cut?", Sol asked again prompting the Asta and Yuno to look at each other lost

EXPLANATION

A common ritual amongst all combat sports is something known as weight cutting, a process where you limit the amount of food you take in possibly a week or two before a fight normally three to four if you have a bad one, but what can be incredibly harmful during it is the water draining that many fighters do a few days before either a fight or competition. Famous examples of this are the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov, a man who walked around over 200 pounds whilst fighting in the UFC's light weight division, aka 155lb or 70.3 kg, Alex Pereira in his fight with Israel Adesanya walked around about 232lbs cutting to 184.5lbs or 84 kg, and Aljamain sterling the UFC bantamweight champion or 135lb champion who had a recorded weight of 175 pounds or 79.3 kg in between his fight with TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo, and while these are some extreme examples it is common in almost every weight class in every sport as fighters in these divisions undergo similar cuts, Dustin Porier when fighting at featherweight 145lb walked around at 180lb or 81.6kg, Jared Cannonier in middleweight was a former heavyweight who does have pretty bad cuts, and the next contender for the UFC bantamweight championship Sean O'malley walks around at 159 pounds or 72kg

"OOOOOO", Asta finally understood what they were saying, "Nah Yami always had me fight at whatever weight I was walking around at", he shrugged as the chefs passed him and Yuno their foo, "And besides, wouldn't stuff like that make you easier to KO?", Yuno asked, "Yeah I always fought bigger guys and while I've been like TKO'd I've never been blown out cold, so there's no point", he shrugged, shocking the three of them, "Anyway we should probably get going before Yami comes hunting for us", Asta turned to leave the cafeteria the group following making their way to the gym, "Sup", Asta saw Yami and the other coaches standing in a line, "Mom? You're here early", Sol looked at Leo, "Yeah well we have an announcement", the group looked at the coaches each of which had a grin on their faces, "Today we're gonna be bringing in some sparring partners", Yami clapped his hands together, "Well we already knew that, but I was meaning to ask isn't it weight cut week?", Sol asked her mom, "That's the other thing, see we think that dedicating a week to cutting weight has likely been effecting your performances", Charlotte turned her gaze to Yami, "So as of this moment on weight cutting is being prohibited in favor of a week of skill building and sparring with other people", Charlotte announced, "We'll bring some other people in down the road, but for now the people that Mr. Sukehiro has decided on will be who we work with", Theresa looked at the Vermillion's, "The weight you walk around at is the weight you fight at", she said clearly directing at the two making them a little nervous, "A few of those sparring partners are gonna be here soon, but the others are gonna have to be here at the end of today", Jack laughed, "So with all that out of the way, any questions?", he looked around at the group seeing if anyone had questions, only to find none, "Ok let's get to work while we wait for them"

Mimosa and Leo got into the ring, "We're gonna do some point sparring for right now and later there'll will be a guy Mr.Sukehiro brings in that you'll work with", Theresa grabbed a stopwatch, "I'll decide when the rounds are over, that clear?" "Yes mam", the two answered together

Sol went to the mats with her mom, "We'll work with no GI right and later we'll do it with it", the two got into a collar tie, "That works" "Oh and a bunch of the grapplers you met are gonna be here later"

Asta, Yuno, and Sekke were grouped together to go round robin spar, "So Asta and Yuno first then who ever landed more stays in and Sekke replaces the loser, that clear?", Jack asked the two, "Yep" "Yes" "Alright go", but before they could start an unfamiliar voice to most rung out through the gym, "Hey Yami I'm here", the coaches and student's turned to the door to see a guy with brown hair covering one of his eyes and a little girl with blonde hair, "Perfect", Yami clapped his hands, "Who's this?", Theresa asked, "The boxer I was telling you about", he said, "I see", she looked at him up and down, "There a problem old lady?", he gave her a dirty look, "Old lady? Do you have any manners?", Theresa got in the guy's face, "I'm just here to help a few people doesn't, so it doesn't matter as long as I do that right?", he got into her face as well, "Hey Gauche", Asta waved at him getting punched by Yuno while he looked away, "Ok look mam just let him get in there with them and he'll show why I brought him in, that ok?", Yami created space between the two, "Fine", Theresa looked back to her two students, "One of you step out" "You wanna stay in?", Leo asked Mimosa who looked back at the guy noticing he was rather tall, "Um nah you can go first", Mimosa backed away getting out of the ring when she did, "Suit yourself", Leo put in his mouth guard and tapped his gloves, watching Asta's friend step into the ring

"Sup", Leo held out his gloves for a glove touch which Gauche ignored, "Ok", Leo thought about how weird it was, "GO", Theresa yelled. Leo threw a few feints to test Gauche's reactions, "None", Leo threw a few more for confirmation, "There", Leo stepped in*CRACK*Gauche landed a step-in lead uppercut getting Leo pretty good making Leo circle away*BANG*Gauche caught him as he circled away with a hook, "Nope", Leo clinched Gauche turning around and pushing away from him to get some breathing room*BANG* *BANG*Gauche followed landing back-to-back jabs attempting to throw a straight punch after*SMACK*Leo threw out a power hook to the left side of Gauche's face, "Nice", Leo began to step in to try and get some more shots off*BANG*he got caught by Gauche pushing forward with another step in lead upper cut wobbling him letting his hands down for a moment, "LEOKEEP YOUR HANDS UP",*CRACK*Gauche hit him with a straight*SMACK*he followed up with a lead hook to the body, "C'MON", he could hear a muffled Theresa yell at him, but it her screaming wasn't what he was the most concerned about as he watched a fist come his way*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*the ring timer went off, "Leo c'mere", Theresa beckoned him to the corner, "What was that?", she asked, "I don't know", Leo just drank some of his water, "Ok, you out Mimosa you go in", the old lady commanded them, "Alright", Mimosa obliged while Gauche just shrugged and went to spar with Asta before Gauche noticed Marie was standing rather weird, "Are you ok?", he asked his little sister, "Yes", Gauche gave a bit of skepticism back, "Are you sure?" "Yes" "Ok", Gauche gave a doubtful answer as Yami told him to get back with Asta, "I NEED TO GO", Marie walked to where the sign had the said the restroom was, "AWE MAN", Marie looked up to see and out of order sign,"I HAVE TO GO"

With Noelle and Co.

Noelle sat across from her friends watching them talk about guys, more in particular how a graffiti artist had caught Charmy's eye, "I'm telling you guys, he was so cute", Charmy took a bite of her food as she did, "Could you even see his face?", Grey asked, "Well not exactly, but I saw the upper half of his and he seemed cute", Charmy smiled at the end, "What about you?", Charmy asked Grey, "Ummmmmm", she nervously fiddled her index fingers together, "Seriously Grey, another?", Charmy rolled her eyes a little, "It's just I don't think he liked me all that much", Noelle remembered their texts from a few days ago, "Grey you really have to stop thinking like that", Noelle told her, "I know it's just kind of hard when they don't seem to interested in what I'm doing, but go on forever about themselves", the answer made sense to her friends, "I get that, but you don't tend to talk about yourself much" "I'm just not that interesting" "Grey you have a million good points you just need to say or at least imply them", Noelle tried to comfort her, "Yeah I guess", Grey just looked down thinking about what her friends, "I need to go use the restroom", Grey got up, "Want us to come?", Charmy asked, "Nah I'm just gonna try and brush up some of my make up", Grey waved walking away from the group

"Geez", Grey thought,"It's not like I really have a million good things about me", she sat on what the two told her,"And even if I do, I wouldn't just keep track of them", she rolled her eyes, finally getting to restroom, "Hmm?", she entered the room seeing that someone was using the small stall, yet their legs didn't reach the floor, "Weird", Grey went to the sink ruffling through her bag eventually getting her make up, "Ok", she pulled out a few of her pallets getting ready to apply some, "Is someone there?", she looked over to the stall in use, swearing that she heard a little kid, "Uh yeah?" "I'm sorry, but there's no toilet paper in here", Grey could feel that the kid was nervous, "Ok I'll go get you some", she made her way to the stall next to them, pulling some of the toilet paper from there, "Here you go", she squatted as low as she could putting her arm under the stall, "Thank you", the girl took it from her hands, "Hey if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?",*Fluusssh*Grey watched as the girl came out of the stall

"Sorry I just had to use the restroom", she walked over to the sink, turning to Grey with a bit of red on her face, "Ummm can you help me to the sink", she turned her foot nervously, it was endearing a sort of reminder of herself when she was younger, ok maybe a little now but still, "Yeah", Grey let out a slight giggle as she helped her up, "Didn't answer my question though", making a bit of a passive remark, "Sorry, I'm just here with my brother", she answered, "Oh who's your brother, I might know him", the kid shook her head, "He doesn't go here", Grey shook his head, "Then how come you're here?" "He's here helping his friend", the answer confused Grey even more, "I might know his friend?", unsure of the last bit, but the statement seemed to make the kid blush, "What you got a puppy crush on his friend?", she giggled only to notice that she was a red as a tomato, "Ok ok you don't have to tell me" "No it's ok", she nervously played with her hands, "His name is Asta", Grey could feel her mouth slack jaw, "Do you know him?" "Uhhhhh kind oooooof", Grey began to nervously fiddle with her hands too, "Are you his girlfriend?" "WHAT NO", she waved her hands in front of her face, "Look anyway where's your brother?", trying to change the subject before any further embarrassment, "He uh he's at the gym?", she answered sounding very unsure, "Ok", Grey looked at her, "Do you need help or are you ok?", yet again she seemed embarrassed, "Please", the answer made her smile, "Ok we'll go find your brother", she lead her out of the restroom, "What's your name?", she asked the little girl while they walked through the halls, "Marie", Marie gave her a short answer, "That's a pretty name" "Thank you" "So, Marie, what were you doing in there by yourself?" "Well, I needed to use the restroom, but the one in the gym was closed", Grey remembered hearing Noelle talk to Mimosa about it, "And did you ask your brother?" "No" "Why?" "He was fighting with someone, and I didn't want to bother him", Grey scrunched her face at the answer, "He would be mad?" "No", the second answer made her take a mental sigh of relief, "Then why didn't you just ask?" "I don't know", Marie tried to look away,"She is a lot like me at that age", Grey smiled, "Well we're here", Grey stopped in front of the gym door, "Thank you" "Yeah no-" "WELL I DON'T CARE I'M GONNA GO-", the pair watched the as a guy with no shirt and wraps on his hands burst through the door

"I-", he looked at the two, "MARIE", he picked her up, "Where'd you go?", he asked her, "Sorry Gauche", Grey just watched on looking at the guy, "You helped her?", his voice brought her back to earth, "Oh yeah" "Thank you", Gauche put his sister down, "No problem", she continued to stare, "Sorry if she gave you any trouble", he bowed his head to her, "No no really she was an angel", Grey waved the notion away, "Sorry gauche I should- oh one of Noelle's friends", Asta came from behind, "Hey", Grey awkwardly waved, "Hey Marie" "Hi", she nervously messed with her hands again, "You found her?", Asta asked her, "Yeah", she chuckled a little, "Then can we get back to training?", Asta asked Gauche, "Shut it", he pushed Asta back into the gym, "Anyway, thanks" "My pleasure your sister is adorable", a small bit of blush came on her face, "Well we should leave you too it then, c'mon Marie", Gauche nodded his head for his sister to follow, "Thank you pretty lady", Marie waved at her making Grey blush, "Yeah no problem", she stiffly turned around walking away

Once she had finally made it back to her friends, they questioned her on where she was, "What took you so long?", Charmy asked, "Sorry I was just helping a little girl find her brother", Grey sat back down with them, "And?", Noelle asked not really getting much of a response, "Hey you know Asta right?", Noelle stopped, before squinting a little, "Why?", Noelle asked, "Nah I was just wondering", she thought about Marie's brother, "Why?", Charmy who was clearly annoyed, asked, "It doesn't really matter", Grey just waved it away,"I'm sure I'll see them more"

"So, you found her?", Yami chuckled, "Yeah", Gauche answered, "Asta actually knew her", he pointed back to him, "Who was it?", Mimosa leaned against the ropes to ask, "It was the girl with blue hair, the one who's always with Noelle", Asta answered, "Grey?" "Yeah her", Asta snapped his fingers Marie touched her finger to her chin, "Grey's a pretty name too", Gauche looked at her, "Well that's nice", a slight smile formed on Gauche's face, "Hm", Mimosa just went back to sparring with Leo, "She was really nice" "Well next time we'll thank her", Gauche put his gloves back on, "Ok we'll keep working on your hands", Yami pointed at the two, "YES SIR"

After lunch

The usual scene played out Sol, Yuno, and Asta being the first to leave followed by Leo and Mimosa leaving after leaving the coaches and Gauche in the gym, "So?", Yami looked at Gauche, "So what?" "What did you think of the students, y'know besides Asta", thinking for a moment before talking, "They aren't tough", the answer surprised the coaches, "What does that mean?", Theresa started to walk up to him, "Well when I cracked Leo's shell, he seemed almost dejected and just tried to defensively jab away" "Of course he would it's sparring", Theresa argued, "It also means that when the time comes and he has to bite down on his mouth piece and throw he can't, almost as if he can't handle the idea of failure, so he might wait on getting a decision because of his name", the last bit made Theresa twitch, "What are you trying to say?" "I'm saying maybe there have been wins he's gotten because of the name not his skill", Theresa got in his face, "And what gives you the right to judge?" "Cause Asta is a much better combination enhanced kicker than he is a technical boxer and still cracked the kids Philly shell" "Ok ok not the time for this stuff", Jack got in between the two, "So you're questioning my coaching?", she folded her arms waiting on his response, "I'm questioning their heart", Jack, Charlotte, and Theresa looked at him, "I mean me and Asta came up in the underground, a place where cheatings basically allowed and for the most part it was pretty rare to fight with padding", Yami smiled shaking his head with his eyes closed, "There was also no real weight classes, fighting bigger guys, no padding, all that stuff meant that we had to tough certain match ups out", Gauche lifted the part of his hair cover his eye, "And when the going gets tough you have to be able to swing without much regard", they looked at the eye, a pure glass one without any sort of design, "Their good on a technical level both of them, but I just feel like they haven't been exposed to real fights or even hard sparring and when the going gets tough they'd rather lose a decision than chase a victory at the cost of a stoppage", letting the hair back down, "That's all", the speech reminded Charlotte of the one Asta gave when he flat lined Sekke, "IN any case since the others are coming here I don't think it's gonna be that way for much longer", "See told you he's good", Yami laughed at the other coaches, "Whatever", Jack laughed a bit, "Any way I'm gonna go get something to eat", Gauche looked at Marie, "We'll be back later", the two left the gym, "Odd guy", Theresa just let out a small tsk, "Odd as he maybe, he is right", Charlotte rubbed the back of her head, "Then we'll just work to change it", Yami grabbed a cigarette, "I'll see you guys later", Gauche left with his sister, "What a rude kid", Theresa went to get her stuff noticing that Leo had left his bag, "He forgot it", she thought unaware that Leo had heard what they talked about

Asta, Sol, and Yuno walked to class together talking about training with Gauche, "Your friend seems pretty good" "Yeah, he and I came up together", the statement had piqued the interest of the other two, "He fought in the underground as well?", Yuno asked, "Yep", Asta smiled, "That actually kind of raises other questions about your friends", Sol chimed in, "And what are those?" "Like how good are the others? What exactly makes them that good? And how do they stack up to you or Gauche?", Sol clarified what she meant, "Oh uh", Asta had to think for a moment, "I guess if you wanted to put a rough ranking strikers would go Me, Gauche, Vanica, Luck, and Mars but for grappling I really wouldn't know I've only ever really seen Vanessa and Mari roll together so, I don't know where magna fits in there", the explanation for it seemed a little weird, Gauche was a welterweight when they asked he said he walked around 176, but then again Gauche was a boxer while Asta was a more rounded stand up fighter, "I see", Sol just waited to see where they stood later

Leo and Mimosa walked along side each other also discussing the boxer Yami had brought in, "You ok?", Mimosa asked her cousin, "Yeah", Leo just gave a short quiet answer thinking about what he heard Gauche say, "You sure?", Mimosa asked again knowing that he wasn't acting like his usual self, "Honestly no", Leo let out a sigh, "I just", he thought back to the first sparring session he and Asta had, which after Asta almost put him out, he lost a little bit of confidence, "I just"

"LEO KEEP YOUR HANDS UP",*CRACK*Gauche hit him with a straight*SMACK*he followed up with a lead hook to the body, "C'MON", he could hear a muffled Theresa yell at him, but it her screaming wasn't what he was the most concerned about as he watched a fist come his way*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*the ring timer went off, "Leo c'mere", Theresa beckoned him to the corner, "What was that?", she asked, "I don't know", Leo just drank some of his water, "Ok, you out Mimosa you go in", the old lady commanded them, "Alright", Mimosa obliged while Gauche just shrugged and went to spar with Asta

"Mimosa, can I ask you something?", a clear worry was in his voice, "Yeah" "Do you think we're good?", the question confused her a bit, "What?" "Like at boxing", Leo clarified, "I'd say......", she thought about it for a second, "We're pretty good, good enough to get pretty high rankings in these seasonal main events", the answer that while made sense didn't really make Leo feel anymore sure, "It's just.........I don't know I guess I guess meeting these other guys made me not so sure", a sad expression on his face, "And we do semi contact point boxing not like full contact real boxing", Mimosa frowned a little, "Well yeah it's what Leona and Fuego said use this time to build up technical skills and work on-" "I know, but I don't think I can take a real punch", he thought about the shots Gauche was landing on him, "I don't know maybe I'm over thinking it", Mimosa patted him on the back, "Look it's fine for right now, and besides Asta's other friends are gonna be coming in so they'll probably help, we just need to adjust to the way they train", Leo smiled, "Thanks", the two continued down the hall

Grey walked along with her friends as they talked about......well she honestly wasn't paying attention, but she knew they were talking, "Grey?", Charmy snapped her fingers to get her attention, "What happened?", Noelle and Charmy gave a concerned stare, "What do you mean?", Grey lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "What do we mean? We've been talking about Fragils party, and you haven't said anything", Charmy told her, "Oh yeah sorry I just have been kind of out of it today", Grey nervously rubbed her arm, "Well then?", Noelle asked, "Well then what?" "Are you going?", Charmy clarified with a long-exaggerated annunciation of each word, "Oh sure", Grey gave a quick answer, "Ok", Charmy just gave an expression of doubt, "Are you sure you're, ok?", Noelle asked, "Yeah no", Grey waved her hands in front of her face, prompting Noell and Charmy to look at each other, "Really?" "Yeah" "Ok", the two decided to leave it for now, "Anyway I was also wondering why you asked about Asta earlier?", Noelle came with a follow up question, "Oh uh", Grey paused momentarily, "Grey?" "I was just wondering about him", a small amount of red crept over her cheeks thinking about the guy from earlier. Noelle and Charmy, however, took this as a sign of something else, "Are you interested in him?", the question made Grey panic thinking about Marie's brother, "NO WHAT OF COURSE NOT", she waved her arms in from of her face a clear sign to her friends she was nervous, "Yeah sure", Charmy rolled her eyes, "No seriously I just met one of his friends and they seemed really nice", Grey said making Noelle raise an eyebrow, "Who?" "Uh well I think his name was Gauche, but I'm not sure if I heard his sister right", Grey answered, "So, I asked you about him to see if you've met him", Noelle just titled her head with a smile, "Oh well I can't say I've met him, but I imagine sometime down the line I will", she giggled, "And if it so much as piques your interest then I'll ask if you can come", Grey's face went on a full blown red, "OH REALLY THANKS PHEW IS IT HOT I THINK MY CLASS IS UP AHEAD BYE", she ran off making the two laugh, "I guess she found someoneshe'sinterested in", Charmy smiled, "Guess so", Noelle did as well

Later on

Asta sat in math class watching as Morgen finished talking to the class, "Per usual homework is due Friday, and other than that you all are free to do today", he smiled at the class as they disbanded, "Hold on Asta", he waved for him to come over, "Yeah Mr. Faust?" "I've been meaning to ask you something", Asta lifted his brow, "Is this about the homework cause Sol's only been helping and when I asked to copy her homework, she tossed me", Morgen laughed at him, "No, it was actually something regarding your coach", the answer made Asta feel a little nervous, "And what's that?", he asked, "Yami started coming here already hasn't he", Asta felt a drop in his stomach, "Yeah", he rubbed his neck, "Hm I was wondering why Jack or Charlotte haven't been available", Asta shook his head, "Umm you're not mad?" "No?", Morgen laughed a little, "Look I know I said I wasn't ready yet but if me and him were to cross paths I would try to be as cordial as possible", Asta felt a bit of weight come off his shoulders, "Look things ended bad, but if Charlotte and him can make up I'm sure we could", the statement caused a question to form, but Asta decided to wave it away for the time being, "Anyway I hope you have a good week", he waved for Asta to leave, "See you tomorrow Mr. Faust", he returned the wave,"Well, that went better than I thought it would", Asta let out a mental sigh of relief as he left the classroom, "Wonder what he meant though", he walked along with an empty head just trying to get back to the gym as fast as he could

When he had finally got there, he saw Sol, Yuno, Mimosa, and Leo talking amongst each other, "How do you guys get here so early?", he asked as he put his stuff down, "Not sure maybe cause we don't spend a million years talking to our teachers", Sol answered, "Oh ha ha", Asta just shook his head, "Anyone get here yet?", he sat on the ring apron wrapping up his hands, "Yeah actually Vanessa? right?", Sol seemed unsure of it, "Pink hair older girl from yesterday", Yuno added on to it, "Hmm", Asta nodded, "So I guess she's gonna be working with you?", Asta looked back at Sol, "Mom said that was the plan" "Mmm" "Anyway the coaches are gonna be back in like five minutes, Yami said they needed to get them that tag thing", Leo said while doing some shadow boxing, "Nice" "Hey kid", Asta turned his head to see Vanessa in a red karate gi, but with shorts, "Sup", he lifted his arm to greet her, "Gotta say this is a pretty nice school", Vanessa looked around the gym, "And the locker room is really nice" "Yeah", Asta stood up and began stretching, "Yami said the others are gonna be here in a bit", Vanessa took the spot Asta was sitting in, "That's what he said", Sol snapped her fingers as if she remembered something, "Oh right you're the girl I'm gonna be rolling with right?", Vanessa asked her, "Yeah", Sol looked at her trying to size her up,"Bjj Judo maybe", she looked at the Gi Vanessa was wearing, "Want to just get to it right now or do you want to go with Mari or Magna first when they get here?", a valid question that Sol wasn't entirely sure how to answer, "I'll wait", she just gave the pink hair a nervous smile, "Ok", Vanessa turned her attention to Asta, "You want to do some touch sparing in the meantime?" "Sure", Yuno, Mimosa, Leo, and Sol just looked at each other in confusion, "Cool let's get to it", the others continued to watch them and while the sparring wasn't hard or even flow sparring it was just the two as they said lightly tapping each other Vanessa was finding an opening now and again and touching Asta up in a few moments surprising the group, "Hate to ask, but what's the point of this?", Yuno asked getting the duo's attention, "It's just to try and slow down and keep stuff technical", Asta answered, "Also makes it so that Asta can tighten up any loose ends I can find", Vanessa added onto the answer, "Ah", Yuno just leaned his head back to show he understood, "I also hate to interrupt, but I thought you were a sort of grappler", Sol raised her eyebrow making Vanessa laugh a little, "Kind of", she just shrugged her shoulders, "Don't think too hard about it, ok?", Vanessa turned her attention back to the touch sparring. After ten more minutes of it Yami and the coaches had returned to the gym, but had brought some more people with them, "We brought-", Yami was cut off by Luck blasting past him, "HEY ASTA WANNA SPAR NOW", the short blond got in his face, "Luck cut it out", Vanessa pushed him away from Asta, "BUT-" "Don't worry man you'll get in there soon enough", she pushed him over to the ring, "Hey", Mari just walked past plating herself near the mats as she was glued to her phone, "HI", Vanessa popped her head in between Mimosa and Leo, "OH SHI-", the two yelled together making Sol and Yuno laugh, "AYEEE", Magna came in making his way to Asta giving him high five into a hug, "Damn you guys got a nice gym", he looked around, "A lot nicer then Yami's", he tucked onto it, "HEY", Yami yelled at him, "C'mon even you have to admit it", Magna just lifted his brow, "Don't have to say it", Yami crossed his arms in annoyance making the other coaches laugh, "Sup", Mars came in with less presence than Mariella did. The students began to line up with the non-students lining up across from them, "Now that we're all here let's get to it", Thereas clapped her hands together, "So I'm sure you've noticed that some people who don't attend here are", she extended her arm to motion them, "And considering how diverse they are in their disciplines, obviously that's so we can get partners for everyone", Charlotte picked up, "Meaning we have some grapplers and some strikers to help everyone" "But that also means that we're gonna make some changes to training during the week before events, harder sparring, no weight cuts, y'know stuff of that nature", Jack looked at the students, "So if there aren't any questions, everyone group up", Yami and Jack waved for Asta, Sekke, and Yuno to go to the open mats, Charlotte had Sol go to the grappling mats, Theresa had Mimosa and Leo head to the ring

"We're gonna do some harder sparring today guys, so put on your head gear and shin guards", Yami instructed them, "How you think Yuno and Sekke are gonna do?", Jack asked Yami, "Well Yuno's a good technical kicker, but his boxing fundamentals are lacking and Sekke", Yami watched him putting on his shin guards, "Well I'm not sure", Jack shook his head in confusion, "What does that mean?" "Kid doesn't seem like he always wants to be here" "And? Pretty sure Asta's had those days before, what's different with Sekke?", Yami gave him a slight side eye, "Last time he and Asta sparred he didn't come in for two days after", Jack gritted his teeth a little, "It was a hard session where he got dropped to one knee" "Exactly, he does semi contact kickboxing and still doesn't train that hard", Jack thought of a way to refute it, but Yami was right, "Ok well what do you want me to do about it?" "Nothing, if the kid wants it bad enough, he'll try to make it work", Yami watched Sekke do a few shadow drills, "But at this rate I don't think he's gonna do much outside of school", the last bit caught jack off guard, "What?" "Asta wants to be a world champion, undisputed, it's the dream he's gonna chase forever, same with the them", he turned his attention to Leo and Mimosa shadow boxing and Sol doing some foot work drills, "Look I'm not gonna say he has no potential, but he's definitely not as committed as the others", Jack looked back at his pupil, "I see"

Leo and Mimosa headed to the ring, "Who are we going with?", Leo asked Theresa, "The eyepatch one", she pointed as Vanica sat criss cross rapidly leaning back a forward, Mimosa thought about the first time they had met,"You guys do martial arts?" "Shotokan", she hadn't thought much of it then, but it was something that when they brought her up as a sparring partner the day prior, she gave it more thought,"The same style as aunty", Mimosa looked at her while she put her gloves on, "Is it gonna be me and Mimosa first or are we gonna go with her first?", a follow up question came from Leo, "you and Mimosa can go first and after a round you two can chose who goes out and who stays in", Mimosa looked at each other just nodding as they began to circle each other, "Before you two go though, Gauche is gonna be back in a little bit, so you should think about conserving energy"

Charlotte and Sol were talking seeing who she was going to roll with first, "I'm kind of curious to see how you grapple", Sol pointed at Vanessa, "Really?", Vanessa gave her a confused look, "Yeah", Sol looked at Magna and Mariella,"I do wrestling" "Bjj", she thought back to meeting them, "I've been around them and while we haven't gone at it, I've gone with Bjj and wrestling people,youare a little bit of a mystery", Sol also thought about her and Asta's small touch sparring session. Vanessa laughed a little, "Alright alright let's just get to it now", the two made it to the mats

Sol was in a bit of a traditional hunched over grappling stance, while Vanessa seemed to be in a bit of striking stance with her hands held in a bit of an awkward guard,"Ok little weird", Sol thought, "Don't think too much about it", Vanessa smirked,"She knew?", Sol questioned herself, Charlotte caught onto that moment of doubt, and in it Vanessa shot for a single leg, Sol stuffed it,"Ok", Sol tried to secure double over hooks an attempt that was shut out by Vanessa opting for a body lock rather than underhooks,"Not wrestling?", Sol's train of thought was stopped by feeling the wall of the mats,"I'll-", Vanessa slid down from the body lock into a double leg, Sol pushed onto Vanessa's shoulders and pulled on her back leg to try and get it free from Vanessa's grip, "OH NO", Sol felt yet another shift in control back to her waist, Vanessa pulled her close and tried to bridge throw her, Sol posted on all fours and tried to align herself with Vanessa's hips to prevent her from rolling through,"Aggressive", Sol began to get back to her feet, Vanessa then secured a back body lock trying to use her lead leg to sweep Sol off her feet, Sol hopped over it and began to circle out with wrist control, Vanessa countered by finally going to double under hooks while Sol was mid transition and feeling like the opportunity to get double overs was finally presenting itself, instead Vanessa slid her arms down to Sol's wrists grabbing both of them,"WHAT?", Sol could feel a bit of frustration mount before Vanessa pulled down, sitting and as she sat down she placed her left foot to the farthest corner of Sol's hip and placing her right foot on Sols armpit,"JUDO", Sol felt the force of Vanessa flipping her to her back and taking full mount while transitioning into double over hooks on the ground, Charlotte continued to observe, "So that's it", as if she figured it out, Sol on the other hand began to tuck her chin and trying to kick off as much as she could, "SOL SHE'S NOT GOING FOR A CHOKE", Sol looked over at her mom, "What?", Sol's arms were in position to defend the choke keeping both arms in, yet again Vanessa shifted pressure to grabbing one of sols arms, having her knees on Sols lower stomach and one of her feet posted to floor next to the corner of Sols shoulder with her arms locked not letting go of the arm she had gotten,"There", Sol looked at where her knee was seeing some sort of opening, and in almost one go, Sol shrimped from the knee getting it off of her, turning so that her shoulder would sweep Vanessa's leg away from her, and in defense Vanessa tried to set her foot back only for Sol to get her arm free in the moment that she made the small adjustment,"She's got laser vision", Vanessa smirked, "YES GO HONEY", the other students in the gym looked at Charlotte who screamed it, "GOTCHA", Sol swept Vanessa to bottom securing side control,"Got to-", Vanessa tried to move the arm that was next to Sol's legs to trap it,"Crucifix?", Vanessa watched as Sol secured the opposing arm and got in a Kimura from side control forcing Vanessa to tap, "YES", Charlotte screamed, Sol let go and rolled over, "Damn", she looked at the ceiling, "Got that right", Vanessa laughed a bit rubbing her arm, "Hmm", Mari stared at them, "THAT WAS AWESOME", Magna jumped up and down, "Vaness is pretty hard to submit", Mari commented with a blank face, "Well did you end up figuring it out?", Vanessa asked Sol, "I'm not sure there were moments where I felt you were a wrestler but then there were a couple that made me think you could be a Judoka", Sol sat up, "ERRR", Vanessa made a sound to signal she got it wrong, "Huh?", Sol leaned against the wall in confusion, "I do-", Vanessa got cut off by Charlotte, "Sambo", Vanessa smiled, "Yep" "Sambo?", Sol lifted an eyebrow in confusion

EXPLANATION

Comprehensive martial arts, a term used to describe a discipline that encompasses every aspect of the fight game striking, wrestling, and ground game. A concept that while is hard to pin down in terms of origin, seems to have come from the original idea of Karate, a vessel to incorporate every aspect of combat which eventually splintered into various striking and grappling arts such as Judo and Shotokan. In that same vein other cultures have done similar things; the modern concept of MMA was birthed by Ken and Frank shamrock two elite submission wrestlers and Maurice Smith a former K-1 world champion in the world of kickboxing combining and training together to improve each other's weaknesses, Kudo a martial art in Japan that incorporates basic and fundamental aspects of Judo, traditional Jiu-jitsu, Kempo, etc. and where it differs is the fact that in Kudo headbutts are allowed with protective gear, and Combat Sambo a martial art born in Russia in which it combined the basic aspects of Boxing, Karate, Taekwondo and has a larger emphasis on grappling, taking some more advance stuff from Wrestling, Judo, traditional Japanese Jiu-jitsu, and Eruopean catch wrestling, mixing all of those things with heavy ground pressure to open up for submission's or to finish a fight with ground strikes. All of these things together create something that legends in MMA have used such as Khabib Nurmagomedov a UFC hall of famer and former light weight champion, the current UFC light weight champion Islam Machakchev, and MMA pioneer Megumi Fujiiwho had success in organizations such as Bellator, Pride, Dream, and Pancreas picking up wins over fighters such as Carla Esparaza the former two time UFC strawweight champion, Serin Murray a former ISKA kickboxing champion, Seo Hee ham a former Jewels and RIZIN atomweight champion who is currently number two ranked in ONE FC's kickboxing division

Sol looked at Vanessa with a bit of shock, "So are you like an MMA fighter or?" "Sort of, like I said I'm more of a well rounder with the sacrifice of some stand up in exchange for better grappling", Vanessa explained, "OOOOOO", Sol leaned her head back, "Ok I get it" "Well I guess I could use some feedback", Sol looked at Mari and Magna, "Your chain wrestling needs some work", Magna commented, "HEY" "Sol you asked for feedback so please just hear them out", Charlotte said, "Ok" "He is right though", Mari added on, "Your defense for the takedowns were good, but it seems like you have a bit of a reliance to secure upper body attacks rather than naturally flowing with the throws that you could get from congruently pressuring upper and lower body", Mari told her, "See?", Charlotte Sol awkwardly sucked in her lips, "Alright then can we work on that?", she looked at them, "Try it with Magna I've got sh*t for wrestling", the comment made Sol and Charlotte laugh, "Alright then let's go", Magna made his way to the mat

Leo watched the session between Sol and Vanessa and was rather surprised, Sol was a pretty damn good grappler in his eyes even if she had got her to tap at the end of it, but Vanessa was in pretty good amount of control of it, "C'mon kid get back in", Leo turned his head to see Vanica had battered Mimosa again,"Damn", he looked at the eyepatch girl, bouncing around the ring touching her gloves, "C'MON I WANT TO KEEP GOING", Vanica jumped with a strange bladed karate boxing stance, "Y'know this is for them right?", Theresa asked her, "OF COURSE BUT IF THEY DON'T GET BEAT THEY DON'T GET BETTER", Leo looked at her, "Strange", Vanica seemed to be talking and bouncing faster, "C'MON GET IN HERE ALREADY", Leo nervous laughed as he got in, "Ok go", Theresa set the buzzer off,"I'll-", Leo tried to formulate a game plan, but was cut off by a jab to thee face,"NOPE", he circled away from Vanica*SMACK*a jab to the body connected loud, "LEO SHELL", Theresa yelled causing him to go into a Philly shelly, one problem Vanica is a natural southpaw, "HERE", a jab was rolled, "There", Leo's eyes lasered in on Vanica's head which was held rather high, "DON'T THINK SO", Vanica dipped down and came back up cracking Leo with an upper cut through the shell,"NO", he again began to circle away from her, "HAHA", Leo saw her change levels, covering his body,*CRACK*Vanica faked a jab into a straight that caught Leo clean, "STOP RUNNING", Leo turned his head to Theresa, "Huh?",*BANG*Vanica landed a hook to the body*SMACK*a follow up lead hook causing Leo to clinch her, "LEO TIE UP AND COUNTER ON THE BREAK", Theresa yelled, "Ok", Leo lowered the clinch*CRACK*Vanica headbutted him, "WOAH", Mimosa yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT?" "DON'T CLINCH THEN", Vanica pushed Leo away, yet again circling away

EXPLANATION

Boxing is a science of multiple styles and while there are many unique ones most of those styles can be broken down into the three main types. The slugger, a boxer who looks to shut off a bout with a single punch by finding slight openings or moments of stillness that can allow for such as Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes, and the most modern example of a one punch slugger "The bronze bomber" Deontay Wilder who of 42 wins ended 41 by way of knock out. These are the boxers that have or had the ability to end fights in single shots. The swarmer, someone who uses large volume focused flurries to get into an opponent's range and try to beat someone by giving them no breathing room which in turns gives better opportunities for more damaging hooks and uppercuts, famous examples of this are "The Pac man" Manny Pacquiao, Roberto " Mano de Piedra " Duran, and the most famous example of a swarmer to date is "Iron" Mike Tyson who would use his head movement rather than his jab in most cases to close the distance and berate people with his devastating uppercuts. Lastly the counter puncher, a fighter who will use a litany of defensive techniques such as jabbing and pushing out of range with the jab rarely using big shots, and of the big shot's they do throw they tend to be straights or overhands, but it is this style that will allow for fighters to find openings through low output and calculated defensive foot work some notable examples are "Marvelous" Marvin Haggler, Pernell "Sweet pea" Whittaker, and the most well know example Floyd "Money" Mayweather who had a legendary career based off of his incredible defense and counter punches that were possible due to the very things that make the counter punching style so effective. Of course, there is some flexibility when it comes to these category's such as Tyson who can be considered both a swarmer and a counter puncher. However, one style that was widely regarded as the most annoying and rather detachedfrom these other styles is the dirty boxer, someone who will use constant close-range clinching to frustrate opponents wrenching the arm to hurt it and slow down punches, elbows disguised as breaking the clinch that cause cuts on the opponent's face, and yes headbutting while trapping both arms of the opponent to frustrate, slow down, or cripple certain important things such as sight and the health of a boxers arms notorious examples of this are "The Real Deal" Evander Holyfield a man that from this dirty style of boxing beat Mike Tyson in the infamous incident in which Tyson bit his earlobe off, Bernard Hopkins someone infamous for his clinching and headbutting as well as after the bell punches to beat a returning Kelly Pavlick and an up and coming Felix Trinidad these two are the strongest examples of dirty boxing. And Vanica would fall under

"A dirty Karate boxer hmm", Theresa seemed to piece together the style she was going for,"I think they might be willing to lose a decision than chase victory at the cost of a stoppage", Theresa bit down thinking about what Gauche said, "LEO PUSH FORWARD", Leo looked at her as if she had asked him to jump off a bridge, "NO WAY-",*SMACK* *BANG*Vanica landed a clean one two to Leo's temple and chin dropping him, "OK OK WE'RE DONE", Mimosa got into the ring and got in between the two, "Mimosa no", Mimosa turned her head to their coach, "What?", her eyes shook a little, "Leo do you want to keep going?", Theresa looked at him as he collected himself on his knee, "I", Leo thought about what he heard Gauche say earlier,"I think he'd rather hope to win a decision on his name than to bite down and throw with his own conviction", Leo gritted his teeth, "NO WAY", he shot back up, "I'M GOING TILL I GET YOU", Mimosa looked at her cousin in shock, "Leo are you sure?" "YEAH", Vanica began to laugh at him, "SURE DUDE, BUT DON'T COME ANY LESS THAN TO KNOCK ME OUT", she began doing that strange bouncing thing she was doing, Mimosa looked at her cousin with some worry, "Fine, I won't get in the way", Leo opted for a more traditional high guard, "Something different huh?", Vanica shot a few jabs his way, Leo countered with an over hand to which Vanica shifted to his outside with her lead foot*BANG*Vanica tried to counter with a straight Leo meeting it with a parry from his back hand, Vanica stepped out of his range by using her lead hand to control his head and pushing away after throwing an uppercut that Leo stepped away from,"He's using a much more aggressive style", Mimosa looked at him,"HERE", Leo chased her winging another over hand, but this time Vanica slipped her head to the inside and caught him with an over hand of her own making Leo step back,"Her boxing is rather interesting", Theresa scratched her chin,"It's strange, an open chin with her arms relatively low", she tried to deconstruct her style, "HERE I GO", Vanica stepped in and out of range Leo following her and getting caught with a spinning back fist*BANG*Leo used the ropes to stay up, Vanica followed him and began to hit Leo with a barrage of punches*SMACK* *BANG* *BANG* *CRACK*a jab, straight, hook to the body, and hook upstairs were hitting most of the head punches hitting the guard, but when Vanica lowered her hands Leo used an over hook clinch to grab her leaning back as far as the ropes would let him*CRAACK*he headbutted her above the eyebrow in which her eyepatch was, stumbling her back*BANG* *SMACK*, Leo followed through with some shots while he rushed forward*SLICE*an elbow connected cutting Leo above the eye, "VANICA", Mimosa yelled at her, "MIMOSA CUT IT OUT", Leo wiped the blood from his cut with his forearm, "But-" "It's cool", a smile began to form, "OOOOO INTERESTING", Vanica continued to bounce before getting in close throwing jab after jab getting one of her jabs ducked and clinched by Leo pulling her arm trying to wrench it,*CRACK*another headbutt connected on Leo's chin, "AHHHH", he screamed in a bit of frustration rushing in with an overhand*DINK*Vanica threw a check hook that dropped Leo*BZZZ*the timer went off immediately after she did, "Damn", Leo sat up with a disappointed look on his face, "THAT WAS AWESOME", Vanica jumped up and down, "Well good enough I guess", Mimosa shrugged, "Not what he's used to, but progress", Theresa smiled, "Guess he found out if he had it or not", the old woman turned to see the misfit from earlier, "Guess so" "Y'know, I'm glad it was now and not when he was really fighting", Theresa lifted a brow at what he said, "What does that mean?" "A real fight Vanica kicks his legs out from under him and wheel kicks through his guard", Gauche said with his arms folded and he was right it completely slipped her mind that Vanica much like Asta wasn't really a boxer, in fact the style she practiced is widely regarded to have weaker hand combinations than Asta's,"Interesting indeed", she thought to herself, "Ok Mimosa you get in there with Gauche", Mimosa looked to see that he had finally returned, "Ummmm ok", Vanica and Leo left the ring talking about aspects of each other's boxing they found interesting

Asta was watching as he sparred, all of them from Vanessa and Sol's grappling scrap to Vanica's and Leo's boxing session and to say he was pretty hyped for next week the moments in the gym only helped accelerate that, "HEY ASTA C'MON LET'S GO NOW", Luck bounced around, "Sure-", Asta was about to get ready to go with it, "Hold on Asta", Jack intervened, "What's up Mr. Ripper?", Asta asked, "I was actually thinking that Sekke should go with him first, if that's ok?", Jack looked at the two, "Yeah sure", Asta just shrugged, "SURE", Luck just couldn't contain himself, "Sekke you ok with that?", Jack looked back at his student, "Uh", Sekke looked at Luck seeing him shaking to fight, "Um I-" "If you don't want to that's fine, just tell me", Sekke looked back to his coach, "I..............Yeah sure", Jack smiled and gave him a pat on the back, "OK MAN", Luck raised his hands up in a bit of a long guard Sekke lifted his into a very traditional Muay Thai stance. The two would approach each other touching gloves as they met,"Ok from what I've seen some sort of karate? Taekwondo Boxer maybe?", Sekke thought as he tried to get a feel of his style, "HERE I COME", Luck stepped in and threw a front body kick pushing Sekke away making him let out an audible gasp,"Power front kick, so some sort of Karate", Sekke threw a teep kick that Luck backed away from and as he walked away Sekke stepped in and tried to throw a jab straight getting caught by a spinning back kick that knocked him off balance, Luck threw a leg kick to sweep Sekke off his feet, "Ok maybe a mix of the two", Sekke got back up returning to his stance. He threw a leg kick which landed pretty well, "No check?", Sekke stared at his legs for a moment*SMACK*Luck caught him with a straight to the face, "LOST FOCUS", Sekke watched as Luck began to close distance throwing a check hook to stop his movement that Luck ducked under*CRACK*Luck landed a hook to Sekke's body*BANG*a follow up kick to his leg connected causing Sekke to back up Luck again began to swing hook after hook, "He's throwing a lot of looping shots", Sekke took note of the pressure Luck was throwing looking for the moment he would slow down, and he did a moment where Luck would stop to throw an upper cut, "THERE", he shoved a jab straight down the pipe connecting rather cleanly stumbling Luck, "HERE", Sekke attempt to throw out a jump knee that Luck barely got out of the way of, "He's defensively aware even while rocked", Sekke threw out a lead hook body kick combo which the hook missed and the body kick was caught, "He's got good reflexes", Luck then swept him off of his feet, "He's getting swept a lot", Yami looked at him, "Yeah, I must say I haven't seen a style so keen on it", Jack scratched his chin. Meanwhile Sekke was still trying to figure him out,"In close quarters he responds with spinning stuff? Why?", Sekke threw a leg kick that he stepped in with deciding to initiate a clinch trying to throw a knee which Luck caught grabbing full control of his leg and throwing him down, "STOP DOING THAT", Sekke yelled as he got back up making Luck laugh, "Well if you want me to stop then find a way to stop it", Sekke gritted his teeth, "Fine", Sekke began to close the distance again once again and when he got close Luck threw another spinning back kick this time though Sekke got out of the line stepping to the inside and preparing an over hand*CRAAACK*Sekke fell to one knee, "Huh?", he felt a warm liquid run down his forehead, "HAHA", Luck held his stomach, "What?", Sekke could feel his eyebrow twitch, "Still haven't got it yet?", Luck stared at him, "I DON'T CARE", Sekke shot back up and tried to throw power over hands at him,"Just like when we fought", Asta looked on at the two. Sekke continued on his anger dump throwing an overhand, Luck ducked it, but instead of responding with a hook or uppercut Luck lifted his elbow to use Sekke's momentum against him having him run into the elbow as it came up dropping him to one knee again, "So that's it", Jack looked at how unusual lucks style was

EXPLANATION

The world is filled with many different kickboxing styles from many different cultures Thailand had developed Muay Thai a style focused on the cutting and slicing power that elbows and knees provide, power kicks both high and low, and the most renowned clinch game in the sport, Japan has developed many styles of kickboxing in Karate alone and while the most effective is up in the air, Kyokushin-Kai has been established in the world of high level kickboxing in organizations such as ONE FC, Glory, and Rise, In Holland Dutch kickboxing was born from Karate with an evolved emphasis on better defensive and offensive foot work to help enhance long form combos being consideredthe best for each of those respective coverages, but lacks a strong clinch or elbow game. However, one that does not get mentioned in that world nearly as much, is Sanda an art formulated in China that has an extensive focus on spinning techniques famous for its chaining together of said techniques, a spinning back kick into a tornado kick is not uncommon in the world of competitive Sanda neither is chaining together spinning kicks into spinning elbows. Where a strange disconnect comes in is its use of grappling within the art itself usually coming in the form of takedowns garnered from strong clinch situations or from catching kicks butdoes have ground strikes and in military styled Sanda a rudimentarysubmission game is what'staught. Because of these things, Sanda is considered a rather good base for MMA shown by top contenders such as Zabit Magomedsharipov, Muslim Salikov, number three ranked straw weight Yan xio nan, and the currentUFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili

Sekke stared at him some more, "FINE", Sekke got back up, "NO", Luck rushed him throwing a one two into a spinning back kick, "HUH?", Sekke was surprised the aggressiveness trying to throw a body kick that luck caught, but instead of a usual sweep he threw a spinning lead elbow that Sekke ducked*CRACK*he got caught by Luck throwing a knee up the middle wobbling him , "Kids got a hell of chin", Yami commented on the shots that Sekke had taken, "But I don't think Lucks gonna let up", Jack looked at his student as Luck threw another spinning back kick chaining it into a spinning lead elbow into a straight right after. Sekke had a hard time catching up with the sudden pace Luck was setting and after taking a step back Luck had thrown a tornado kick hitting Sekke right in the liver, again dropping to one knee, "Ohhhh", he held his side, "Think he's done", Yami looked at him who himself was looking at the ground holding his hand up, "I'm done", he collapsed looking at the ceiling, "Well", Jack came to help him up, "It's a step towards progress", putting him to his feet, "YOU WERE REALLY TOUGH ATE A KNEE LIKE CRAZY", Luck laughed making Sekke scough, "Whatever", him and Jack went to the medical area to grab an ice pack, "Well I guess you two can go", Yami clapped his hands for Asta and Mars to spar, "Yuno watch", Yami told him, "Sure", he looked on as the two began

An hour and a half later

All the students had gone through the first day of a hellish training week Leo and Mimosa had constantly been switching between the two, Vanica, and Gauche getting a feel for their strange styles, Vanica an unorthodox puncher with a strange way of throwing and Gauche a crazy gritty boxer who was a pocket fighter throwing hard body shots and uppercuts, Sol had worked on various holes that Magna, Vanessa, and Mariella had pointed out to her. Working takedown and chain wrestling defense against Magna's super offensive and aggressive style, Vanessa and her well rounded ability to keep the match in whatever realm of the grappling she wanted even if she lacked the ability to just ground and pound Sol's face into the mat, and Mariella the trickiest not to get down, but to have any successful control or advancement for submission game and when she did it felt pointless as Mariella had some weird ability to latch up a choke or joint lock in split moments they were available. Asta and Yuno since Sekke got taken out to a liver shot earlier on had some interesting interactions with Luck and Mars. For Asta, Mars and Luck were familiar opponents him and Mars had been at each other's throats until they made it to fifth grade and Luck who had been his first real sparring partner he had when he met Yami. Yuno however, had a rougher time as when the fight took place at long to mid-range he excelled and managed to get off some good offense, but when the fight had gotten close, he was constantly getting battered because of his lack of boxing ability

"Before you guys leave today, we do have to choose the events you'll be entering", Theresa held up a piece of paper, "So, come here and write them down", the students gathered around her to see the list, "Semi-contact boxing", Mimosa looked at the event it was the usual one she decided on every time, "Can I do full contact boxing?", Leo asked Theresa, "Well-" "You sure?', Mimosa asked him getting a little bit of silence in return, "Yeah I think today made that pretty clear", he thought about how Vanica was ripping him up earlier, "I need to challenge myself more", Theresa smiled, "Ok if that's the event you want to enter then I won't stop you", Leo wrote down his name in the box next to the event, "Then I will too", Mimosa nervous laughed, "Really?", Leo looked at her with a worried expression, "I mean if you're gonna challenge yourself, it would be pretty unfair for me not to right?", she gave him a smile, "Ok then-" "YOU TWO WERE REALLY TOUGH", Vanica wrapped her arms around the two squeezing them tightly, "Le-L-Let go", Leo commanded through muffled chokes

Asta laughed at the scene, he knew Vanica for a long time and it was pretty uncommon for people who were so new to her to take such a liking, "New friends", a phrase he wasn't sure he would associate with Vanica since she had made like two of them since they've known each other, "What event are you doing?", Yuno interrupted his thoughts with a question, "Oh right", Asta turned his attention back to the signup sheet "Fall qualifier" the top of the page read and upon going through the available events which to be fair had quite a few of them from GI grappling to no Gi, semi contact striking sports such as boxing and kick boxing, but the two that had caught his eye were full contact 12oz kick boxing and one he had seen a couple times; Full contact 4oz kickboxing, "Huh?", the event caught his eye since 4oz were as close to bareknuckle you could get in pro fights, "Hey Yami" "Yeah?" "Mind if I sign up for two events?", he asked getting the attention of the people around, "I guess, but what did you have in mind?", Yami asked him, "12oz and 4oz full contact kickboxing", Asta answered, "WHAT?", Leo yelled, "What?" "I mean I guess", Yami shrugged his shoulders, "Are you serious?", Charlotte looked at Yami with some worry, "Why not?" "Well, 12oz sure, but 4oz?" "I mean the kids fought with nothing before so it wouldn't be new to him", Yami just gave Asta a thumbs up, "And besides doesn't Sol have to enter two events, maybe it'll make her feel better now that she has a teammate that's gonna do the same", Charlotte had forgotten that Sol needed to enter two since grappling didn't have the same eyes as striking sports or MMA, "I suppose", she watched her daughter writing on the signup sheet, "Yeah but can't Asta just do 12oz full and semi-contact?", Mimosa asked him, "It's up to the kid, if he wants to go double full contact I won't stop him", Mimosa and Leo looked at each other, then back to the coaches, "If him and Sol are doing two events then we should", the statement shocked Theresa a bit, "Are you two sure? I mean you guys are already stepping out into real boxing shouldn't you try to get use to that first?" "I guess but everyone else is gonna be trying really hard so", Mimosa said, "Besides semi-contact is too hard so we can make it work", Leo put his hands behind his back, "If that's the case I expect you two to train as hard as possible", Theresa crossed her arms, "And don't try to run when it gets hard ok?", Gauche teased the two, "DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET BEAT UP SOME MORE", Vanica jumped up and down, "Hehe yeah", the Vermillions chuckled at her somehow constant energy

The stage was set, and the students had chosen the events they wanted to sign up for, "Well I got to go", Asta got his stuff and began to walk out of the gym, "Me and Luck are gonna go now", Vanessa said as she pulled Luck by his arm, "HEY I WAN-" "Moms making cherry bombs", Vanessa stopped him from arguing, "REALLY? LET'S GO", he pulled his arm away from him and made a dash from the gym, "That always works", Vanessa laughed, "Anyway, I'll see you guys later", she waved to everyone as she followed Luck, "WAIT UP I NEED A RIDE HOME", Magna booked it out of the gym with them, "Are we waiting for Asta?", Vanica asked, "Yeah we're gonna be here for a while", Yami began to walk towards the door, "Actually Yami can you stay for a little longer?", Leo asked, "Huh why?", Yami returned the question, "It's just"

"I think I could get a little bit of a runback"", Leo looked up from eating with his brother, "What?" "Sukehiro, you said he was your friends coach"

"My brother's gonna be here and he wanted a small sparring session", Leo nervously got the words out, "What?", Theresa was shocked as even Fuegoleon hadn't even mentioned anything like that, "Leo are you serious?", Charlotte too was shocked, "Yeah he talked to me about it for a while at least since he found out you were helping train Asta here", Yami began to laugh, "What?" "Tell your brother that if he wants another ass whooping, he can come get it", Yami pulled out a cigarette placing it in his mouth, "Yami I don't think that's a good idea", Charlotte commented, "Why not?" "Look man you were good, but Fuegoleon's become a really different fighter than he was when you guys threw down", Jack added, "They're right y'know? Fighting him as he is right now, isn't all too smart", Theresa gave the same worried look "Sure he is", Yami laughed it off again, "No he really is", Charlotte tried to reason with him, "Who cares? It's a sparring session anyway", Yami began walking to the door again opening it, "Wait-" "What?", Yami turned his head back to people in the gym, "Hello", a guy with orange hair greeted Yami, "Hey", he walked pasted him, "Wait a minute", he turned his head to face the guy

"Oh hey" "Hello Sukehiro", Fuegoleon greeted him, "Bro", Leo stepped back a little, "Sorry if I was interrupting anything", Fuegoleon nervously laughed, "Can't say you did", Yami chose not to light the smoke putting it back in the box, "Then I suppose you know why I'm here?", Fuegoleon asked him, "Your brother told me yeah", the two stared at each other, "I hope you also want the same" "Yep" "Wait wait wait", Theresa got between the two, "There's no time for this" "Theresa's right plus it's a bit danger for both people", Jack added on, "And how's that?", Yami asked, "Your injuries and he's got a fight coming up", Yami raised his eyebrows, "Cool, I don't care", Yami began taking his shirt off, "Please don't do this", Charlotte also tried to separate the two, "Look it's cool, we're just gonna be sparring", Yami assured her, "But-" "See not a big deal is it?", Fuegoleon gave Theresa a little smile, "Well" "FUEGOLEON VERMILLION", the orange head turned to see a girl with an eyepatch quickly approaching, "HI I'M A BIG FAN", he watched as the girl patted herself down, "HOLD ON I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD GET YOUR AUTOGRA-", Mimosa and Leo grabbed her, "Now's not the time for that", the scene made him laugh, "No it's alright", he waved the other two away, "I'd like to ask who you are?" "OH, I BEAT UP YOUR FAMILY", the answer made him suck his lips in awkwardly, "Oh", he looked back at the two noticing Leopald had a few patches covering his chin forehead, and eyebrow. Mimosa had less but obvious markings, "You must uh be pretty good", a chuckle came from him, "SO CAN I GET YOUR AUTOGRAPH THEN?" "Sure" "COOL- Oh wait Mimosa can I borrow something that he can use to sign something", Vanica asked, "Sure let me get something from my bag", they waited around for Mimosa, "You do boxing?", Fuegoleon asked her, "NOPE" "Really?" "Yep I do shotokan" "Hmmm" "Look are we doing this or not?", Yami interrupted them, "As long as you want to" "Then let's get to it" "Sorry do you think this could wait?", he asked Vanica, "NO PROBLEM PLUS I GET TO WATCH YOU TWO FIGHT", Vanica went to go sit down, "Fuegoleon seriously this is a waste of time", Theresa mad one last attempt to stop them, "It's not to me", Fugoleon began to stretch, "Good to know you've been thinking about me in all this time", Yami chuckled, "The only fight in my career that I didn't win, of course I would", Fuegoleon put on 8oz training MMA gloves, "Alright then", Yami opted to wear nothing for padding, "Ok then let's go", Fuegoleon boxed his guard and began to approach, "Ok", Yami approached with an open karate type guard, "Hm", Charlotte bit her knuckle, "A world champion taking on a guy who's been out of the game as long as Yami has? Weird", Sol saw her mother's reaction to the two, "Well we tried to stop him", Jack shook his head, "AWESOME", Vanica watched the two,"How much have they changed?", Theresa thought about their first fight of which many called a robbery and that Yami had won,"I always wondered what Yami was like now", Gauche watched with Marie on his shoulders,"Please don't be like me, Leona, and especially not dad", Leo thought about the day he had seen his brother cry,"Fuegoleon's not feeling well so I don't think we're gonna visit", Mimosa thought about what her mom told her after his fight with the black bull, "You should pay attention to this", Mars told Yuno, "What?" "Yami's a damn good striker, so I think this is a good way to get understanding at a higher level" "Hm", Yuno just looked on, "Fuegoleons a really good wrestler though", Mari commented as she sat with her legs crossed and arms in the middle, "Fine then", Theresa went to the timer, "BEGIN"

With Asta

As our grey-haired protagonist made his way through the halls barely being able to contain his excitement, "OH MAN I CAN'T WAIT", the excitement boiled over as he began to shadow box while he walked, "What's go you all worked up?", Asta turned around to see Noelle, "Oh hey", he waved at her, "Sorry I'm just so excited for fall qualifiers", Noelle laughed at his enthusiasm, "Oh yeah Mimosa was talking to me about it on our way to school", Noelle placed her finger on her chin as she thought about it, "I'm really stoked", Asta punched the air, "You remind me of Leo", Noelle giggled, "How so?" "You both are just crazy enthusiastic", Asta thought about what she was saying, "I guess so", he thought back to some of the moments from their sparring as the two of them began walking again, "I guess it well today", Noelle side eyed him a little, "Oh yeah a bunch of my friends came in", Asta continued to shadow box,"No one of his friends so I asked you if you knew him", Noelle remembered what grey told her, "Speaking of which one of your friends stopped by the gym today", Asta told her, "Hmm", Noelle just looked forward, "Can I ask you about one of your friends?", Noelle asked without looking at him, "What's up?", Asta said with his hands behind his head, "Grey asked about a guy named Gauche I think", he shook his head in confusion, "Why?" "Well", Noelle thought some more about it, "I think.....................I think she wanted to know a bit about his sister", she decided to lie and not tell him about it, "Marie?" "Yeah, that's her name, she said she reminded her of herself when she was younger", not a complete lie this time, but still not the same truth, "Ahhhhh", Asta leaned his head back, "I mean if she wants to get to know her better, she can just come in during lunch and help watch her", Noelle just moved her mouth to the side, "I guess", Noelle weakly agreed when they had finally made it to the detention room. Kira had been waiting on the two, "You two are a few minutes late", Kira folded his arms while tapping his foot, "Sorry we had to go through the event sign up", Asta scratched the back of his head, "Ok what about you?", Kira looked at Noelle, "I'm sorry I just need to use the bathroom before", Kira gave her a little bit of a suspicious look, "Alright please just don't make it a habit for this last week", Kira unlocked the door ushering the two in, "Clean the room and I'll be back in a two hours", Kira left the room still not knowing that they were supposed to clean as many rooms as possible in the allotted time

Noelle looked at the room thinking about the past couple of weeks, these after school sessions where she and Asta would just clean, talk, and more often than not goofing around, "So I guess this is the last week is it huh?", a small admittedly nervous laugh came from Noelle's mouth, "Last week is what?", Asta asked with a clear amount of confusion on his face, "It's just after this we don't have to clean anymore and this week is the last of it", Noelle clarified for him. Asta had a look as if he had remembered something, and he did this was a temporary punishment, "Man it's already been three weeks?", Asta scratched his cheek as he thought about his first day here

"YOU ALMOST CRUSHED MY HANDS", Asta yelled at Noelle looking at his hands to make sure no damage had come to them, "Oh well then-", Kiato stopped himself and thew a punch at Asta to which he ducked leaning back as far as he could*CRACK*droppinghim with a headbutt square on the eye, "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO COMPARE ME",*SMACK*a blood print of Noelle's hand was left across his face, "HAHAHA", he laughed at her lack of packing power, "WHAT?"

Asta laughed at the memory of his first day here and meeting Noelle, "What?", Noelle narrowed her eyebrows in question to Asta's weird smile

"Hey", Noelle stopped Asta as he got done cleaning the bathroom at Yami's autobody shop, "Look if this is about-" "I'm sorry", Noelle cut him off, "I'm sorry I really am I was being an insensitive jerk, but I had a cool time with your friends"

Asta's felt softer to Noelle than usual, "I guess you're pretty alright", Asta laughed making Noelle's face go a little red, "What?", she stumbled over the simple word, "Nothing it's just that", Noelle looked at Asta his eyes closing, a big toothy smile forming, and the orange light of the sunset highlighting his hair, "I hope we can still be good friends after", Asta said with one hand rubbing the back of his head, "Oh uh I- Of course yeah", Noelle stumbled even harder unaware that her face had begun to go red, from what? Who knows, "We should probably just get back to cleaning", she frantically grabbed a spray and rag from the desk, "Yeah sorry", Asta followed in her actions

Two hours later

Asta and Noelle had just finished up cleaning and began walking back to the outside, "Yami dropping you off at home today?", Noelle asked retrieving her things from her locker, "Yeah", Asta answered, "I can't wait to go home", Asta did a funny spin, causing Noelle to laugh, "Why? One step closer to competing?", Noelle closed her locker giving Asta a sarcastic eyebrow raise, "Nah Dante said he was gonna bring some food from Jamo's", Noelle thought back to the day she and Mimosa had hung out with his friends, "That's Vanica's brother, right?", she remembered the story Vanica told about her eye, "Yeah", Asta and Noelle began walking, "She's over at your guys house a lot isn't she?" "Yeah, but I don't think anyone minds them being there", Asta explained, "So like is she a family friend? A cousin? How do you guys know each other?", Noelle asked a few more questions, "She's Dante's sister", Asta shrugged not knowing what Noelle was asking, "Ok, but how did you meet Dante?" "That? He and my mom met through work" "Are they like dating?" "I'm honestly not sure mom's never given an answer and when I would ask Dante about it, he doesn't really say anything, so I don't know", Asta shrugged opening the door for the two, "Real-", Noelle's sentence was stopped by herself seeing a group of people waiting outside, "Hey kid", Yami waved, "What uh what happened?", Asta saw Yami with a few cuts and patched over his face, "Oh this? well-" "HE AND FUEGOLEON WENT AT IT", Vanica ran up to Asta and Noelle, "Wait Fuegoleon's here?" Noelle shook her head, "Hey Noelle", she turned her head to see her older cousin sitting on the side of Yami's truck, "What happened to you?", a clear amount of damage similar to what Yami was showing, "Me and-" "C'MON SILLY I JUST TOLD YOU", Vanica jumped in her face, "AWW MAN I MISSED IT", Asta slouched over with his arms hanging low, "Sorry kid", Yami rubbed the back of his neck, "If it's any consultation we had a great time watching", Mars came over wrapping his arm around Asta, "NO IT'S NOT", Asta pushed him away, "Gotta say Yami's takedown defense was pretty surprising", Mariella made a comment while looking at her phone, "Tell me about it", Sol laughed, "And that combo he landed when he faked the takedown", Leo made a few motions of shadow boxing, "Yeah super clean stuff", Mimosa added onto his comment, "I always thought of him as a wrestler, but his boxing was pretty on point", Gauche commented, "What did you expect? I trained him and Mereoleona", Theresa gloated clearly proud of her coaching, "WHO ELSE GOT TO WATCH?", Asta yelled, "Me", Yuno raised his hand, "I have to say after all the time that's passed I was rather surprised", Charlotte said with her index finger and thumb on her chin, "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU", Asta pushed passed everyone hopping into the passenger side of Yami's truck, "Well this was fun, but I gotta take these guys home", Yami hopped of the hood of his truck, "I as well", Fuegoleon held his handout, "I aS WeLl shut up man", Yami shook his hand, "Hold on", Sol rummaged through her bag, "What are you looking for?", Yuno asked her, "This", she pulled out a polaroid camera, "Why?", Yuno asked her, "It's a little bit of a tradition that at the start of every school year I take a picture a week before the first qualifier", Sol scratched the back of her head, "Oh", she handed the camera to Yuno a long with a few other pictures, "Hmm", Yuno looked at each of them seeing that from the beginning it was the same people, "Since there's a couple new people I thought we could take another", Mimosa and Leo walked up to the two, "Asta c'mon", Leo waved for him to join them, "Fine", he got out of the car with his arms folded, "Sekke c'mere", Asta and Noelle looked around to see where he was, "Oh there he is", Asta saw that he was waiting on one of the benches, "SEKKE C'MERE", Sol yelled Sekke obviously ignoring her, "Sekke please take the picture", Jack motioned for him to join them, "Fine", he made his way over to them, "Let's just-" "I gotta say man you're pretty tough", Asta told him, "Huh?" "I mean you took some big shots off of Luck and were still standing that's pretty impressive", Asta held his hand up for a high five, "Well of course I am I-" "Dude just take the compliment", Sol rolled her eyes killing his mood a little, "Whatever", the coaches and students gathered into a circle putting their fists in the center of it, "WAIT", Sol yelled, "Someone please take the picture", She held her camera up, "I can", Noelle raised her hand feeling a little left out of the conversation, "three two-" "WAIT", this time Asta interrupted, "What?" "What are we supposed to say?", he asked, "Just three two one then then say let's go magic knights", Mimosa answered, "The hell's a magic knight?" "The school mascot", Sol answered, "OOOOOOO That's what that thing is, why doesn't it have armor or nothing, it's like a dude wearing some sort of cloak" "I don't know man just shut up and say it", Sol said, "Alright", Asta just rolled his eyes and put his fist in the center of the circle, "THREE TWO ONE LET'S GO MAGIC KNIGHTS", the students and coaches yelled, "Yeah", Noelle chuckled, "Let's go", she took the polaroid out shaking it out to see everyone in frame including the students that didn't even go there, "Yeah", looked at everyone together, "Well c'mon hand it over here", Noelle walked over to Sol handing her both the camera and the picture, "I just realized Finral's missing", Sol looked at the photo, "Wonder how he's doing", she shrugged and stuffed the camera in her bag, "I'll go get this copied and give them to you guys when there done", Sol waved as her and Charlotte made their way to Charlotte's car, "See ya Ms. Roselei", the students waved as they took off

"I guess me and Leo should be going as well", Fuegoleon motioned for Leo to follow him, "You don't need me to take him home?", Theresa asked, "That won't be necessary and beside me and Leo are gonna go get something to eat", he assured his former trainer, "ARE WE GOING TO FIRE FORGE STEAK HOUSE?", Leo asked him, "Yep" "SEE YA", Leo booked it to Fuegoleons car, "Well I must thank you for giving me this opportunity", he once again shook Yami's hand, "No problem", Yami waved it off, "I hope to see more of you", Fuegoleon left with his brother

"Kay kid we're gonna be peeling off", Yami stomped out his cigarette out, "I CALL SHOT GUN", Vanica sprinted taking the spot Asta was just in, "AW WHAT", Asta followed into the car, "I'll see you guys tomorrow" "Bye", Mariella walked past them not paying them any mind, "Good stuff today", Mars patted Yuno on the shoulder before getting into the back of the car, "Yeah", Yuno, Mimosa, Sekke and Noelle watched them leave

"We should get going my mom wants me home early", Mimosa said, "Yeah I'll see you tomorrow then", Yuno waved at her, "Yep", Mimosa waved back beginning to walk to her car with Noelle, "So you and Captain cold there?", Noelle gave a sarcastic smile as she opened the passenger side door, "It's not like that", Mimosa just rolled her eyes and got in, "Then what is it like?", Noelle asked, "We're friends and training partners", Noelle laughed at her answer, "Ok ok I believe you", she put her hands up as a sign of sarcasm, "Whatever", Mimosa turned the radio on and drove away

Jack, Sekke, and Yuno awkwardly stood around in silence as the last few there waiting for their respective rides before a car pulled up, "Hi honey", Yuno's mom waved to him from the driver's side, "Hey mom", Yuno pinched the bridge of his nose, "See ya", he waved at the last two at school before leaving as well, "I guess this means you need to catch a ride with me and William?", Jack asked Sekke, "Yeah", Sekke answered with his head down, "You ok kid?" "Yeah" "You sure?" "Yeah", Jack looked at his student who was clearly bothered by something, "Hey" "What's up?", Sekke looked up at his coach, "I'm really proud of you", Jack told him, "Really?", Sekke could feel his eyes water a bit, "Yeah, you stepped up against someone as tough as that kid", Jack thought back to the shots he was taking, "And you kept going even after he cracked you really hard", the spinning elbow and knee up the middle came to mind when he said that, "Thanks", Sekke wiped his eyes before any tears could fall, "Yeah", the two watched William exit the school, "Sorry I took so long Julius was asking me about some of the materials in class", William apologized, "It's no problem man", jack pushed the apology away, "So are we going now?" "Yep", the trio made their way to William's car, driving off like the rest of them

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

"Who are they?", Asta asked Sol seeing a line of people walking down a designated walk away with belts being held on their shoulders, "Are you serious?", Sol looked at him as if he was stupid, "What?" "Those are the triumph champions at the least the defending ones", Sol said keeping her eyes locked on one of them, a pink haired girl that looked exactly like Fana, "WOAH" "Woah is right, these are the guys are the best juniors in the world" "Really?" "Yeah", Sol's eyes followed the Fana look alike, "I guess I know what I'm working towards then", Asta threw his arms in the air, "CAUSE I'M GONNA TAKE ONE OF THOSE BELTS FROM THEM", the other students from CKA looked at him most cracking a smile before, "HELL YEAH WE ARE"

And

Sol warmed up doing some stretches before her match began, "You ok?", she turned her head to see her mother in the doorway of the locker room, "Yeah", Sol turned her head back, "You sure?", Charlotte took note of the short answer Sol gave, "of course", Sol reached her arm over her head and to her knee, "I know that's not true", her mom sat beside her, "What makes you say that?" "I've known you since you were this big", she lowered her hand to her hip, "I know when you're ok and when you aren't", Sol let out a sigh, "Please tell me", Charllotte and her made eye contact, "I....", Sol mumbled something, "What was that?", Charlotte leaned in not hearing what she said, "I wanted to know if it was ok to compete with your last name", a tinge of red found its way to her cheeks

IN: Grappling with the past

Chapter 7: Grappling with the past

Chapter Text

6:00 AM in the Clover kingdom academy parking lot

The students of the combat sports program gathered in the back parking lot of the school waiting for the bud to arrive, "UHHHH", Asta leaned his head back lamenting that he hadn't slept very well the night before, "Tell me about it", Yuno slouched in the bench along with him, "Can you two please stop complaining", Sol rolled her eyes at the two, "Yeah you really should've slept better", Mimosa added on, "NOT MY FAULT I WAS JUST SO EXCITED", Asta flailed his arms in the air, "Besides I'm used to fighting at like ten or eleven at night", he folded his arms, "I went to bed at the usual time, but I kept waking up", Yuno offered his own explanation, "Oh yeah, I saw you messaged me a few times at like twelve", Mimosa said tapping her finger on her chin, "What?", Leo turned his head at what his cousin said, "Nothing, it's just when I woke up I saw that you sent me a few messages", Asta nudged Yuno with his elbow, "Stop doing that", Yuno told him in a whisper as he pushed him, "Whatever the case is, stop complaining about it", "Sol looked at both entrances seeing that the school's bus wasn't there yet, "It's not gonna help", Asta furrowed his brows with folded arms, "Where are the coaches?", Sekke asked only getting a few shrugs, "What about you? Don't you come to school with your mom?", he turned to Sol for an answer, "We did get here, but like two hours before you guys and she said she had something to do", she answered, "You got here before four?", Yuno raised his eyebrow, " Who cares? Anyway, what about you guys' Jack, Yami, or Theresa didn't tell you guys anything either, "Nope" "No" "She didn't" "Nah", the other students waiting answered, "Wonder why it's such a mystery", Sol turned around to face everyone else, "Well, what did you guys do when you got home?" "Not much, just went to Klaus's place to see how he was and went home", Yuno said, "Yami had dinner with us", Asta answered looking at the orange sun rise of the sky, "Steak house and sleep" "Sleep" "My mom had me spar her", Mimosa looked a bit annoyed, "Wait why?", Leo shook his head in confusion, "My face and I told her Vanica and Gauche basically treated us like punching bags", Mimosa gave Leo a sarcastic stare, "Oh yeah", Leo's face turned into a small frown as he remembered the amount of times Vanica headbutted him, "Hey Asta?", Leo looked at him, "What's up?", Asta looked down from the sky back at him,*CRACK*"DON'T CLINCH THEN", he thought about how many times Vanica had cracked him with her head, "You pick up headbutting from Vanica", Leo also thought back to the video of Asta getting Kiato with one. The question elicited a small laugh from Asta, "What?", Leo moved his mouth to the side in a bit of annoyance, "No I didn't", Asta stared at the floor with a smile, "Where'd you learn it from then?" "Well-" "Yeah, I was kind of wondering the same thing", Mimosa interrupted him before he could answer, "Well, I was gonna say believe it or not I actually learned it from my mom", Asta told the group, "Really?", Sol titled her head, "Your mom seems so sweet though", Mimosa scrunched up her face a little, "She did, she doesn't talk about it much and maybe she thinks it makes her seem like a bad mom, but she taught me when I was like seven and when I met Dante and his siblings, I taught Vanica how to do it", Asta cracked a smile thinking about it, "Hmm I never would've thought your mom would do something like that Yuno stroked his chin, "I guess, but I also took inspiration from everyone else around me", Sekke remembered the short blonde and his variety of spinning kicks and elbows, "You learned elbows from the short blonde one?", Sekke asked getting a surprised face from a few of the students, "Again kind of", Asta shrugged his shoulders, "The spinning one's, but I taught him more basic standard elbows", Yuno remembered his pad work with Yami and the combinations he was practicing, "Wait can you grapple?", Sol asked, "Not really- I mean I can stop people from taking me down, but if it hits the floor I'm pretty much done for" "How good are you at that?" "Not very, cause Luck can get me down" "Ah", Sol just nodded her head, "Hey what's that?", Sekke pointed at something, "What?", the other students turned their attention to where he was pointing seeing a sort of bus pull in

"Is that the bus?", Asta asked, "No I've never seen that before", Sol gave him an answer looking to the others for them to confirm, "Then what is it?" "I don't know", the group looked at the bus while it pulled up to the curb where it eventually stopped, "So-", Mimosa was about to say something before the door to the bus opened, "Ok kids get in", Yami commanded them, "Wait where-", Sol tried to say something, "GO ON GET IN GET IN GET IN", Yami rallied behind the students pushing Sekke into them, "GO GO GO", he yelled, "WAIT WHAT'S-" "NOPE GET IN", he finished pushing the students into the bus, "What is this?", Sol asked passing the driver's seat into the buses seating area seeing the other coaches sitting down

"What is this?", Sol looked at her mom who was sitting with a smile on her face, "Wellllllll we went to the school, they put a bit more money into our program for extra stuff and since some of these drives are gonna be rather long, we want you guys to be more comfortable", Charlotte patted the seat next to her for Sol to sit in, "WOAH THIS IS SO COOL", Asta looked around at the bus never having been on one that was this luxurious before, "You've never been on a bus before", Yuno asked him, "WELL OF COURSE, BUT ONE AS NICE AS THIS? NEVER", he yelled causing everyone to cover their ears, "Alright just take a seat already", Yami grabbed Asta by the head placing him in one of the seats, "OW OW OW OK", Asta sat down looking at the other students, "I guess I'll just join you", Yuno sat next to him, "How long is the drive gonna be this time?", Mimosa took a seat in the row behind Asta and Yuno, "About four maybe four and a half", Theresa answered, "That's kind a long", Asta turned around to look over his seat, "Oh trust me kid there are gonna be a few of these, some we're gonna need to stay in other countries for a bit", Asta's eye's seemed to sparkle, "WE'RE GONNA GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES?", he rocked his seat back and forward. His energy seemed infectious the other coaches smiled at his enthusiasm and the students laughed a little, "Yes we are kid", Jack leaned back in his seat, "At least if we make it to Triumph this year", he leaned his chin into his palm while he looked out the window, "WELL I GOTTA MAKE SURE I DO", Asta spun back around, "Weallare gonna make it for sure this year", Sol looked at her mom with a face of pure confidence,"You've changed so much", Charlotte looked at her daughter thinking about the first time they had met, "Yeah", Charlotte just leaned back and buckled herself in, "Are we leaving soon? Cause I don't see the driver", Sekke looked around, "Yeah, the driver isn't here", Yuno said, "I'm driving", Yami closed the door to the bus, "Wait the driver isn't here?", Leo asked, "Nope just us", he turned the keys over to start the engine, "Fasten your seatbelt's passengers we're gonna be in for a long ride with no stops", Yami spoke into an intercom system, "HEY WHA-" "There is a restroom at the back of the bus, and a mini fridge to the left side of the bus", Charlotte smiled at the little silly speech from Yami,"And you haven't changed a bit", her smile continued at the scene watching the students and coaches converse, the students playing a game together on their phones and yelling at each other debating about food, games, cartoons, stuff of that nature. Looking at her daughter's participation in the festivities on the bus felt fulfilling, thinking back to her time in elementary school through most of high school having no friends for the most part until Leo and to a lesser extent Mimosa

twelve years ago

Charlotte walked Sol to the front of her class, "You promise you're gonna comeback?", Sol held onto Charlotte's leg, clinging to her for dear life, "I promise", she gave Sol a pat on the head, rubbing her hair to trying to set her at ease, "You'll be here?", Sol's tears began to fall, "Right when you get out", Charlotte kneeled down to talk to her putting up her pinky, "What's that?", Sol looked at her hand in confusion, "It's called a pinky promise", Charlotte answered her, "What's that?" "It's something people do to keep a promise forever" "Forever?" "Yep" "Ok", Sol held out her hand, sticking out her pinky, "Pinky promise", the two said locking their fingers, "I'll see you later", Charlotte hugged her, "Ok", the hugged lasted about a minute before Sol let go, "Bye", Sol waved as her teacher took her by the hand, "I LOVE YOU", Sol yelled as she walked away, Charlotte could feel a sense of pride hearing her say that, "LOVE YOU TOO", Charlotte yelled back watching her go into the classroom

"CHAR- CHAR-", Sol ran up to her screaming through tears and sobs, "What happened?", Charlotte watched Sol grab her skirt and bury her face into it, "THE- THE-", she couldn't get anything out, "Sorry are you Mrs. Marron?", Charlotte looked up to see her teacher, "Well that's not my name, but Sol is my child", Charlotte scooped her up, holding her in her arms, "Sorry", Sol's teacher seemed surprised at what she said, "It's ok she's only started staying with me recently. But I would like to know what happened", the teacher made a bit of a weird face, "Well she saw that you weren't here at the exact time, and she began to freak out", Charlotte felt terrible hearing it, looking at Sol in her arms, "Were you scared I wouldn't show up?", she asked her, "YE-YE", Sol still couldn't get any words through, "I'm sorry honey", Charlotte held her head, looking at her teacher, "Sorry for this she hasn't been in my care for very long, and I'm not very good at this", she apologized to her knowing how hard it was to be a teacher, "No no I understand I have kids of my own and they were a hand full when they were young", she assured her that it was fine, "You promised you would be here", Sol said holding onto charlotte's neck, "I know I'm sorry", she leaned back to look at her, "From now on I promise I'll be here when you need me" "Really?" "Really", Sol tucked her head back into her shirt, "I'm sorry for taking your time, but we'll be on our way", the two left getting Sol's favorite food on the way, "Char?", Sol looked up at Charlotte, "What's wrong kid?" "Can I ask you something" "Go right ahead" "The other kids call the lady that takes care of them mom" "And?" "Is it ok if I call you-"

"Mom?", Charlotte's eyes fluttered, trying to get her back awake, "Mom", she turned her head to see someone's silhouette, "MOM", she snapped her eyes fully open as she looked up to see her daughter, "Mom we're here", Sol shook her one more time, "Oh sorry honey", Charlotte looked around to see that the others had already gotten off of the bus, "What time is it?", she asked as she wiped a bit of saliva off of her cheek, "Ten forty", she answered, "We're ten minutes late?" "Yeah, everyone is already in line", Sol pointed her thumb behind her, "sh*t", Charlotte scrambled out of her seat, "Sorry let's go", the two got off the bus, "What were you dreaming about?", Sol asked her mom as they began walking, "What?", Charlotte looked at her, "It's just that you were talking in your sleep. So, I was just wondering what they were about", Charlotte smiled and chuckled, looking at the ground after she did, "What?" "Nothing I just dreamt of your first day at school", she looked back up at Sol who seemed embarrassed of the memory, "Aww you're embarrassed", her face flared up, "No", she replied trying to look away, "Well you shouldn't be, wanna know why?", a small smile formed on her face, "Why?", Sol asked, "Because that was the first day you called me mom", the blush and awkward deflective smile disappeared from Sol's face and was replaced with a small genuinely happy smile, "Oh yeah", the two continued making their way to the buildings entrance, "I can remember it like it was yesterday", Charlotte teased her a little bit, "Me too", Sol agreed, thinking about it, "Say mom?", Charlotte turned back to her, "Yeah?" "The day you took me in, did they ask if you wanted to change my last name?", Charlotte seemed a little surprised at the question, "They did, but I didn't want to make that the decision for you", the memory of then hit her, "Why do you ask?" "Nothing I was just wondering", Sol shrugged trying to push the question away, "Are you sure?", Charlotte co*cked her brow in skepticism, "Really it's nothing", Sol nervously rubbed the back of her neck. A clear indication that it wasn't just 'nothing', "Really?", she kept pushing for an answer, "Yes", the deflective answers continued, "You'd tell me, right?", Charlotte smiled trying to get her to open up, "Of course", an almost unnoticeable frown crept onto her face, "Oh ok", an awkward laugh escaped her mom's mouth letting Sol know that she didn't fully buy it, "Anyway we're almost there", Sol steered the conversation by pointing out the venue

The sight of flat mats for multiple different event's wasn't unfamiliar to her, but seeing that they had started already was, "Didn't think they would start before some of the bigger schools got here", she looked around to see that Spade military boarding school neither was Golden dawn private academy students weren't anywhere in sight, "Usually they would be here for the pre-fight press conference" "Pre fight press conference?", the term caught Asta's attention, "Dude?", Sol looked at him, "What?", he shook his head as if he said nothing wrong, "You don't know what that is?", Leo asked him, "No" "Well you ever see when fighters are all on a stage with tables and their belts in front of them?" "Oh yeah" "That's to get each of the spotlighted fighter's get a chance to express their thoughts about the fight, the event, and maybe their journey there" "Ahhhhh", Asta nodded as if he understood. As the last group of people before them finished up they were called up to sign in, "Sol Marron?", the guy at the table looked up at her, "Yes" "Guardian Charlotte Roselei?" "Yes" "Event's Gi grappling and no Gi grappling?" "Yes" "Ok to the grappling weigh in line", he handed her a sort of ticket with a number and code on it, "Sekke Bronanzza?", he looked at who was next, "Yes" "Guardian's Elena and Alvero Bronzazza?" "Yes" "And Semi-contact kickboxing?" "Yes" "To the kick boxing weigh in line", the guy did the same with him handing him the slip, "Yuno Grinberryal?", he shook his head at the name, "Yeah?" "Like the head of the sky diamond space program?", Asta shook his head at what the guy said, "Yeah" "Ok ummm semi-contact kick boxing?" "Yep" "Alright same as that guy", Asta came up to the table, "Asta Star-eye-A?" "It's Staria" "Cool, anyway Guardian Lick-I-tuh Staria?" "Lichita" "Sure", the guy seemed annoyed with all of the corrections, "Full- Wait is this right?", he looked up at Asta, "What is?", Asta lifted a brow in response" "Nothing it's just that it says that you're signed up for two full contact events 120z and 4oz", the guy looked back at the paper, "Yeah sounds about right", Asta began to bounce up and down waiting for him to give out the same slip, "Umm alright I guess, here", he handed him the paper, "THANK YOU", Asta joined Sol and the other two, "Leopald Vermillion?" "Yes" "Ok well considering the last name I guess either boxing or mma" "Semi and full contact boxing?" "Yeah" "Well here you go", he handed him the same thing, "And you're Mimosa?" "Yes" "Y'know I feel like i've seen you somewhere" "Well you've probably seen my mom", Mimosa just tapped her fingers on the side of her waist, "Oh really I guess that means kickboxing?" "Umm no" "Oh", the guy seemed rather disappointed, "What then?" "Semi and full contact boxing" "Oh here you go then", he gave her the final slip letting the group go on their way, "We'll meet you guys in the locker rooms", Yami yelled as the coaches splintered away from them

"THAT GUY WAS SUCH A JERK", Asta yelled the moment they began to walk away, "Dude, he might hear you", Yuno looked back to see if the yell got his attention, "I DON'T CARE I'LL KICK HIS HEAD IN IF HE HAS A PROBLEM WITH IT", he flailed his arms angrily making the others laugh, "Whatever the case is we're here now and that's all that matters", Mimosa tried to calm him down, "I guess", Asta folded his arms, "Are you a child?", Sekke asked him, "I don't know did I flatline you when we met?", Sekke twitched his brow in annoyance at Asta's response, "Whatever", he left it alone, not being able to think of a comeback, "Where are the weigh in line's anyway?", Asta looked around, "Usually they have them at the back so it's out of the way of the normal competition", Sol answered, "Normal competition?" "There are two what we're doing, but later on they have a televised card for the defending triumph champions and a prelim card before that, y'know for people who have work and they have a few hours to get back for the main card", Sol elaborated on what she meant, "Hmm", Asta sucked in his lips looking blankly ahead as he did, "THEY'RE HERE", the gang could hear someone yell, "Huh?", they looked over at one of the other entrances in which a red carpet and small railings followed it, "What's that?" "And here they come", Sol rolled her eyes as a line of people adorning championship belts on their shoulders. First in line a tall skinny guy with blond hair, sharp teeth, and some sort of claw or tooth necklace

Behind him was a slightly shorter guy with black hair and white highlights in between the front part a long with a scarf tucked loosely around his neck

Behind him, a girl with pink hair and a flower crown around her head, actually to Asta she looked quite a bit like Fana. In fact, she was the spitting image of Fana down to the same eye color and weird marking on her forehead

Lastly there was a guy that was shorter than all of them with white hair, yellow eyes much like Yuno's, and a ponytail

"Who are those guys?", Asta pointed at the four while he saw flashes go off and people begin to crowd the barricade, "Are you serious?", Sol looked at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid, "What?", everyone except for Yuno looked at Asta, "You really don't know who they are?", Leo asked only getting a shrug in return, "Ok so I mentioned Triumph a while ago right?" "Yeah" "Those guys are some of the defending champions", Sol explained with her eye locked on one of them, and when Asta followed her gaze, it seemed to be locked on the Fana look alike, "Woah", he looked at the group in awe, "Woah is right, these are some of the best Junior pro's in the world", Sol's eyes followed the girl with pink hair as they began to make their way down the red carpet. Asta looked at the other two one of them striking him as familiar, "You wondering about them?", Leo asked, "Yeah", Asta answered, "I am too actually", Yuno finally had something to say on the matter, " Well, the one in front is the Son of Vetto, y'know Diamond rings light heavy weight champion", Asta's eyes followed him, "The one behind him is Rhya his dad is the current Clover Cage fighting Welter weight champion his name is also Rhya", Leo seemed trained on him, "That girl is Fana-" "Wait what?", Asta co*cked his brow at her name, "That's exactly what I was thinking when I met your friend", Sol interjected into Leo's explanation, "Anyway her mom is Irene Enoteca", the name stuck out to Asta, as it was the same as Vanessa's, "And that guy on the end, his name is Patri, his dad is the current undisputed jr. , normal, and super welter boxing champion Licht", Asta marveled at the line up of amazing fighters, clinching his fist as he did so,"He's nervous", Mimosa thought while she looked at his hands, "Look if it's too much right now I ge-" "ALRIGHT", Asta threw his fists in the air as he screamed, taking the crew aback, "Huh?", Sol looked at him with her head titled, "NOW I KNOW WHAT I'M WORKING TOWARD", his energy much like it had done before began to spread to the others, "AND I'M GONNA TAKE A BELT OFF ONE OF THEM", he screamed into the air as his friends smiled, "HELL YEAH WE ARE", the group yelled in unison before putting their fists in a circle, "THREE TWO ONE LET'S GO MAGIC KNIGHTS", they chanted together before separating into the weigh in lines

Sol waited in line looking at the people ahead of her, "Man this is taking longer than usual", she moved her lips to the side in annoyance of the wait, "Sol?", she turned around to see who called her name

"Oh you", Sol rolled her eyes at her, "Awe that's no way to talk to a friend", the girl clearly mocked her, "What do you want Selena?", Sol crossed her arms and tapped her foot, "Nothing I just wanted to see how the weight cut was going and from the looks of you it isn't going well", the poked Sol in the stomach before her hand got slapped away, "I'll have you know I'm not cutting weight at all for competition so UHHHHH", Sol blew her tongue out at her causing Salena to roll her eyes, "Whatever, it doesn't matter cause you're chances of winning still haven't improved", she folded her arms and gave Sol a smug look, "Well I don't care, cause even if I don't get first place today I know you will still be a million spot's behind me", Sol returned the look, "Oh yeah?", Salena got in her face, "Yeah", Sol pushed her head in hers, "WELL I'LL JUST HAVE TO CRUSH YOUR HOPES OF WINNING", Salena laughed at her, "OH YEAH?" "YEA-" "Next Contestant up", the lady doing the weigh ins instructed for Sol to step forward, "Coming", she began walking to the scale before flipping Selena the bird, "Contestant name: Sol Marron", the lady read the slip, "Her official weight for both No Gi and Gi will be taken here", she wrote it down, "Weight 144lbs or 65.3kg aka lightweight", Sol stepped off of the scale and began walking to the locker room area

Mimosa and Leo waited in line waiting their turn to weigh in, "How much longer are they gonna take?", Leo looked ahead to see that a few people were working to fix the scale, "Don't know", Mimosa seemed to be as anxious as he was waiting for the weigh in, "But we shouldn't really worry couldn't take that long to fix a scale", she turned her attention back to her cousin, "Hmm", Leo frowned at the fact he had to wait, "Sorry contestants the scale will be fixed in a few minutes", one of the operators announced to the people, "At least I'd hope", she nervously laughed, "C'MON ALREADY", Leo leaned back and forward a bit, "Any one of our friends ever tell you that you act like Asta?", Mimosa asked, "Noelle told me that last time I talked to her", he rolled his eyes at her question, "Anyway, how are you feeling?", he asked her, "About what?" "This is gonna be our first time doing real boxing", Leo clarified, "I mean I'm feeling pretty good about it", Mimosa rubbed her arm, "And I mean we've done some pretty hard sparring with Vanica and Gauche so we should be decently prepared", she said seeming rather unsure of her last statement, "I guess", Leo looked forward once again to see that the people working on the scale began to leave, "Ok next up", the line once again began to move, "I just think that maybe they weren't going as hard as they could", Leo picked the subject back up, "What do you mean?", Mimosa asked not really wanting to hear the answer since she knew what he was implying, "Gauche is a middleweight and Vanica is more of a kickboxer" "Oh yeah", she tried to push away the nerves that the thought entailed. Leo caught on and decided to just leave it, "I don't know though it was still pretty hard if Vanica was willing to elbow and headbutt us", Leo put his hands behind his head, "Next up", he called for Leo to step up. He handed the guy the paper, "Contestant: Leopald Vermillion and his official weight for Semi and Full contact boxing", Leo stepped onto the scale, "Weight 139lbs or 63kg aka lightweight", he stepped off of the scale and to the side waiting for Mimosa to go, "Contestant: Mimosa Vermillion and her official weight will be taken here for semi and full contact boxing", she stepped onto the scale, "Weight is 121lbs or 54.8kg aka Junior featherweight", she made her way off the scale with Leo and the two started walking to the locker room

Asta, Sekke, and Yuno grouped together in line talking amongst each other, "Why didn't you sign up for any full contact events?", Asta asked Sekke, "Are you kidding me? I don't want to get my pretty face broken", he made a few motions with his arm to highlight his face, "Why? It's not that pretty", Asta told him causing a vein to pop out of his forehead, "WHY YOU-" "Dude calm down it's not that serious", Yuno told him, "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SAY", he yelled at him, "And why's that?", he asked, "You are the same as me semi-contact kickboxing", Sekke explained, "This is literally the first time I'm doing this and you've been doing it since you've got here", Yuno came back at him, "I-I Ah whatever", Sekke decided to just brush it off, "I don't even understand why you would do two actual events, I mean couldn't you just do the normal and semi one?", he turned his attention back to Asta, "I could, but there's no challenge in that", Yuno also turned his attention to him, "And if I want to become a world champion it's better to put a stamp on my ability than to just skate by", Asta looked ahead, "I see", Yuno smiled, "Whatever", Sekke uncrossed his arms and sighed, "Next contestant", he called for one of them, "Here", Sekke decided to go first, "Contestant: Sekke Bronzazza and his official weight will be taken here for semi contact kick boxing", he stepped onto the scale, "157lbs or 72.2kg aka welterweight", he stepped off and waited for the Yuno and Asta, "Contestant: Yuno Grinberryal and his official weight will be taken here for the same", Yuno then got on, "Official weight is 154lbs or 69.8kg aka lightweight", he joined Sekke and watched as Asta got on, "Contestant: Asta Star-eye-uh", he rolled his eyes at someone getting his name wrong again, "His official weight will be taken for...", he stopped and made a weird face, "Ummm 12oz and 4oz full contact kickboxing?", a few of the other students in line seemed rather surprised, "Are you sure kid?", he asked him, "YEP", Asta answered excited to step onto the scale, "Ok then get on", he got on, "Weight is 138lbs or 62.5kg aka featherweight", Asta hopped off and started walking to the back with the other two

In the locker room hall

the trio walked down the hall looking at each of the respective locker rooms each having a different schools name on it, "Where's ours?", Asta asked, "Not sure it's different every year", Sekke lead the two down the hall, "Usually it's one of the later ones though", he looked at another door, "Not here", they continued until they found it, "Here it is", Sekke turned the handle on the door and opened it, "Took you guys long enough", Jack laughed, "Our line was kind of long", he scratched his cheek, "It's cool", Jack slipped on some pads, "Let's just do a little warm up work before Sol's competition starts", he motioned Sekke forward, "Alright", he placed his bag down and took a pair of gloves out. Asta and Yuno looked around the locker room seeing Sol and Charlotte doing some flow grappling, Leo and Mimosa doing some light sparring, and Yami waiting on one of the benches, "Ok you two I want you to do some light touch sparring", he got up and tossed over some 16oz gloves, "Get to it", he watched the two as they began and threw a few shots*KNOCK KNOCK*someone at the door called for them to open it, "What's up?", Jack went over to open the door, "Here", a lady handed him a few pieces of paper, "Thank you", he nodded and closed the door, "Ok your guys opening opponents came in", everyone gathered around him to look at them, "First up is Sol", he handed her the paper, "Galgaria and Elvira", she read the two opening names one for GI and the other for no Gi grappling, "Next is Sekke", he handed him the paper, "Ina", the rest of the students took slips and read the names they would be fighting for their openers, "Akimo and Catharine", Mimosa looked at hers, "Goht and Simon", Leo read his, "Alecdora?", Yuno raised his brow at the name, "Revchi and Rhades", Asta read his out loud getting the attention of the others, "What?", Leo asked him, "What?" "The names what were they?", Sol asked, "Oh uh Revchi and Rhades", he answered, "Seriously?" "Yeah why?", Asta seemed really confused, "Damn pretty tough opponents for an opening match", Charlotte stroked her chin, "What?", he co*cked his brow, "Those two used to be students in their ninth-grade year", Jack said, "What happened?" "They got in trouble with the commission, and they had to be expelled", Theresa said with annoyance in her voice, "Hmm cool", Asta just shrugged, "They were pretty good from what I can remember", Leo tapped his chin, "Well who cares I'm gonna smash em all the same", Asta went back to shadow boxing making them laugh, "Can't deny the kids confidence", Theresa shook her head, "Well Sol's event is gonna begin soon so we should go and wait out there for her", Leo said as he stretched, "I suppose", Theresa began to walk out, "Alright Sol good luck out there", Mimosa waved, "SEE YA CHAMP", Asta and Leo blasted past her, "Do your best out there", Yuno walked out

"I should get to it", Sol went to the mat and began to stretch before her match began, "You ok?", she heard someone ask surprised since she thought everyone had gone to wait for her, "Oh hey mom", she turned her head to see her leaning in the door way, "What's up?", she asked as her mom made her way to her side, "Nothing I just wanted to see how you were doing", Charlotte stood next to her, "And?", Sol co*cked her brow, "And I know that isn't true", Sol felt a little guilty, "What makes you say that?", she asked as she reached her arm over to her left leg, "I've know you since you were this big", she placed her hand at her hip to indicate her height, "So I know when you're ok and when you're not", Sol let out a little sigh, "Please tell me", Charlotte made eye contact and tried to seem open, "I.....", she mumbled something, "What was that?", Charlotte leaned over with her ear to hear her better, "I wanted to know if...", she looked down, "If?" "If I could change my last name to yours", she nervously messed with her hands, "Really?", Charlotte asked her, "Yeah", a shade of red began to burn over her cheeks, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?", she asked, "I don't know I guess I was just a little embarrassed" "Why?", she shook her head in confusion, "Cause you never brought it up to me and I thought at some point you would" "Honey", Charlotte placed her hand on her shoulder, "I never wanted you to feel like I was pressuring you or trying to get you to do something you might not want to do. I wanted it to be completely up to you, so I wanted to wait for you to bring it up", she explained, "I see", Sol looked back at the floor, "Is that what happened with you and your parents?", she asked, "Yeah", Charlotte sat on it for a moment, "Yeah", she couldn't really say much else, "Can I ask what happened?"

Thirteen years ago

"WHAT?", Charlotte covered her ears at her mom yelling at her, "I'm sorry, but Yami needs me right now", she tried to explain to her, "NO", she yelled at her, "But-" "But nothing, we said if he can't provide anything then you were to leave him", her father jumped in, "Look I know, but to leave him now would be-" "AND WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?", her mother continued to berate her, "Your mother is right it was his recklessness is what landed him there", Charlotte clinched her fist, "Not another word young lady", her father left the room, "Yes", she walked back to her room

Sol looked at her mom as she wiped tears away from her eyes, "I'm sorr-" "No don't be", Charlotte cut her off, "I'm actually rather grateful for that day", she smiled, "But how? It sounded terrible", Sol was confused about it, "Because", a large smile formed on her mom's face, "It was also the day you and I met", Sol's eyes started to water a bit, "What?" "A few hours after our argument I needed to go from a bit of a walk and that's when I found you"

"Where are you going?", her mother asked her, "I'm going for a walk", Charlotte answered, "And that's it?", she asked with a clear glare, "Yes", Charlotte walked out and began to speed walk away from the house, "Uhh", she groaned loudly when she had felt like she was far enough away from her house, "Why can't they just let me do as I see fit", she folded her arms. "I need to get away from there", the thought played in her head over and over again before getting interrupted by some kids yelling at each other, "What the?", she looked across the street to a park where a few kids were surrounding someone. Charlotte rushed across the street to help the girl, "WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING?", she picked up the kid and looked at her for any injuries seeing a few scrapes and bruises, "WHO ARE YOU?", one of the kids kicked her in the shin, "I'M gonna be the one who tells your parents if you don't f*cking scram", she pushed one over with her foot, "My mom's gonna beat you up if you do" "Well I can snap your moms arm you little ooooooooooooooo", she snapped her head back at one of trying not to cuss them out making him cry, "HEY MY MOM SAYS ADULTS CAN'T TALK TO KIDS LIKE THAT" "THEN LEAVE", the three of them did leaving her to inspect the young girls injuries, "You ok?", she didn't answer, "I promise I'm here to help the girl nodded in response, "Can you tell me your name?" "Sol" "Well then Sol let's get you back"

"Sol, I want you to be able to live as you want", she placed her hand on her child's shoulder, "So please do your best to live it the way you want", Sol placed her hand on her mom's arm, "I will", Charlotte smiled before speaking again, "No let's go walk out there together" "Yeah"

Sol and Charlotte began to walk out to the mat's seeing that s small crowd of people had gathered around to watch, "HEY GUYS", the rest of the gang cheered for Sol as she walked out to the mat's as she began to do a bit of a bounce walk to the mat, "Introducing the first contestant of this bout, Representing Clover Kingdom Academy , Sol.......", the lady who had taken her weight looked at the name on the slip with a bit of confusion, "Roselei?", the gang also seemed surprised, "She finally did it", Theresa laughed, "Yep", Charlotte joined the others to watch from the side lines , giving Sol a thumbs up while she stretched, "Introducing next representing the all-girls private school, Blue Rose academy", Charlotte gritted her teeth at the name, "THE NEW STONE GAAAAAALLLLLLGARIA", Sol let out an annoyed tsk at the sudden hype announcement, "Ok here are the rules", the referee had them meet a foot away from each other, "Five minutes for the whole match, scoring takedowns lands you two points, Scoring position offers half a point, scoring very advantageous one point, attempted submissions are one and a half, a deep submission is worth three, while escaping a deep submission offers two, and lastly a full submission in which one of gets you the win, understand?", she asked the two, "Yes", Galgaria smiled, "Yeah", Sol shook her head, "If that's so, then BEGIN", the ref chopped the air to signal for them to start

Sol approached her in a very traditional hunched stance while Galgaria stepped in and out with a more traditional wrestling stance, Sol tried to get in close with some basic steps in getting Galgaria to push her by the shoulders and step away, "A defensive points-based style", Sol thought to herself at the reaction before trying to get in once more attempting to body lock her, Galgaria managed to counter by getting double underhooks to stuff the take down

Double underhooks in grappling are a great and basic way to prevent takedowns by keeping your opponent's upper body weight in you control while simultaneously limiting the offensive that one can generate with their arms

While keeping Sol in the double under, Galgaria tried to switch the two's positions by swinging in and out for Sol's back, "GOTCHA", Sol spun with her and secured double over hooks

In contrast the default position that one gets one getting double over hooks in response to unders also has some advantages such as more opportunities for upper body throws, sprawling by pushing down on the shoulders of your opponent so they can't get any security for body locks or leg attacks

Sol tried sweeping Galgaria's back leg with her lead leg while pushing through on her shoulders, Galgaria prevented the take down by hopping over Sol's leg while backing up and lunging to push the two to a natural collar tie,"Good defense", Sol smiled before she pulled her away into a set of over hooks,"Judo?", Galgaria internally laughed at her offense before she pushed Sol by her shoulders once again and stepped away from her, "What's she doing this isn't what they worked on", Mimosa clinched her fists at what she was seeing from her teammate, "Yeah pretty sure Mari said not to rely on upper body throws", Leo stroked his chin while he watched her, "Don't worry she's got this", Charlotte said trying to ease the two, "But-" "She's right Sol knows what shes doing", Yami laughed them off, "How" "Just watch". Galgaria put her hands on Sol's elbow and pushed them down going in for a head lock, but Sol got a hold of her wrists and tried to wrap her arms in a body lock, Galgaria responded by spinning out of the wrist control and began to once again back away, "Her defense is amazing", Theresa commented, "Yeah she's good at running", Sekke rolled his eyes, "Whether it's running or not, she's getting Sol away from her, "True, but at this rate the match is gonna be a tie", Jack frowned a little, "Trust me she's gonna be ok", Charlotte smiled, "Hope you're right", Leo bit his bottom lip. Sol began to approach her once more, this time though Glagaria shot in on high single

High singles otherwise known as snatch singles in wrestling are widely considered to be the safest shot a wrestler can go for because of the lack of both commitment and if they do secure it the possibility of power slams, trips, and sweeps open themselves up as your opponent is basically keeping themselves up by one leg

Sol tried her best to stop her from locking her hands, but Galgaria was able to get it, "Oh no", Sol tried to push on her shoulders, but Galgaria placed her lead leg behind Sol's thigh and her back leg at Sol's ankle, pulling her down to the mat, "Decent entries", Yami said with a blank face, "C'MON SOL YOU GOT THIS", Leo yelled, "YEAH THIS IS NOTHING", Mimosa added on. Sol looked at the others,"I got this", Sol thought while she looked at Glagaria begin to follow her attempting to secure half guard, but only getting pulled into full guard

Full guard is a rather neutral position in which the person on bottom has the person on top wrapped in their legs and this can be considered neutral because it allows the person on bottom to lock the aggressor on top and possible use their transitioning momentum against them and sweep on top. However, for the person in top position the possibility of advancing to dominant positions such as side control or to just get general control is the foil to the person in bottom position

Sol locked legs around her back leg, "NOW", Sol shrimped away from her managing to get back up, "OH NO YOU DON'T", Galgaria yelled as she tried to follow on a double leg, "OH YES I DO", Sol got control of one of her arms attempting a standing kimura causing Galgaria to try and switch the pressure with an attempt at a roll leaving most of her weight and momentum to her front leg, "GOTCHA"

(This match is No gi, but this is the only one I could find Sorry)

Sol had done a cartwheel takedown into clutching her arm in a position of an armbar, "YES", Leo yelled at the top of his lungs, "GOOOOOOOOOO", Charlotte yelled, "YOU GOT THIS", Mimosa screamed, "C'MON FINISH IT", Asta screamed, "DON'T WORRY", Sol threw her left leg over Galgaria's head and the other across her chest, "THERE WE GO", Yami joined in on the cheering. Sol pulled on her arm while pivoting her hips to force her arm upwards before she could feel a few taps on her leg, "ENOUGH", the ref separated the two after she had tapped a few times, "AHHHHHHHHHHH", Sol threw her arms back and yelled, "YES HONEY", Charlotte yelled along with her. After a few moments the ref gathered the two in the center of the mat, "As the criteria goes and your winner by armbar Sol Roselei", she raised Sol's hand, "YESSS", Charlotte ran up her and picked her up, swinging her around a few times before placing her down, "THAT WAS AWESOME", Leo ran up to her, "I know", Sol smugly wiped her nose with her thumb, "Ok you lot if you're just gonna crowd the mat then you need to get off of it", the ref tried to usher them off, "Wait", her opponent stopped them, "Yeah?", Sol raised her eyebrow, "Gotta say you were way better than I was told", she nervously scratched the back of her head, "Huh?" "It's just that my teammate said you weren't that good, but I guess they just have little experience with you", Glagaria clarified,"Representing the Blue rose all girls private school", Sol remembered the announcement, "Salena?", she furrowed her brow, "Yeah actually", she seemed surprised, "How'd you know?" "Just a hunch", Sol decided to just leave it, "Well I hope you can make it far", Galgaria bowed before leaving, "Polite girl", Charlotte smiled, "I guess", Sol shrugged, "We should just head back to the locker room", they followed leaving the mat's

In the locker room

The gang celebrated Sol's opening win cheering her on, "THAT WAS SO COOL", Asta stared at Sol in awe, "Yeah yeah", she waved the compliment off, "Gotta say though I was pretty worried that you weren't going to get that one", Yuno said with a slight smile, "Oh yeah? Why's that?", Sol returned the smile, "Well you got taken down and couldn't get anything for most of it", he poked a bit of fun at her, "That was a part of the plan", she smugly claimed, "To get rag dolled?", Yuno lifted his brow in skepticism, "Whatever", Sol laughed, "In any case, it got the job done and that's what we're aiming for", Charlotte stopped the two, "You should also change, your next match is about to start", Theresa said, "Oh right", Sol looked up forgetting she had two events to do, "We'll see you out there", Asta waved before leaving, "Do your best", Yuno followed, "See ya", Sekke just nodded, "We'll see you out there", the rest of them left the room, all aside from her mom, "How ya feeling so far?", she asked her daughter, "Pretty damn good", Sol responded as she tied a belt to her Gi, "That's good", she smiled at her answer before asking another question, "How did it feel?" "It felt great getting that armbar" "Not exactly what I meant", Sol shook her head in confusion, "Then what did you-""Sol Roselei", she remembered how the referee announced her, "It felt...............................pretty damn good", she smiled, putting the finishing touched on her Gi giving her mom a small knuckle bump, "Then let's go get this win"

the two walked out to mat seeing a larger crowd of people than before circle it, "More this time", Charlotte looked around, "Yeah", Sol didn't have much to say when she had finally gotten to the mat, "Introducing first representing Clover Kingdom Academy Sol Roselei", the new crowd showed little excitement from her, "Seriously", her brow twitched in annoyance, "INTRO DUCING SECOND" "OH C'MON AGAIN?", Sol looked at the referee with obvious irritation, "REPRESENTING THE WITHCHES FORREST BOARDING SCHOOL, THE ILLUSIVE NEW COMER AND PRINCESS OF THE MAT ELLLLVIRAAAAAA", the others watched as the crowd seemed to be more excited than they were for Sol, "What gives? Sol just won her last match", Mimosa looked around at the crowd, "For real I've literally never heard of this girl", Leo mirrored her annoyance, "Doesn't matter, Sol's gonna crush her anyway", Asta pumped his fist in the air, "It's fine, Sol just wants to win recognition for the moment isn't all too important", Charlotte motioned for them to stop, "She's right", Yami looked at Sol, "She's gonna be fine"

"Alright are you two ready?", the ref asked them after explaining the rules, "Yeah", the two said in unison, "THEN GO", he chopped his hand down, signaling for them to go. Assuming the same stance from the last match Sol circled her looking for any sort of reaction, Elvira just kept stepping in and out trying to maybe bait Sol for a takedown, "Slow starter. Same as the last one", she continued to do it before going for her ankle, Elvira pushed her head down and hopped away, "Another defensive wrestler?", Sol tried to step in and follow her, but got shut down by Elvira trying to shoot in on a double leg

Double legs are the default attack for many grapplers which makes sense as it cuts off access to your two most important supporting forces as well as giving some degree of manipulation of the opponent's hips by moving your shoulders into them making sure that they can't frame off. And when they are in tight, they tend to be an almost guaranteed takedown

Sol tried to fight it by attempting to double under hook for defense, but Elvira managed to secure her arms around Sol's legs,"NO NO NO NO", Sol posted her hands on her shoulders trying to prevent a hard slam, which she wasn't able to get instead dragging Sol to the ground, "NO", Sol tried to keep her away from her, but Elvira was able to pass her full guard, but was cut off by Sol locking her lead leg in place only managing to get half guard

Half guard is a position in which one leg of the person in top position is caught or locked down by the person in bottom position essentially making it so that they cannot advance any further. This doesn't always work though as with enough persistence one can definitely pass half guard. the same tends to be true for the bottom as when someone transitions out of half guard there is a moment in time in which their momentum can work against them and earn the person on bottom a sweep

Sol used double over hooks to try and pull Elvira close to her, "BIG MISTAKE LADY", Elvira locked her hands around Sol's waist just as she lifted herself up to sweep and gator rolled a little bit,"GOTTA BREAK HER GRIP", Sol tried to pull on her wrists, "Nope", she continued to roll over and over, "She's trying to tire me out", Sol realized what she was doing and decided to dead weight in between her facing the ground and the ceiling looking at the crowd, "C'MON HONEY THIS IS NOTHING", she looked at her mom cheering for her, "YOU GOT THIS", Leo cheered, Sol looked at the two thinking back to something

Three years ago

"How do I look?", Sol asked her mom the day before her first day of high school nervous since she had decided on a new hair style, short hair, "It looks fine honey", her mom assured her, "Are you sure I mean I-", Charlotte grabbed her by the wrist, "Look at me", the two made eye contact, "I promise you're gonna do fine", Sol hung her head down, "But that's what you said when I started middle school", Charlotte frowned partly because she didn't want her daughter to feel that way, but also because she felt that maybe the way she had been raising Sol wasn't helping her make friends, "I know, but I promise this is different", she tried to assure her, "But how?", Sol looked at her with obvious doubt, "Wellllllll", her mom tried to think of a fast answer, but wasn't able to, "AWWWWW", Sol put her face in her hands trying not to cry, "No I promise it's just that high school is very different from when I went, and from what I've seen kids seem a little bit nicer these days", she tried to pull her back to eye contact, "You promise?" "I promise"

The next day Sol and her mom arrived at school seeing other kids having their parents or personal drivers drop them off, "Mom actually I think I can go to a normal school", Sol tried to get back in the car, "WAIT", her mom closed the door, "Look just give it a chance and I promise it'll work out", she told her child with a clear look of uncertainty, "Ummm" "And if you don't like it the first week, we can enroll you at that school between Kikka and Hage", Sol let up just awkwardly sucking in her lips, "Ok", she agreed, "Thank you", the two began walking to the front office to pick up her student ID and when they had arrived there, multiple celebrities with their kids and one of them a girl with silver hair getting surrounded by students asking her questions about her, her mom, stuff like that. Sol just nervously rubbed her arm at the sight feeling incredibly out of place amongst the other students, "Sol Marron?", the guy at the front desk looked at the two, "Ummm are you sure?", he co*cked his brow, "Yeah she's my daughter", her mom tapped her fingers on the desk seemingly annoyed, "Yeah, but she has a different last name" "Yeah" "Is her father away or something cause-" "Just give me the ID", Charlotte snapped at him, "Whatever", he handed her the ID, "C'mon I'll walk you to home room"

"Ok at lunch there is a meeting for the combat sports program, do you want to go to that?", Charlotte asked her, "Umm", Sol sat on it for a moment, this would be the first time that she could meet people with possibly similar interests, "Yeah", she gave a weak smile worrying her mom, "Uh ok", Charlotte nodded, "Have a good day", she hugged her before ushering her inside. Sol walked inside and looked around seeing that not many of the students were talking to each other, she went to sit down in the nearest seat which was by the door, "Ok you guys take some time to get to know the people around you since you're probably gonna see their face for the full time you're here", the teacher announced to the class, "Hey", she tried talking to the girl next to her, "Hey", she responded as she looked at her phone, "Uh my names Sol nice to meet you", she held her hand out, "Uh huh", the girl continued to flick through the phone, "Uh what's your name?" "Charmy", a short answer came out from her, "Oh uh nice", Sol nodded feeling like she wanted to disappear

A grueling first few periods went by very slowly for her each one making her feel worse than the last, "Uhhh", she groaned at the ceiling in line, "Today has been worse than middle school", she tracked through the line waiting and waiting for the day to be over so she could tell her mom, "What would you like?", the lady at the register asked, "Do you have something sweet?" "Chocolate lava cake" "Please", she lady swiped her card, "Says you don't have a meal plan" "What?" "Says you don't have a meal plan" "But my mom said the school would get one" "You on a free meal plan" "Yeah" "Oh yeah sorry those get approved in waves during the first week" "Awe man", Sol felt her stomach rumble, "Sorry kid", she handed Sol her ID back, "No worries", Sol left the line, "AAAAAAAHHHHH", she was almost pulling her hair out, "Well I guess I should just get this over with", she began walking to the gym

Finally arriving she entered seeing a select few people a blonde guy, a guy with orange hair, a girl with blonde hair, and a guy with a head band, "Great", she began walking towards them, "OH ANOTHER ONE", the guy with orange hair seemed excited, "What?" "Sorry it's just we've been waiting all period and we're the only ones who showed up", the girl with blonde hair said, "Really? But I thought this school-" "Was known for combat sports?", she raised her brow, "Yeah", Sol looked down a little, "Don't be too down about cause", the orange head guy threw his hands in the air, "WE'RE ALL THAT'S NESSCARY", he declared making Sol smile a little, "SO WHAT'S YOUR NAME?", he got in her face and asked her, "Sol", she rubbed her arm, "WELL MY NAMES LEO AND-" "Leopald", Sol let out a few sips of air trying to prevent herself from laughing, "HEY MIMOSA WHAT GIVES?", Leo yelled at her clearly embarrassed, "That's literally your name", she smiled at the scene, "Well get use to us I guess cause we're gonna be seeing each other a lot", Mimosa smiled with her hand out, "YEAH", Sol shook it

Sol looked at the rest of them, "C'MON DON'T LET HER JUST DO THAT TO YOU", Asta yelled,"Yea I'm a black belt" "WOAH SO COOL", she remembered how he marveled at her,"You still count like that", Yuno, Klaus, and Her laughed at Asta in history, "NO""WELL I'M GONNA MAKE IT TO TRIUMPH", Asta declared, "TRIUMPH TRIUMPH TRIUMPH", Leo, Asta, and her chanted together, "NO", she pulled on Elvira's wrists as she got to a sitting position out of her death roll, "I WON'T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESN'T MAKE IT", she managed to pull herself up back to standing, but with Elvira still behind her, ""CAUSE I WON'T LET ANY OF THEM DOWN", Sol managed to separate her arms, "JUST GIVE UP ALREADY", Elvira yelled back, "NO", she screamed before separating both arms and getting control of both of them fully

Sol spun into an arm bar at breakneck speeds securing it before Elvira could react, "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS", her mom cheered once more, "FINISH IT", the rest of the crew yelled together, but Elvira wouldn't budge, "UNDER THE ARM", Charlotte yelled, prompting her to pull her arm to armpit and gripping the arm like you would do a guillotine choke, "ENOUGH", the referee separated them as Elvira tapped, "NO WAY", someone in the crowd yelled, "She really beat her" "Impressive" "She's the one that beat that new stone girl" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", she yelled as she pulled her arms in and out, "YES", the gang ran over to her, "YOU DID IT", Leo gave her a really hard low five, "YEAH", she hugged her mom before returning to the center of the mat, "AND YOUR WINNER BY ARM BAR SOL ROSELEI", the crowd clapped for her, "Thank you" she bowed in all directions, "Two down", Charlotte patted her on the back, "Yep", she smiled, "Well let's get back and eat we've got a while before the next ones start", Yami put his hand on her head, "Sure"

Later

A total of six more matches took place Sol won all of them four by submission and two by decision and was now waiting for her last two qualifying matches to come in, "YOU'VE BEEN ON A ROLL TODAY", Leo yelled after her last match, "I know this is the first time I've come into the finals of a qualifier in a while", Sol stretched with a face of confidence, "Wait I thought you were top eight at summers main event", Asta looked at her, "Yeah" "Then how did you not win these?", he asked, "Well you don't need to win you just need to make it to the top eight and they'll give you a chance to go against the losers of the main event tournament for a chance back at the finals", Sol explained, "OOOOOO", Asta nodded his head in understanding, "I have to say you've gotten significantly better", Theresa commented, "I would agree your bottom game has gotten a lot better since we brought the others in", Charlotte helped her stretch, "They are pretty good", Sol thought about Magna's relentless takedowns and cardio, while Mariella had an incredible ground game and clean submission vision, "Speaking of where did you even find them Sukehiro?", Theresa asked, "Just some kids Asta and I met along the way", he answered with a close eyed smile, "Really? It's that easy?", Leo asked, "Hey kid I bet there is a thirteen-year-old who is naturally better than you at this", Yami commented, "I mean maybe-" "Mike Tyson", he cut the young lion off, "Fair enough" "And besides up until like a month ago none of you knew Asta existed, and his kicks are ungodly strong", Sol thought about it for a moment, and he was right Magna wasn't someone she would cross on the street and think his wrestling was crazy and Mari seemed like such a phone drone most of the time and she never would've guessed she could strangle people twice her size, not to mention Vanessa someone who could keep it standing if she needed too, but if she had an advantage in grappling than she would just choke you*KNOCK KNOCK*someone came to the door once more, "Come in", Theresa called out to them, "Your final two matches have been decided", the lady came to give Sol the sheet, "Thank you", she nodded and left the room, "So who're are the opponents?", Mimosa asked causing Sol to look it over, "Salena", she rolled her eyes at her no gi opponent, "And", she looked at the other opponents name, "Charla?", Sol shook her head, "More new comers than last year huh?", Charlotte read the paper with her, "I guess so", Sol shrugged, "Which ones first thought?", Asta asked, "Salena she's always been a no gi girl", Sol stood up and began to do some side to side leg stretches, "How long before it starts?" "Fifteen minutes", she got to her feet as she stretched her arms, "I guess we got some time", Leo dug through his bag pulling out some cards, "Go fish?", he asked, "Sure" "I could go with that" "Nice" "I'm cool with that" "Alright", they gathered around to play.

After some much-needed relaxation with the other students left the room once again leaving Charlotte and her alone, "Think you got her this time?", Charlotte asked, clearly nervous, "Do I think I got this? Of course, I'm gonna crush her this time", Sol smiled. Charlotte couldn't believe how far her daughter had come since they had met, "Then what are we waiting for?", she stood up and held her hand for her daughter, "YUP"

The second to last time for Sol's day was just ahead, as she looked around the crowd had tripled maybe even quadrupled in size from her initial matches, "WOOOOOOOOOOO" "YOU GOT THIS GIRL" "YOUR TIME NOW" "GET HER ARM", a few of the people in the crowd cheered as they made way for Sol to walk through, "They seem excited to see you compete", Charlotte giggled at the crowds energy, "I'm glad they want to see me, cause I want to get back in Fana's cross hairs", Sol began doing the same bounce walk she did in her first match of the day, "INTRODUCING FIRST REPRESENTING CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY, SOOOOOOOOOOOL ROOOOOOOOOOOSELEI", the referee announced her causing the crowd to cheer even louder. Sol threw her arms up and down to get a bigger reaction, "She seems more confident than usual", Jack laughed at her showmanship, "You say that like it's a bad thing", Charlotte side eyed him, "He's not wrong", Leo looked at her running around the mat, "Whatever the case is I'm happy for her", Charlotte shrugged, "INTRODUCING SECOND A GIRL THAT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION THE NUMBER SEVENTY NINE RANKED GRAPPLER, A JIU JITSU SPECIALIST WITH DROWNING LIKE PRESSURE SAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLEEEEEEEENAAAAAAAA", Sol looked at her making her entrance giving her a bit of a stank eye. '

After the introductions had played out the two met in the center of the mat, "Ok I assume you two have already heard the rules a bunch today, right?", the referee asked them, "Of course", Salena smiled at Sol, "Loud and clear", Sol just looked at her with a death stare, "THEN GO". Sol and Salena circled each other to start off, "So we actually got to meet in the finals this time", Salena mocked her, "Yeah, but unlike you I've been snapping arms while you've been a decision merchant", Sol replied to her ridicule, forcing a vein to pop from her forehead, "Whatever, cause by the end of this you're gonna be done", Salena told her off, "As if", she brushed the last statement off, continuing to circle each other Salena step in a bit pushing Sol's head down over and over trying to spark a reaction

Pushing someone's head down is a common thing in all forms of grappling from colligate wrestling to Bjj competitions. It's often a tool for frustration but can act as an offensive and defensive tool. Offensively it can be used to initiate clinch which opens up opportunities for take downs and standing could lead to submissions such as standing kimura's that you can pull guard into, standing guillotine that people roll to a top one, or a flying arm bar that while uncommon it isn't impossible. Defensively it's used to stuff out take downs by pushing on the aggressor's head and hopping away, but can also lead to spinning to the opponents back

After a few more push downs Salena shot in for a clinch getting into a collar tie with Sol, "Wow you did improve a little, I would've been choking you unconscious right now", a snide remark escaped her mouth, "Yeah right, your grip is as bad as your takedown game", Sol returned it pushing Salena's head out of the collar tie and trying for double underhooks, Salena tried to get wrist control which Sol pulled away from opting to give up the underhooks,"She's aware if standing submission offense this time around", Salena gritted her teeth hating to admit that shehadin fact gotten better. Sol began to chase her once more grabbing at her wrists to try and get some sort of tangible control, Salena for her part kept managing to pull her arms away, when necessary. "The feeling out process is a bit longer than the other matches", Jack pointed out, "Well of course they are, those two haven't faced off since summer of last year", Charlotte looked at the two as they stepped in and out of each other's range, "They need to see how far each other has come". Sol tried to get in by lunging for one of her legs Salena pushed both of her hands on the lead shoulder, Sol then switched her pressure to locking her arms in a waist lock, "JUST LIKE VANESSA", Asta stared at her with stars in his eyes

Chaining together takedown attempts is an excellent way to create a sort of doubt in your opponent's mind making them watch out for any sudden changes in weight and pressure so that they can adjust accordingly. This also helps people try and break as soon as possible to escape it or some people try and set position thinking that the chaining together of takedowns may have ended

Salena grabbed Sol's wrists in an attempt to break the waist lock, "NOW", Sol lasered in on the opportunity and slid her arms up to double under hooks Salena though lunged to try and prevent her from turning her, "Still has good defense", Sol felt a bit of annoyance begin to show,"Chain wrestling? No this feels like bait she didn't try to arch throw me", Salena tried to assess what Sol was trying to do, "She caught on didn't she?", Sol chuckled a little at Salena's adaptation before stepping her foot to her outer ankle and pushing Salena into it, "A trip? uncommon even from what I studied since last time", Salena spun around and pushed on Sol's shoulders to get her to let go of the underhooks. When she let go Sol tried to get in but was met with Salena trying to ankle pick her causing her to back up, and when she did Salena shot in for a single leg,"OH NO", Sol pushed down on her shoulder, but felt a sudden shift in weight,"NO NO NO NO NO NO", Sol could feel her back leg leave the ground, "NO", Charlotte yelled while she watched as Salena hoisted Sol into the air and slammed her to the mat,"DAMN IT", Sol let out a loud gasp as she felt the wind be blown out of her lungs, "GOTCHA", Salena tried to advance to side control, but was kept away by Sol up kicking her away, but Salena managed to catch Sol by the ankle and tossed her legs to the side securing side control as she did

Side control is widely one of the most dominant positions possible in grappling because it almost entirely cuts off two of the most important parts of ground defense which is the legs and hips as the position is focused on pinning the opponent's upper body so that things such as an arm triangle, armbar, or side kimura can open up. It is when these are attempted that trying to sweep your opponent becomes possible as when they move their legs it's possible to lock them and sweep them

"SOL WAIT FOR HER TO ADVANCE AND SWEEP", Charlotte yelled, "Will she shut up", Salena unintentionally vocalized her frustration making Sol a little mad, "DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT", Sol over hooked the arm nearest to her shoulder and wrapped the leg that was trying to go over her stomach Salena tried her best to pull away, but was unable to, "DAMN IT", Sol shrimped away from her creating a collar tie of the two in which both were on one knee, "Geez I guess you're not as terrible as I thought you'd be", Sol gritted her teeth, "What you angry I insulted your mommy?", Salena who was clearly trying to get on her nerves, "Will you just shut up", Sol managed to get back to both feet prompting Salena to try and shoot for a double leg

Sol counter with a double over hook slamming Salena to the mat, "ARMBAR", Charlotte yelled with a small wink, "I don't think so", Salena scoughed at her, "DON'T BE SO SURE", Sol fell onto her and grabbed her arm in a side control Kimura, "PUT YOUR LEG OVER HER HEAD", Charlotte yelled, Sol followed her instructions and put her leg over Salena's head, seeing so where to go Salena tapped, "OK OK OK LET GO", the ref pulled Sol away from her, "OH YEAH", Charlotte high fived a few of the surrounding coaches, "SHE DID IT", Mimosa jumped up and down together with Leo, "Man that was closer than any other so far", Yuno wiped his brow of some nervous sweat, "THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT", Asta cheered for her. The crowd began to lose it as well, "SHE JUST BEAT A TOP LEVEL OPPONENT" "WHERE HAS SHE BEEN THIS WHOLE TIME", Sol looked around at the people cheering her name, but was focused on her mom cheering her on, eventually when Salena recovered, they were brought to the center for an all too familiar speech, "I present the winner of the fall qualifying No Gi competition for featherweight SOL ROSELEI, Sol drank in the cheers and looked to see an almost full crowd, "C'MON", she looked at the path that was cleared to the back, "Wait", Sol turned her head to her former opponent, "If this-" "SHUT UP" "WOAH WOAH NO", the ref pushed her back a bit, "What-" "DON'T THINK THIS MEANS I'M DONE I'LL GET BACK TO THE MAIN EVENT AND WIN AS MANY AS I NEED TO GET BACK TO THIS", Salena screamed at her seemingly about to burst into tears, Sol looked at her with confusion before cracking a bit of a smile, "Sure", she turned and waved at her making her way through the path the crowd left

In locker room hall

Everyone was celebrating Sol's final no Gi win for the day, "THAT WAS SO COOL", Asta jumped around remembering how Sol used what she learned from Vanessa, "Gotta say though, I was really worried after that slam", Mimosa scratched her cheek nervously, "I get it, but shouldn't have been worried I mean I have been doing pretty well today", Sol smugly wiped her nose, "Just don't let your head get bigger than it already is", Yuno laughed, "Hey", Sol looked at him with a sarcastic brow raise and hands on her hips, "Ok ok we get it", Charlotte walked between them, "Anyway I'm gonna go to the vending machine area you guys want anything?", Asta asked them, "I'll just go with you", Yuno began to break off from the others, "Me too", Mimosa followed, "I-" "How about you kids just go and we'll be in the locker room", Theresa motioned for the rest to go, "Sure" "Ok" "Alright", the rest followed

"So, what do you guys think about your opening opponents?", Sol asked with her arms behind her head, "It was like your mom said there are a lot of new competitors this year", Mimosa answered, "I guess, but they also might be saving some of the better fights for each other I mean they placed Leo in a completely different bracket than any of the bigger names so I imagine at least a few will make it to the prelims", Sekke stroked his chin with his eyes closed, "Prelims?", Asta shook his head, "You really need a lot to learn when it comes to these events", Sol slouched over knowing she had to explain something else, "Come on I haven't done this before", Asta groaned, "I know I know", Sol stood back straight, "Ok so each of the qualifiers and main events have a live card that is streamed internationally when our events are over, and from what we're guessing they might try to get someone with a big name like Mimosa or Leo hoping they either win or have exciting fights to justify putting them on", Asta looked at the Vermillions, "What?", Leo looked back at him, "Nothing", Asta shook it off just as they got to the vending machines, "OH YEAH", Asta watched as his favorite drink fell from the machine a bitter drink made from the leaves of a tree that used to be really common in Hage, "You really drink that?", Sol raised her eyebrow in disgust, "OF COURSE IT HELPS ME GET STRONGER", Asta flexed his arms, and it had never occurred to the group just how built he was, at least until he would take his shirt off for sparring, "To each their own I guess", Sol shrugged and crouched down waiting for her drink a earth smooth drink similar to a natural bottle, "AND YOU THINK WHAT I DRINK IS GROSS?", Asta yelled at her making the others laugh a bit, "I see you've done rather well for yourself this time around", Sol gritted her teeth finding the voice familiar, "Hello Fana", she turned around to face her, "Ah geez now that I get to see you up close she does look exactly like Fana", Asta stroked his chin, "I.........haven't seen you before", Fana looked at Asta with a furrowed brow, "I'm new", she looked at the tall dark haired boy, "You either", Yuno blankly stared at her, "Me too", a clear tension between them could be cut with a knife, "So you here to fight?", Asta asked, "ASTA", Sekke tried to put his hand over his mouth, "No I'm here to congratulate Sol", she rolled her eyes, "Awww you shouldn't have", Sol sarcastically said with her arms folded, "Hey now no need to be rude", a close eyed smile came over her face, "You're lying", Asta sipped his drink a little more, "Huh?" "Asta", Sekke once again tried to stop him, "And how's that?" "I can tell", Asta lifted his hands into a guard, "ASTA", Leo and Mimosa joined in on trying to stop him, "Oh no be my guest", Fana hunched down Leo and Mimosa looked at each other, "I'll even say I started it", Fana smiled, "Whatever you say", the Vermillions and Sekke got out of the way, "FINE BY ME", Asta begun to fast approach, "NO", Sol got in between them, "Sorry Asta, but if anyone is gonna beat her in anything", Sol turned her gaze to make eye contact with her, "It's gonna be me", Fana stared at her with a bit of shock before laughing, "Well let's see how far that gets", she stood up and begun to walk away, "Hey you're friends with those other guys?", she turned around to see the short grey head, "What of it?" "The guy with spikey teeth" "Junior?" "Whatever his name is", Asta clinched his fists and threw them in the air, "TELL HIM I'M GONNA HEAD KICK THAT BELT OFF OF HIM", he yelled gettinng the attention of other students, "Oh no", Mimosa pinched the bridge of her nose, "Guess there's no stopping it now", Leo shook his head with a smile, "WE'RE DEAD WE'RE DEAD", Sekke wobbled to his knees, "Guess so", Yuno blankly stared ahead at the pink headed girl, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", she laughed, "Guess I will, but you better be prepared to back it up short stuff", she began to walk away again, "SHORT STUFF WE'RE LIKE THE SAME HEIGHT", Asta tried to chase after her, but the others held him away from her,"Sorry Asta", Fana thought about his name,"Asta huh? Guess we should keep an eye out for him", a large smile formed on her face

Later in the locker room

"HAHAHA", Yami laughed at what the other students were telling him, "Yami this is no laughing matter", Jack felt a little frustrated that he wasn't taking it seriously, "He's right Sukehiro, I mean your student threatened someone and tried to fight her", Theresa was shaking her head in dissatisfaction, "I GOT FAITH IN THE KID", he went back to laughing, "NOT THE POINT", Charlotte yelled, "Mom I think you're blowing this out of proportion", Sol tugged on her arm, "Yeah she seemed super ok with it at least", Mimosa tried to explain, "She was laughing at him not the challenge", Jack sat back down, "Whatever the case maybe the kid showed he wasn't afraid right?", Yami wiped a few tears of laughter from his face, "Whatever", Theresa rolled her eyes, "Sol's match is about to begin so shouldn't she get ready?", Yami picked up a water bottle and began to walk to the door, "OH sh*t", Sol looked at the time and noticed she had only a few minutes, "See ya champ" "One more win" "LET'S GET THIS", Sol smiled at them as they all left one by one, "Yeah", Charlotte chuckled a little bit, "What's up?", she looked back at her mom, "Nothing I just", Charlotte stared at the floor for a second, "You seem a bit different nowadays", she looked at her thinking about the times Sol coming home not wanting to talk bout school to coming home later talking all night about what her and her friends did, "How?" "You seem a lot more sociable" "What?" "It's just that when you were younger you hated going to school, but now it's all you ever talk about", her mom giggled, "I guess so", Sol rubbed the back of her head cause yeah it was true, sure her, Leo, and Mimosa were friends, but they never hung out after school and now they've hung out a few times, with.........Asta, "Guess so", Sol smiled, "Well lets not keep the world waiting anymore" "YEAH"

"SOL SOL SOL SOL", the crowd chanted for her, "DO THE WALK", a kid in the audience yelled to which she complied bouncing a bit as she made her way to the mat, "INTRODUCING FIRST REPRSENTING CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY SOOOOOOOOOOOLLL ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSLEI", Sol savored the moment as it would be the last at least for a bit of time doing the same arm motion she did last time before settling at her end of the mat, "GOING SECOND REPRESNTING GOLDEN DAWN PRIVATE SCHOOL A NEW COMER TO THESE COMEPETIONS CHHHHHHHAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLAAAAAAAAA", Sol looked intently at her opponents entrance way and was rather shocked at her appearance

"HAHAHA", Yami laughed at the girl, "She looks just like you when you were younger", he held his stomach, "Oh my god she does", Jack also let out a cackle, "Yeah", Charlotte looked at the girl watching as she made her way quietly to the mat. Sol kept staring at her not saying or doing much to hype the crowd or herself up as they were pulled to the center, "I assume you both don't need to hear the rules", the referee said looking at the both of them, "I do not", Charla answered, Sol though just stared at her, "Sol do you understand?" "Oh uh yeah", Sol answered sounding rather unsure, "Are you sure?" "Yea" "Ok then BEGIN". Sol backed away as soon as the ref said begin not entirely sure why, Charla on the other hand begun to close the distance trying to get a hold of Sol. Eventually she managed to get close enough to grab a hold of Sol's wrists, Sol just pulled away from her and continue to step back,"She isn't being as aggressive from what I've seen", Charla thought trying to close the distance again trying to find a moment of an opening trying to reach for her wrists and seeing that she would just pull away. Charla shot in again this time going for a single leg only to have her head pushed down and Sol escape,"Again", Charla internally groaned continuing to look for a takedown. Sol stared at Charla as she came forward feeling a little strange about it, something about Charla was off putting,"WHAT AM I DOING", Sol continued to step away trying to get distance from her before a whistle blew, "HEY" "Huh?", she looked at the referee, "Hey you've been inactive for forty seconds and you just stepped out of bounds", Sol looked at her back foot seeing that it was completely out of line, "Sorry but that's two points deducted", the ref lead the two back to the center of the mat, "Doesn't seem like she's feeling all too good about this ", Yami looked at Sol seeing that she was acting weird, "Yeah tell me about it", Charlotte clutched her arms. The two began again circling each other, "Y'know running isn't winning right?", Charla asked Sol, making her make a weird face

ten years ago

Sol collapsed on the floor after her first day of Judo, "You ok honey?", Charlotte walked over to, "HOW DO YOU DO THIS?", she flipped over to her side seeing her mom's legs and hearing a slight giggle, "Well I do it cause I like it", she sat down beside her with her legs crossed, "But it's so hard", Sol sat up in the same position, "Well yeah", Charlotte wrapped her arm around her, "Sometimes the things you love doing are going to be hard, but you can't just run away" "Well why not?", Sol asked as she looked at her mom who was looking ahead with watery eyes, "Because running away isn't winning anything, it just means you didn't want to deal with it"

Sol could feel her breath heave a little as she began to pull away again, "She isn't doing very well", Mimosa bit on her knuckle slightly, "NO I BELIEVE IN HER", Leo clinched both of his fists, "She'll be fine", Charlotte looked at Sol backing up,"I hope". Charla and Sol played the same game of chase and run once again and once again Sol seemed very unwilling to engage in anything. Charla begun feeling a little bit frustrated at the lack of action, sure she was basically up two points by doing nothing, but through some prodding she saw that Sol had a tendency to back up torso first which meant that lower body attacks were possible and likely to land, so she did a fake lunge to her wrists and when Sol backed up

Charla managed to ankle pick her and advance to seated side control, "NO", Charlotte jumped up screaming at her getting taken down, "WHAT IS SHE DOING", Mimosa bit down on her knuckle harder making a bit of a mark, "WELL THERE GOES THE HOT STREAK", Sekke face palmed, "Nah", Asta looked on ahead, "I hope you're right", Yuno folded his arms and watched with him. Sol sat in bottom position just trying to make it so that Charla couldn't advance to any sort of submission, "C'MON HONEY SWEEP", Sol looked over to her side seeing her mom cheering her on, "Huh", she looked back to Charla trying to get any of her limbs free,"That's why", Sol looked at her opponent who seemed to be a bit disappointed and frustrated with Sol's defense

Eight years ago

Sol waited for her mom to comeback home from work sitting upside down in their new apartment, "Get a photo of your parents for this week's project", she remembered what her teacher had said earlier, "I guess it couldn't hurt to see if she has some", Sol got up and walked to her mom's new bedroom seeing that she hadn't fully unpacked and begun to go through some of the boxes looking for one that contained photos, "Hmm", one of the boxes had a beat up quality to them, "Maybe here", she reached in grabbing the box before pulling the lid off of it, "Huh?", she skimmed through a few some of them were with a guy who seemed to look sleepy or would have a cigarette in their mouth, some with twins that had their eyes closed, some with a girl who looked similar to the first guy, and some with two older people. Those were the ones that looked the most joyless, ones where her mom was sitting down, and the older people were standing next to her, "What?", Sol began to dig more through the box finding even more photo's, "Who are these people?", she had two in her hand one with her mom sitting in the cigarette guys lap and one with Dorothy a woman that had come by a few times, "What are you doing?", she turned her head to see her mom in the doorway, "Oh I-I-I-I", Sol quickly placed her arms behind her back to hide what she was doing. Charlotte walked past her seeing some of her photo's strewn across the floor and a few boxes, "What did you do?", she looked back with a look of frustration, "I'm sorry", she looked down not wanting to look her in the eyes, "Please tell me", she saw Charlotte's feet meet hers before looking up, "My teacher said to get a photo of my parents", she confessed, "Then why did you need to go through all these?" "Well, it's just", Sol took one of the photos from her back and presented it to her, "Is this guy.......like my dad?", Charlotte sighed looking a bit disappointed, "No he isn't..........some one that just got away"

Sol seemed incredibly phased out not really focusing just trying to keep herself in the same position as not to get finished, "C'MON HONEY", Sol realized she was looking at her mom, "Oh yeah mom", Sol continued to look at her, "YOU GOT THIS DON'T GIVE UP", she watched her mom cheer her on, "GO GET HER OFF YOU" "C'MON GET HER" "OH I CAN'T WATCH" "C'MON" "YOU GOT THIS KID", she looked at Yami who she had finally remembered, "Hey this is my coach", Sol looked at Yami trying to figure out where she had seen him before, "That was you", she remembered how sad her mom looked when she said she wasn't like her, "REEEEEEEEEEEEE", Asta screeched at her making her chuckle internally,"WAIT", she suddenly snapped back to reality,"WHAT AM I DOING"

"What's your name?" "Sol" "Ok Sol let's get you back" "Alright"

"And you're sure you want to sign her over into your care?" "Yes"

"I promise I'll be there whenever you need me"

"Someday I want to be a grappling world champion" "Then go and do that, I won't stop you"

"Here's your black belt under the Ryudo school with Charlotte Roselei as your instructor"

"And your winner FANA ENOTECA"

"Didn't do it this time, but we'll do it next time"

"C'MON SOL THERES MOLTEN CAKE"

"You used to have long hair? I bet it looked pretty nice"

"You're pretty strange, but strange people are the ones I like the most"

"I want to be the first person to hold gold in boxing and MMA"

"Maybe someday to be like my mom, but I'm not sure yet"

"Why do I care? Cutting weights for weirdo's"

"I want to be able to stand next to you guys someday"

"Your takedowns are getting a lot better" "Yeah and your submission defense aint half bad"

"WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT TO TRIUMPH TOGETHER"

"EVERYONE BELIEVES IN ME",Sol got an overhook on Charla's right arm while she secured her left arm with an underhook shifting her hips to roll her over back to standing,"IWILLMAKE IT THERE WITH THEM""THERE WE GO", Charlotte screamed, "Finally doing something?", Charla smiled finally getting the match she was looking for, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW", Sol circled her, "HERE I COME THEN", Charla shot in on a body lock but Sol jumped back a bit and getting a standing guillotine attempt, but Sol moved to the side

"YEAH", Charlotte screamed at the top of her lungs, and it wouldn't take long for the referee to separate the two as Charla had tapped, "THERE SHE IS" "YES YES YES", the crowd cheered for her causing her to take one of those stage bows. The two had been gather back to the center, "HERE IS YOUR WINNER BY ARM BAR ONCE AGAIN SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEIIII", the crowd roared for her, but her opponent was the one she could hear the most, her clapping her hands to be exact getting Sol's attention, "Huh?", she lifted her brows in surprise, "Have to hand it to you, you're pretty damn good", Sol chuckled a bit, "What?" "Nothing you just remind me of someone" "Is it your mom?" "HUH?", she seemed rather surprised that she knew, "It's just I was watching one of your matches earlier and one of my friends said I looked like her", Charla's gaze was set over to Charlotte, "Yeah actually you even have a similar name", she nervously rubbed the back of her head, "That's nice I suppose", Charla did the same, but with a bit of disappointment, "You're upset you didn't win?" "Kind of", the two shared a small laugh together, "Well I wish you luck in the main event", Charla bowed before leaving the mat, "You too", Sol waved at her, "Think we should get going", she turned around to see her mom, "YEP"

In the locker room

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart",

Mimosa stared at her opponent in the ring, "You ready to get your face hit for real princess", her opponent mocked her, "Not gonna matter when I leave you in the middle of ring looking at the lights", the two approached each other to begin

AND

"To think the brother of people like Mereoleona and Fuegoleon Vermillion would be such a disappointment", Leo's opponent snarked at him, "Shut up", he bounced around mimicking a mix of Vanica and Gauche's foot work, "I bet the whole world will know my name when I knock out a vermillion", the two circled each other as the bell rang

Chapter 8: Duel Vermillion fangs!

Chapter Text

In parking lot of the event

After the last match of Sol's competitions there was a bit of down time to ready the ring for the next two events leading to a bit of down time for our heroes, "HMMMMM THIS IS SO GOOD", Asta shoved some chili fries from a food truck in his mouth, "DUDE EAT WITH YOU MOUTH CLOSED", Sol shut his mouth by holdings his jaw and the top of his head making the others laugh, "HEY", Asta yelled through his shut mouth, "I'll let go if you promise to eat with your mouth closed", she looked at him as she held his mouth shut getting a nod in response, "Ok", Sol let go and observed for a second watching as Asta slowly chewed what was in his mouth and swallowing it, "Good", Sol turned her attention back to her own food a basic salad with some dressings, "I'm surprised to see you eat something so light right now", Mimosa said sitting on the curb with her hands on the ground behind her, "They didn't have lava cake so I thought might as well get something healthy", she said while taking another bite, "You guys should worry a little bit more about what you're eating", Sol looked at them Leo eating a steak burrito, Mimosa eating a strawberry cream sandwich, Sekke a grilled snake skewer, and Yuno eating a cone of ice-cream, "Nah", Leo waved it off before taking another bite, "Maybe, but we still have a bit of time to digest", a nervous bead of sweat formed on Mimosa's forehead, "Snake isn't too bad for you is it?", Sekke asked while taking another bite, "I'm not really sure to be honest", Yuno stroked his chin with his free had for a moment to think about it, "Probably not", Asta added on with a few fries in his mouth, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?", Sol wrapped her hands around his neck, shaking him as she did, "SO-S-SO-SORR-YYY", Asta managed to get through a few chokes, "HAHAHAHA", the gang once again laughed at the display, "YOU WON'T EAT WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN?", Sol asked getting a head shake in return, "Fine", she let go of him, "THANK YOU", Asta held his throat as he fell over, "Whatever", Sol began to eat again, "Talk about brutal", Sekke commented as he rubbed his own neck, he could feel it by just watching them, "Shouldn't be eating with your mouth open", she scoughed, "To be fair I don't think that was entirely necessary", Mimosa commented with a bit of concern, "See", Asta pointed to her for affirmation, "Well I did it and I can't take that back", Sol shrugged eating a bit more as she did, "I guess", Yuno shrugged as well before finishing his cone, "Hey", the students turned around to Theresa, "What's up?", Leo asked, "The ring is set up and they said we have thirty minutes before the opening matches for your bracket", she motioned for them to comeback with her head, "LETS GO", Leo blasted up to follow, "Wait up", Mimosa followed them, "Guess we should go too", Sol dusted herself off throwing her plate in the trash, "yeah", Sekke tossed his skewer sticks, "WAIT", Asta followed trying to close the box to his chili fires

In the locker room

"Ok so first it goes Leo then Mimosa", Theresa looked at their match cards, "What about full contact?", Mimosa asked, "Those are gonna be hosted after the semi contact boxing matches close up", she answered, "But for right now I think it's best we go over some game planning for your opening fights", Theresa pulled a tablet out of her bag, "Starting with Leo", she pulled up a video of his opponent, a guy named Goht, "From what I've seen looking at the tapes he seems to be a bit of a dirty boxer", a video of a slick elbow landing after he had broken a clinch and getting a jab jab straight combination after stomping on the opponents foot, "But he's a pretty good power puncher", an overhand showed his ability to wobble an opponent even through head gear, "Ok", Leo watched the video seeing moments of arm wrenching, elbows, etc., "The closes look we've got at one was Vanica", Leo bit his tongue remembering sparring with her,*CRACK*"THEN DON'T CLINCH"*SLICE*"VANICA" "MIMOSA CUT IT OUT" "But-" "It's fine", "I see", he bawled his fists a bit at the memory, "However I think I have a decent rudimentary game plan to beat him", she pulled out a beaten up notebook, "Damn I haven't seen one of those in a while", Leo laughed, "What is it?", Asta joined in on the conversation, "I keep notebooks on all the gameplans, fights, and tactics I've logged over the years", she opened it up, "But since I've switched to being their coach I haven't had much time to do this", Theresa began to flip through it, and Asta had seen some familiar names Lilith a boxer famous for her ice cold demeanor, but her patented corkscrew punch and Nahama another boxer who had a similar personality to Mereoleona and had actually taken a few rounds off of her before getting KO'd, "Wow", Asta looked as she continued to flip through the book, "Here", a page focused on a woman named Liliane Vaude, "I've never heard of this one", Asta stared at it, "She was a boxer that was making her way through the rankings a while back, but it turns out she had been packing her gloves and was basically black listed from the sport", Theresa gritted her teeth a bit, "Just wish they did it before she made tens of millions" "Cool, but can we get back to me", Leo asked, "Right. Anyway, I think that the mix of slugging mixed with dirty boxing the best game plan I think is likely a defensive style", Leo shook his head, "Like the Philly shell?" "No kid I hate to break it to you, but you ain't no Mayweather", Yami joined in, "Then what?", Leo lifted his brow. Theresa smiled a bit, "I think going over a jab heavy back away style is best", Leo frowned at her response, "But-" "Hold on", she interrupted him, "Jabbing and keeping range is the key, but getting off big counter shot's when he attempts to quickly go in for a clinch or big shot is gonna be where you score the most points" "Wait we only have like forty minutes how-" "You're gonna do some pad work with Yami", she pointed to him, "He's a good counter puncher, but also had a pretty good defensive jab", Leo looked at the gruff man, remembering his sparring session with Fuegoleon, "Alright", Theresa tossed a pair of gloves for Leo to use, "C'mon kid". Theresa then turned her focus to Mimosa, "And for you", Mimosa looked at her, "I don't know there wasn't any tape on her and it seems this is going to be her first at one of these events", Mimosa slouched over in disappointment, "Oh" "Look sorry, but this is something that happens from time to time we'll just brush up on your pad work and stick to the style you box and we'll be good", Theresa stared off the side a bit, "Probably", the tacked on bit at the end didn't instill much more confidence than she had before

"Ok one one two", Yami instructed Leo, "Ok"*BANG BANG* *SMACK*he hit the pads, "Woah kid", he pulled the pads back, "What?", Leo shook his head, "You're hitting as hard as you can" "And?" "This is semi contact; I say you should go on a more volume approach", Yami messed with his lips and hummed as if he was thinking about something, "Go to about fifty sixty percent that way you can converse your energy for the real deal, and if necessary to tire them out and tee off on them when they have drained all of theirs", Leo nodded at the explanation, "Besides when someone's coming in you need far less power than you think to knock them down or even out. So, one one two" *Bang bang* *smack* the blows on the pads were considerably quieter than before, "Good just like that", the two practiced the drill a few more times, "Step outside when you're done", Asta commented, "Sure", Leo threw another combination and pivoted to the side when he did, "Nice now add a cross after", Yami added on, "Ok"*bang bang* *smack*Leo moved to the side*bang*he hit the pad with the cross, "Good good", Yami egged him on, "Ok now I'm gonna add a straight and you lean out of the way and counter, ok?" "Ok"*bang bang* *smack* *bang*Yami throughout the straight just as he said, but Leo only moved out of the way and stepped out, "Sorry a bit of instinct", Leo apologized, "Don't worry just don't do it again", Yami assured him, "Right", the two got back to it*bang bang* *smack* *bang*and when Yami threw the cross Leo leaned back and pivoted to the outside hitting the pad with an uppercut*BANG*the moment from him moving and the pad going forward created a far louder sound than the rest of his shots, "See what I mean? The force from someone moving in mixed with your volume will be enough", Leo nodded before the two began again

Mimosa watched her cousin hitting pads feeling a little conscious of her pad work, "C'mon Mimosa focus", Theresa called to her, "Right sorry", she lifted her hands back up practicing a few basic combos, "Jab straight lead hook", Theresa instructed her*Bang* *Smack* *Smack*Mimosa stepped back after it, "First we have to work on your inability to move forward", Theresa commented after, "What?", Mimosa lifted her brow continuing to practice combos, "Whenever you land a decent combo or big shot you back away or if you get pressured you tend to shell up", Mimosa thought about and she was unfortunately correct, since head gear or not she didn't like getting hit in the face, "Ok, but how do we fix that?", she asked getting back into form, "I'm not sure", Theresa held up the pads seeing Mimosa connect a jab cross lead uppercut combo and circle away, "We don't have much time to unlearn it, but we can at least get you a little more comfortable with the idea", Mimosa landed another combo, "Didn't really answer how", Theresa stopped putting the pads down for a moment, "I think maybe having someone genuinely pressure you with their hands, but not land might help", Mimosa scrunched up her face a little knowing that there were two people who had effective boxing in the room who weren't occupied, "Who did you have in mind?" "Yuno actually", Yuno turned his head at her answer, "What?", he shook his head, "It's just that between you, Sekke, Sol, and Asta you have the least effective boxing", Yuno frowned a little, "How is my boxing worse than a grappler?" "Hold on let me rephrase that", Theresa moved her mouth around before answering, "Your boxing is more effective than hers, but that's because her boxing is nonexistent and won't really help Mimosa get used to it, on the other hand Asta and Sekke's is decently effective but might not emulate a real boxer so they might throw punches that are set up heavy or just wing for her head to get reactions instead of acclimating her to real punches, you are the perfect balance between them since your boxing was created through her and you don't yet have the experience to have it affect the way you box", a long explanation came from her, which made sense, "Ok", Yuno stood up, "Here", Sekke tossed him a pair off 16oz gloves, "You know some of the basics correct?", Theresa asked him, "Mimosa taught them to me yes" "Then just go off of what you both know", she left the two to work together, "Sorry", Mimosa apologized, "No. It's no trouble at all", Yuno laughed, "Please just don't kick me, ok?", she joked with him, "No promises", he laughed with her. The two had a few light boxing exchanges bantering back and forward, "Fragil invite you to her party?", Yuno asked throwing a few close jabs that Mimosa ducked out of the way of, "Yeah she asked me and Noelle in history", she answered, "She coming?" "Not sure, her mom is still pretty mad that she got detention so soon into the school year", Mimosa answered while throwing a few body shots and an upstairs hook that Yuno leaned out of the way of, "OOOO I see your using the advice I gave you", Mimosa giggled, "What can I say? It's good advice", the two continued to talk for some time getting some work in before the opening matches began. Eventually the time had come for the opening matches to begin, and the two Vermillions would have their matches take place simultaneously, "Good luck guys", Sol left the room with her mom, "You guys got this", Jack and Sekke followed them, "I hope you do well out there", Yuno waved at Mimosa, "Thanks", she waved back, "Talk about prince charming", Theresa nudged her with her elbow, "It's now like that", Mimosa corrected her with a tinge of red on her cheeks, "Sure kid", Theresa laughed, "You guys good to go?", she turned her attention to Yami, Asta, and Leo, "Yep", Leo answered taking a few stutter steps to show his eagerness, "Don't really want to sound like a prude, but why is Asta still here?", Mimosa asked, "He's a part of our corner team", Yami placed his hand on the grey hairs head, "I see", Theresa stroked her chin at his answer, "C'MON I DON'T WANT TO WAIT ANY MORE LET'S GO", Leo bounced up and down, "I guess we shouldn't keep the world waiting", Mimosa stretched a bit before heading to the door, "WE GOT THIS", Asta followed them, "Ah youthful energy, hate to say it but I miss it", Theresa looked at Yami, "Speak for yourself, I still got plenty of youth", the two laughed before joining the students.As the group made it to the main area the sight of multiple rings made them feel a little nervous knowing that their opponents were likely going to be decided based on their initial performances, "YOU GO GET THEM", Leo waved to Mimosa before walking to his designated ring, "YOU TOO", she yelled back at him as he got further away, "Ready kid?", Theresa asked her, "Yes"

In Leo's ring

The trio began making their way to the ring walking along a small strip indicating the corner he would be fighting for, "Introducing first fighting out of the red corner representing Clover kingdom academy with an official weight of 139 lbs Leopald Vermillion", Leo twitched his brow at the use of his full first name, "Aw man I coulda sworn I wrote for them to use Leo", he groaned, "Don't complain kid just go with it", Yami chuckled, "Yeah man y'know roll with the punches, "I guess", he just shrugged it off for the moment as he began walking up the steps to the ring, "Vermillion? Like Leona and Fuego?" "Oh yeah they had a younger brother" "I thought he would be one of Triumphs champions", Leo felt a bit more annoyance at the crowd's comments begin to mount, "Don't worry about it right now", Yami told him from the apron, "You got this man", Asta assured him from the corner, "Yeah", Leo nodded his head before placing his mouth guard in while Yami began to strap his head gear in, "Introducing second fighting out of the blue corner representing Salamander Spirit boarding school with an official weight of 145 lbs The burning snake Goht", Leo, Asta, and Yami watched the red strip seeing a thin nerdy looking guy walk out

"They sure this guys a highschooler?", Yami lifted his brow, "I mean you have to be representing a school and I don't think they would just let a grown man fight a teenager", Leo traced the guy with his eyes, "Still looks super old", Asta mirrored Yami's expression. The referee gathered the two competitors in the center of the ring, "Here are the rules there will be three three-minute rounds and a minute thirty of rest in between each round, scoring will be handled by five judges who will be watching for the number of blows landed, how effective each of those blows are, and if your pressure or defense is effective. They will only count legal blows and if they believed an illegal shot has been too damaging and the opponent cannot continue it will be labeled a disqualification for the party that threw the illegal blow. Any holding techniques such as clinching, and arm wrenching will result in a breakup and in the case of arm wrenching the opponent will be allotted recovery time while the fowled party being forced to jog in place for forty-five seconds. Now that I've stated the rules do you guys understand?", the ref looked at the two, "Yeh" "Of course", Goht smiled at Leo, "Good now back to your corners till I say start", the two walked back to their respective corners, "Let's get this first one in the bag", Yami fist bumped him, "Get this weirdo out of here", Asta leaned on the ropes, "Yeah" "START", the ref yelled prompting the two to go the center

Leo circled Goht to start off waiting for him to do something to gage what he was capable of, "A vermillion huh?", Goht stared at Leo, "What about it?", Leo laughed back at him, "Nothing I just never thought I would get the chance to try myself against one", Goht tried to come in with a step in upper cut, but Leo hit two back to back jabs and stepped away from him, "Oh very nice", Goht complimented him, "Sure man", Leo stone faced feeling like something was up with the guy. Leo began to close a small amount of distance, just enough to get his jab in range*bang bang*Leo landed a few good ones before stepping out of range again, "Good good", Goht smiled, "But I was expecting a bit more of a heavy rush approach, y'know like your sister", Leo gritted his teeth beginning to get back into range, "NO STICK TO THE GAMEPLAN", Leo heard Yami yell at him, "Right", he stopped himself and got back out of range, "Hmmm", his opponent hummed with a clear smugness in his voice,"He seems to rely on the Philly shell very heavily, so clinching is gonna be the key", Goht remembered the game plan his coach laid out for him, but this time around Leo was using a more traditional high guard

A high guard is a little bit different to a normal guard. A high guard is a bit higher and tucks the arms closer to the face using the knuckle part of the glove to cover the temples and the forearms cover the chin, the elbows are used to push down the body hooks one might throw in response to high guard, its used primarily used to get in but can be used at a distance for safer jabbing and transitioning into the Philly shell while getting away from your opponent

Goht tried once more to get in, but got caught with a cross lead upper cut that Leo began to move away from after it landed,"A defensive style, but different than what they promised", he gritted his teeth in a bit of frustration before he tried to follow Leo a gain*bang bang bang*a triple jab connected and much like before Leo backed away, "GOOD STUFF KID", Yami complimented him, getting a nod in response, "You're not as much of a bone head as your sister", Goht smiled again, Leo just tried to ignore it, "Whatever", Leo brushed it off as he continued to back away, "She's just so much of a brawler that it can hardly be considered skill", Leo bit down harder on his mouth piece, "Just using her physical advantages to carry her", Goht chuckled a bit at the last bit, "Don't do it kid", Yami watched Leo's face slowly change, "Just shut up will you", Leo tried to get in leading with an overhand*CRACK*an uppercut landed as he tried to get in , "Oh my god", Yami put his hand in his eyes, "Bruh", Asta watched the scene unfold*RING RING*the bell went off signaling the end of the round, "Well kid you were winning up to that moment so I don't really know how the judges are gonna score that one", Yami shook his head at Leo's last minute rush, "He's getting in your head, you can't fall into it", Asta poured some water in his mouth, "I know", Leo responded, looking at his opponent from across the ring, "Just stick to the gameplan and when he rushes in counter", Yami swung his fists around motioning what he should do, "Ok", Leo sat up from the stool as the bell rung

The second round had begun with Leo and Goht meeting at the center, Leo trying to keep just out of range while Goht was using his foot work to try and get in,"Stick to the game plan", Leo told himself as he jabbed at range trying to time a big counter shot for when he came in *bang bang* a few jabs landed for Leo stepping out again, "You're a much more boring fighter than your siblings", Goht smirked a slight amount of markings slightly visible, "I know what you're doing man", Leo just through a few jabs that Goht weaved from and backed up, "I know what you're trying to do man", Leo pivoted before throwing a cross that landed rather clean, "and it ain't gonna work", he stepped back once again, "You sure about that?", Goht laughed, "Yeah", Goht darted in to try and close distance*Crack*Leo landed an uppercut when he did, "NICE" "THERE YOU GO KID", Leo smiled at his corner men before getting out, or he WOULD have since when he tried he felt something stop him,"Huh", he looked down to see that Goht had stomped on his foot*BANG BANG* *SMACK*Goht landed a hard combo directly on his face

Foot stomping in boxing had existed since the birth of the sport, but has also been hounded since the early 1900's. It's used in most cases as a passing move to temporarily throw off the rhythm by stomping on the tip of the toes and closing distance when they are thrown off, these are often times sold as accidents. In the more malicious version of this, the user would stomp on the whole foot and dig their heels into the toes to try and cut off and damage one of a boxers most important tools, their foot work and with the damage to the foot aside it also locks them down leaving them open for punches that is harder to evade with basic head movement.

*CRACK*one last straight hand landed dropping Leo, not because it rocked him but because he had crossed his legs and fell over from the force of the punch, "NO", Asta yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DID YOU SEE THAT REF?", Yami yelled at him making the ref check on Leo, "You ok?" he asked, "Yeah, but he did stomp on my foot", Leo got back to his feet, "Alright", the ref made his way to Goht, "Kid that's a point", he told him, "It was one time?", Goht tried to play innocent, "One time that led to him getting dropped so sorry", he gathered the two in the center after giving Leo thirty seconds to recover, "Begin", Leo gritted his teeth feeling frustrated from about the cheating, "Sorry about that", Goht chuckled a bit, "Cool", he responded with a poker face. Leo continued to jab at range not landing all the time and when he did land, they weren't quite as powerful as his earlier ones, "Man", Yami watched the two circle each other, "He seems mad", Asta whispered, "Just hold on", the two watched the rest of the round. Leo kept jabbing at range trying to get him to make a mistake, "He isn't engaging", Goht could feel the round slip away, "Here goes nothing", he dashed in throwing an overhand, "Pivot and cross", Leo remembered the pad work the trio did in the back, "HERE",*SMACK*a clean cross landed wobbling Goht a bit, "Now", he tried to go in for a barrage*RING RING*the bell went off before he could though, "Yes more of that", Yami patted him on the shoulder, "Sure, but when you step in for the straight try to pivot to the outside instead less force but way safer for the big attacks he's trying to land", Asta did some coaching of his own, "Ok yeah", Leo nodded his head as Asta funneled some water into his mouth, "Also don't go in for hard shot's if he's not moving, move when he moves try and find his rhythm", Leo nodded again at the last bit of advice before standing from the stool to meet Goht in the center of the ring for the last round, "You two ready?" "Yeah" "Yes" "Then go"

The last round got underway Goht gloated a bit, "I really don't think the judges can give you the first round", Leo gritted his teeth, "And I did drop you in the second", he continued to circle him, "But hey I think maybe your name can get you this win""I think he'd rather hope to win on his name than throw with his own conviction", Leo gritted his teeth harder beginning to go in, "NO", Yami yelled, "GAME PLAN KID GAME PLAN", Leo stopped for a second,"He'd rather lose a decision than chase victory at the cost of a stoppage", "What's wrong?", Goht chuckled,"There it is go for it", he started to step in to see if he would bite on it, but Leo didn't he stayed in place, "HERE I COME", Goht threw a straight that cracked Leo out of his thoughts, "OH MY GOD KID", Yami shook his head, "C'MON JUST GET OUT", Asta added on, "Yea", Leo thought before backing up, "There we go", Goht tried to follow but got jabbed away, "Calm yourself collect yourself", Leo told himself trying to shake away the shot, "Got to do something", Goht grunted knowing that the judges couldn't count the knock down from the second round, he slipped a second jab, "There", he noticed the lack of a follow up shot. So, he waited for Leo to throw a double jab combination finding the same opening when he did, he initiated a clinch when a third double jab combo got thrown, "HEY", Leo yelled at him, but he just held onto one of his arms and threw a few hooks at Leo's free arm, "HEY HEY HEY", the ref began to get in between the two not before Goht landed a hard hook to Leo's liver, "STOP", he finally broke the two up, "YOU FORTY SECOND JOG", Goht laughed knowing that he landed a blow that could lead to a finish, "Can you go?", the ref asked Leo who was on one knee holding his side, "I-""He isn't gonna chase a win" "IF THEY DON'T GET BEAT THEY DON'T GET BETTER", Leo gritted his teeth, "Yeah I can", he slowly stood back up while maintaining eye contact with Goht as he jogged in place, "You sure?", Leo looked over to his corner getting some smiles and a thumbs up from Asta, "Sure as I'll ever be", the ref nodded motioning for Goht to come to the center, "Ready to go?" "Yes", Goht chuckled, "I'm gonna smash you dude", Leo chuckled back, "Sure", the two began once more Leo staying with the jab at range, "Still?", Goht grunted this time that got put out loud, "Bet your ass still", Leo smiled, "I'll bet you nothing", he tried to come in swinging a few wild shots, "Have to get something", he thought before clinching again, "HEY-", the red was about to break them up, but Leo pushed her arms down and landed a hook, "YES", Goht tried to back away, "NOW LET IT RIP", Yami screamed, "TOLD YA I'D SMASH YOU", Leo yelled*BANG BANG BANG*three jabs connected on Goht's guard*SMACK*a hook to the body landed on him, "NO", Goht let out an audible breath*SMACK* *BANG*a lead hook to the liver and a straight to the stomach*BANG BANG*two jabs to the body landed*BANG* *SMACK*an inverse of the body hook straight combo landed causing Goht to lower his hands*SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK*Leo let a barrage of hooks catching clean every time, "ENOUGH", the ref got in between the two to stop the fight, "YESSSSSSSSSSSS", Leo screamed in his opponents face, "YOU GOT THAT", Yami and Asta screamed together, joining Leo in the ring for the call, "Here is your winner by way of TKO LEOPALD VERMILLION", the crowd cheered a bit for him and Goht just retreated to the back, "Good stuff kid", Yami held the ropes open for Leo, "Thanks" "Those were some wild hooks", Asta followed while he laughed, "Don't act like you're any more graceful", Yami pushed him out of the ring, "HEY" "Just shut it and let's get back"

With Mimosa

The referee got done explaining the rules to the two fighters one of them representing a prestigious name the other representing diamond kingdom boarding school, "You two ready?", the ref asked the two, "Yes", Mimosa nodded holding her gloves out for a touch, "In your dreams princess", Catherine laughed her off bothering Mimosa a bit as the two were sent to their corners, "You got this", Theresa told Mimosa, "I know", she raised her guard, "BEGIN", the first round had begun starting with Mimosa and Catherine fast approaching each other, "You nervous?", Catherine chuckled as she looked at Mimosa's squared up stance, "Not at all", Mimosa responded throwing a few jabs after she did. A feeling out process had begun for the two feinting, throwing fake jabs and shadow stepping to try and get an understanding of each other's ticks, "Not really an active fighter", Catherina thought to herself, "She's not biting", Mimosa gritted her teeth waiting for something to happen before the two stepped in at the same time,"NOW", a thought of forward attack came across both of their minds as they both threw a straight and both of them ended up ducking to avoid it,"Good stuff", they thought as they stepped out from each other,"A similar counter shot style?", Catherine thought as the two went back to the feel out process

Deadlock: A process in which two or more opposing parties cannot make any sort of progress, a common occurrence in combat sports considering that when the consequence of a moment of imperfection could result in a KO or stoppage, it's understandable that there would be hesitation to engage. This is most common in fights in which two counter punchers are fighting waiting for an opening or mistake that the other makes. It can also happen when both fighters are acutely aware of the others KO power, a prime example is Israel Adesanya Vs Yoel Romero where Adesanya was aware Romera had crazy Ko power and didn't want close distance in fear of it. Romero on the other hand understood that Adesanya was a phenomenal counter strike seen in his KOs over Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker, making the fight a big snooze fest with a few big moments from each

Mimosa continued to start Catherine down still watching for the slightest opening to capitalize on, "C'mon give me something", she watched Catherine stutter stepping at her, "She-"*CRACK*one of those stutter steps turned out to be an actual advancement, a step-in lead upper cut, "You do that a lot", Mimosa commented on Gauches way of going in, "It's been connecting", Gauche rolled his eyes in response to her, "You're not worried someone's gonna get a read on it?" "I mean I can get away with it if their hesitant", Gauche's answer rung in her head after eating the shot, "OH NO", she watched Catherine begin to close distance, Mimosa decided to stop her momentum by ducking an over hand and clinching, "HEY", Catherine yelled at her, "Let go let go", the ref broke the two up before letting them go again, "Did I make you nervous?", Cathrine mocker her, "Whatever", Mimosa gritted her teeth as she tried to throw a few jabs to get something on the board for her, "This isn't gonna get you much", Catherine tried to throw a counter cross that Mimosa barely pulled back from, "Now", Mimosa thought as she snapped back into place*SMACK*a lead hook to the body landed*BANG BANG*two back to back jabs, "YES THERE IT IS", Theresa yelled landed, Mimosa went in for a big over hand*CRACK* *SMACK*Catherine hit a uppercut hook combo, "NO", her coach put her face in her hands at the counter, "YOU'RE DONE", Catherine went for the finish *RING RING* the bell went off cutting her from getting anything else off, "Well pretty even round, but I think she got it", Theresa poured water into Mimosa's mouth, "I know", a clear amount of disappointment in Mimosa's voice, Theresa bit her lip a bit before giving some advice, "Ok I think we need a new approach" "And what's that?" "Need to go forward, throw a lot of volume like-" "Leo", Mimosa finished her sentence, "Yep", Theresa gave her pupil a thumb up, "Ok", Mimosa banged her gloves as she got off of the stool

The round begun with Catherine shelling up the same way she begun the first round, but to her surprise Mimosa took up a slightly more laxed guard and was fast approaching Catherine, "She's coming to me?", Catherine puzzledly looked at her, "Like Leo", Mimosa got into hitting range seeing Catherine load up on a counter shot, "HERE",*Bang*a jab landed to a pretty decent degree, but Catherine threw a cross the moment it connected *BANG* it snapped her head back a little causing Mimosa to back up, "NO THAT'S THE RANGE SHE WANTS YOU IN", Theresa called to her, "Huh?"*SMACK* *BANG*Catherine followed up with a few shots to the body Mimosa clinched up only for a moment though to switch positions in the ring

Clinching in boxing is more than just a way to slow the pace of the fight or to keep yourself from being hit. It can be used in many offensive ways the first of which is switching positions in the ring, and for more defensive fighters the ability to go from suffocating at the ropes to having the entire ring behind you as open space is incredibly beneficial. Another way to use it is to initiate close proximity exchanges where the two fighters are tied up afraid that leaving that immediate range because of the extra space hooks would get to generate more power

Mimosa shelled up pushing against Catherines guard which was being held identically to each other, "RIP HER UP", Theresa yelled to which Mimosa began to throw hooks to the body*SMACK SMACK SMACK*a few landed back-to-back where Catherine began to lower her elbows to guard her body*CRACK*an upper cut landed cleanly, Catherine clinched to stuff the distance and give herself some time Mimosa dipped down to leave the clinch*BANG BANG*two loud jabs connected*BANG*she threw a cross to finish the sequence having the ref step in and stop the bout and once she did Mimosa did a little dust off of the shoulder. "Here is your winner by tko in the second round Mimosa Vermillion", she pumped her fist a bit at her win, "Whatever", Catherine waved her off before leaving, "You too", Mimosa held her glove up to her, a middle finger inside, "Good stuff", Theresa laughed knowing what she was doing, "Gotta say that was a pretty weird approach", Mimosa laughed as she got out of the ring, "I know, aggressiveness isn't really your style", the old lady laughed with her as they walked down the steps, "I thought it was pretty cool", the two looked over to see Yuno, "Hey I just realized I forgot something at the bus", Theresa nudged Mimosa with her elbow, "Huh?", she looked back at her coach as she began to walk away, "That was a pretty cool finish", Yuno complimented her, "Oh thanks", Mimosa rubbed the back of her head, "You need help with those?", Yuno pointed at her causing her to look at her hands, the boxing gloves still on them, "Oh yeah.......Please?", Mimosa extended her arms for him to undo the strings, "No problem", Yuno began undoing her gloves, "Sorry I should've asked Theresa before she left, "No it's no problem at all", Yuno took off the two gloves while Mimosa chuckled, "Should we go back?", Mimosa asked, "Sure", the two began walking back to the locker room, "So how did it feel?", Yuno asked, "The fight or the finish?", Mimosa responded with another question, "Both I guess" "Well it felt pretty good, I haven't had a tko in a while, but still wasn't the greatest performance", she rubbed the back of her head, "I thought it was pretty good", Yuno tried to assure her, "I guess, I just think that she might", Mimosa stopped to think for a little bit longer, "I mean I'm a counter puncher" "Uh huh" "But maybe she does that style better than me", a nervous sweat formed on her forehead, Yuno began to try and find a way to get rid of her unease, "I don't think so" "Really?" "Yeah" "How so?" "Well", Yuno tapped his chin a bit, "I guess it's more like the two styles kinda cancel each other out, and the first person that engages is just the person who's gonna get caught more", Mimosa thought about it, "But that's also sort of why you won", she shook her head a bit, "She couldn't do another style, and when you began to try and suffocate the space between you two she didn't have a way to make the proper adjustments", Mimosa thought about it some more, "Yeah you're right.....thanks", Yuno looked at her while she stared ahead, "Hey wanna go get something from the vending area?", Mimosa looked back at him before giving an answer, "Yeah"

At the locker room

When to pair had gotten back to the locker room, they saw everyone else waiting for them, "Where were you guys?", Asta asked as he held pads for Leo, "Sorry I was just getting a drink", Mimosa answered, Yuno just shrugged his shoulders and sat down on one of the beaches, "Well we shouldn't get too into it", Theresa just looked at Mimosa with a raised brow, "What?" "Nothing let's just to it", Theresa also pulled out some pads, "Ok so we got a bit before your next match I guess we can try and work that volume style a little more", she said as Mimosa put her gloves back on, "Ok". "As for you", Yami pointed at Leo, "We got to work some of that counter punching more", Leo shook his head, "You ready?", Theresa and Yami asked Leo and Mimosa, "Yeah", the two answered at the same time, "Then let's go and get this win". After three other matches each Mimosa had won all three two by TKO and once by decision, while Leo did similar but instead getting three decisions. The time came for their finally matches of the semi contact boxing events. "You ready?", Theresa asked Mimosa, "Yep", Mimosa jumped up and down moving her head out of the way of Theresa throwing punches. "Ready to take this?", Yami asked Leo while he had some touch sparring with Asta, "Hell yeah I am", Leo looked away for a moment letting Asta touch his face a little bit, "HEY", Leo looked as Asta laughed at him, "Shouldn't have taken your eyes off me", Leo just smiled before they began again, "Ok then let's go"

With Leo

Yami, Asta, and Leo began walking to the ring hearing the people cheer for him, "LEO LEO LEO" "C'MON PUT HANDS ON THIS GUY", the crowd cheered for him, "Don't let it get to your head now", Yami chuckled, "Of course", Leo shadow boxed on his way to the ring, "Introducing first representing Clover Kingdom Academy Leopald Vermillion", Leo gritted his teeth again, "Don't worry, you're gonna get it after this", Asta assured him, Leo didn't really say anything back as he got in the ring settling in his corner waiting for his opponent, "Introducing second representing Silver Eagles boarding school SIMON", a guy with blonde hair made his way to the ring, "Geez all these kids look old", Yami laughed, "No kiddin", Asta just gave a side mouth, "Ok you two I assume you already know the rules", the ref asked the two, "Yea", they responded, "THEN GO". The match started off with the two going to the center immediately initiating a close tie up, "Vermillion huh?", Simon smiled, "What of it?", Leo bit down on his mouthpiece before letting a hook rip, which was pushed down by Simon's elbow who tried to throw a hook that Leo leaned out of the way of, "Nah just a pretty nice honor", he followed Leo throwing a jab to gauge the range, Leo responded by throwing a straight to the body and circling away throwing a check hook to make sure Simon couldn't follow him, "Thanks", Leo stepped in throwing an upper cut with his rear hand, missing but getting Simon to back up, Leo tried to follow him with a jab to the body getting caught by check hook backing away, "Clean stuff", Yami watched the two begin to approach each other once again. Leo and Simon continued through a few exchanges,*Bang bang bang*Leo tried to recreate the triple jab thing that Gauche did very well, Simon parried the first two but ended up getting caught by the third snapping his head back a little bit, Leo came in with a straight trying to take advantage of the moment, Simon slipped it catching a hook to the body Leo getting a pretty clear reaction, "C'MON BACK UP", Yami yelled and Leo listened causing Simon to go in, "OVER HAND NOW", Asta added*CRACK*a clean overhand landed giving Simon a bit of wobbly leg*BRRRRRRRRRRRR*the bell went off before Leo could think of any follow ups, "Ok ok that was a good way to end the round, now maybe turn up the pressure next round", Yami told him, "He also drops his other hand when throwing power shots, thinking a good hook could get through after you've got some distance maybe after a flurry", Asta took the cool pad off of his side, "Cool" "Then go"

The second round had begun Leo approached with a high guard trying to bait Simon into a close exchange to enact the gameplan Yami and Asta set out for the round. The two got in close/' going guard to guard, Leo threw a bit of a limp hook to the body trying to get Simon to drop his hands and open his head for some hits, Simon knew what Leo was trying to do and didn't bite, he kept his hands up looking for a slower shot than usual so that he could counter, "C'mon", he waited until he saw one of Leo's shoulders brace, "NOW", he backed up and tried to counter with an over hand*SMACK*a clean power hook smacked his head to the side wobbling Simon causing Leo to chase him*Bang Bang* *SMACK*a jab jab straight landed cleanly forcing Simon against the corner*Smack*a hook to the liver dropped Simon, "HOLD ON", the ref got in between the two to start a count, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7..8-", the count was stopped by Simon getting back up, "I'm good to go" "You sure?" "Yeah" "Ok then", the ref brought the two to the center, "Go", Simon began moving forward getting caught with multiple jabs, "He's still going", Leo looked at him getting slower and slower as the round went on*SMACK*a hook landed to the liver again dropping him, "1...2...3...4...5..6-", yet again the count was stopped by Simon getting up, "Really?", Leo looked at him, "Sorry Vermillion, but I ain't givin up", he laughed, "Hmmmm", Yami stared at the kid as if he had seen him before, "I like his style", Asta cracked a slight smile. Simon came rushing in and got caught with another hook to the liver, but this time he didn't go down opting to clinch on Leo to stop himself from falling down, "I'm gonna see the end"*BRRRR*the bell rang, Simon hobbling to his corner Leo standing there, "Nice kid you got this fight basically in the bag, so when the next round starts come out aggressive" "Sure", Leo couldn't help but feel a little hesitant, "Now go"

Final round has begun, and Leo looked across seeing Simon still coming forward, "Just turn up the aggression", he told himself, "Here I come man", Leo watched Simon as he raised his guard awaiting Simon's approach, Leo copied and begun fast track to try and get guard to guard, But Simon didn't fall for it stepping in then out to bait Leo moving forward and threw a hook to try and catch him, "Sorry that isn't gonna work", Leo ducked it throwing an uppercut catching Simon stumbling him back a bit, "C'mon finish now", Yami said, "Got it", Leo threw a combo at him*Bang Bang Bang* *SMACK* *SMACK*a jab, jab, jab, hook, hook to the body combo landed and for yet another moment Leo dropped him, "Another drop?", some of the crowd commented on the match, "Is he gonna get back up?" "Should he?" "I don't know", Simon looked at the floor, "Think he's done?", Yami looked over to Asta who stayed quiet, Leo however was listening in on the crowd looking at Simon, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9..-" "I'm good", he stood back up making direct eye contact with Leo, "Didn't really think that was gonna be the end did ya", Simon asked, Leo kept a blank face opting to raise his guard, "GOOD CAUSE HERE I COME", Simon once again charged at Leo getting caught with a hook while he did, "Finish him", Yami yelled, "Yeah", Leo tried throwing an uppercut to seal the deal, "NOPE", it was stuffed by Simon clinching, one over hook and one underhook, "Huh?", Simon leg go of the under hook and began ripping hooks to Leo's body*Smack Smack Smack*, Leo could feel each one of them before Simon let go and pushed him into the ropes*CRACK* *SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK*a flurry of hard strikes connected on Leo on the guard but still pressuring him to try and do something, "SORRY BUT I'VE COME TOO FAR TO LOSE HERE", Simon yelled continuously going on, but Leo ducked to the outside of his hip pivoting away from him circling away, "C'MON KID BACK FOOT COUNTER PUNCHING ONLY", Yami yelled. Leo followed beginning to just back away looking for an opportune moment to get a good counter punch in, "There", Leo watched the same overhand coming that he threw*CRACK*Leo's counter was stopped by Simon coming up stairs with an uppercut, "OH NO", Leo clinched trying to buy some time, "Hooks to the body", Asta flailed his arm and Leo complied*SMACK SMACK*, "AAHHHHH", Simon held his side, obvious that there had been a great amount of damage done to it, "NOW", Leo, Asta, and Yami yelled together*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*the final bell sounded, "Huh?", Leo stopped Simon though fell to one knee clutching his side, "You ok kid?", the ref asked, "I'm good", Simon got back up waiting for the decision to be read, "This fight has gone all three rounds and all three judges see it the same way 29-28 all in favor of Leopald Vermillion your semi-contact boxing winner for this qualifier", the Ref raised his hand hearing claps from the crowd, "Ready to go?", Yami leaned on the ropes asking him, "Yeah" "Wait up", Leo turned his head to see Simon, "Huh?" "Good fight man, but next time we meet I'm gonna win", he laughed before some yellowish liquid spewed from his mouth, "OH COME ON", the ref yelled, "CLEAN UP ON RING A", Simon laughed before he turned away to leave, "yea", Leo could only give a response when he left

With Mimosa

Mimosa stood in her corner looking at her opponent, Siona Caverly a girl with swamp green eyes and hair. "Both fighters to the center", the ref signaled for them to come to the center, "You know the rules?", she asked, "Loud and clear", Siona smirked, "Yes mam", Mimosa held her gloves out for Siona to touch, "Nope", she chuckled before backing up to her corner, "BEGIN". Mimosa began stepping rather quickly to the center wanting to swarm Siona, "Aggressive. Gotta say from the tape I watched on you, didn't seem like you were an aggressive fighter", Siona smirked as she slipped and turned away from Mimosa. Mimosa tried to close in some distance throwing some tight hooks to get in, "Now", she pivoted her foot bracing for a right hand down the middle, "Don't think so", Siona pivoted her back facing Mimosa's lead arm*Smack*she got Mimosa with a rather weak lead hook before she turned and while turning threw a straight*Crack*Mimosa stumbled a little*bang bang* *crack*a jab jab straight connected, but, "Not much power", Mimosa quickly gathered herself ducking an incoming hook getting one to the body of Siona, "OOO", she let out a loud gasp of air*SMACK SMACK* *CRACK*Mimosa connected with a hook to the body and head followed by a straight,*Smack*a check hook from Siona caught Mimosa pretty cleanly*Crack*Siona followed it up with a back handed uppercut, "Making it a gritty pocket fight to start huh?", Theresa smiled.*WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH*Mimosa unloaded a set of dangerous decapitating hooks at Siona as they were pressed against each other's guard, "Pretty heavy shots man", Siona chuckled nervously as a bead of sweat fell from her forehead, "Cool", Mimosa bit down on her mouthpiece and swung another powerful hook, but in Siona's eyes she had seen Mimosa let up for a moment*Smack*a clean hook to Mimosa's floating rib landed dropping her to one knee, "1...2...3...4", the ref begun her count, Mimosa holding her side, "C'MON YOU GOT THIS", Theresa screamed, "5...6...7...8-" "YEAH MIMOSA GO", she looked ahead seeing Yuno cheering her on in the crowd, "I'm good", she picked herself back up and stared at Siona who was smiling, "You sure?" "Yeah" "Ok go", the two met in the middle again and Mimosa once again opened up throwing heat at Siona, "Still not stopping", Siona continued her head movement trying to get a similar opening to when she dropped Mimosa, "There", she watched Mimosa brace he back shoulder for a big shot*CRACK*a hard lead hook dropped her to her butt, "1...2...3...4-" *BRRRRR* the bell went off signaling the end of the round, "Ok......close round, but you had a good knock down yourself and were landing the harder shots before", Theresa put an metal cooler on Mimosa's side, "Yeah but she landed more often and because of the buzzer I was down for longer", Mimosa watched Siona walk side to side staring her down, "She's pretty fast, but pretty weak punches", Mimosa returned the stare, "Death by a million paper cuts huh? Well, I guess you could try to push through them, but you got stunned by some of her shots try to shell up and rip to the body when she does" "Ok", Mimosa nodded her head raising her hands for the start of the round

Mimosa held her guard high flicking out a jab trying to find a moment to get in close with a straight, Sion for her part was keeping a good distance with her foot work and head movement. Mimosa stepped to the left pivoting to catch Siona in her strange movement*WOOSH*Siona ducked it throwing a rising upper cut on the way back up*WOOSH*Mimosa just barely stepped away from it, "Still throwing heat huh?", Siona mocked Mimosa's inability to hit her causing her to grit her teeth, "Not gonna work doing this for two more rounds", she sung evading another onslaught, "Whatever", Mimosa responded throwing more and more shots*SMACK*a clean straight landed from Siona when she tried to rush in*CRACK*Mimosa threw an uppercut to counter making Siona begin to walk back*Bang Bang*Mimosa followed her with a pair of jabs*Smack*she finished it with a rear hook to the body, Siona clinched her trying to buy herself some time to recover, "Not gonna win like that", Mimosa mocked what she said earlier as she threw a hook to her body followed by one upstairs, Siona pushed her off and circled away*Smack*a good prediction from Mimosa lead to her landing a lead hook,"OH NO", Siona became unsure of what to do next,"If I circle the other way she'll just catch me again",Siona backed away from her, "Oh right", she felt her back touch the ropes her train of thought was interrupted by a huge uppercut, "Welp there goes that", Siona tried to clinch but Mimosa pulled away and landed an over hand s she did*SMACK SMACK SMACK*a barrage of hooks to the body and head were let rip by the Vermillion*BRRRRRR*the bell went off once more signaling the end of the round, "That's it keep walking her down and you got this finish in the bag", Theresa patted her student on the back, "Her foot work is also slowing down so I think she might be feeling those body shots get her with some more" "Sure"

The final round had begun, Siona seemed a little bit more confident than the end of the previous round,"I have to find a way to win this round", her rain began to try and plan something out for a win, not sure if she had the punching power to put Mimosa down with anything that wasn't a body shot,"She's going to try and avoid it if she can", Mimosa approached her with a high guard making a linear dash for her,"GOTTA THINK OF IT SOON", Siona panicked as she watched Mimosa wind up her back hand for a power shot,"There it is-"*CRACK*it was a fake to set up an lead upper cut*BANG*the straight followed with it*SMACK*a hook to the body landed*SMACK*another one came after dropping Siona, "1...2...3-", Mimosa looked around into the crowd, "YOU GOT THIS", she watched as Yuno cheered her on,"You and captain cold huh?", a bit of blush began making its way to her face*SMACK*a hard straight interrupted her though, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOCUS", Theresa yelled at her getting her back a little*BANG BANG*two jabs followed prompting Mimosa to initiate a clinch of her own holding onto her trying to think something up, "Got caught huh?", Siona laughed at Mimosa's clinch, "What even got you like that", she looked behind Mimosa to see Yuno cheering for her, "Oh trying to impress your boyfriend or something", she chuckled, "He's kind of c-" "Dude just shut up", Mimosa leaned back, "Oh no", Theresa held her face in hand*Smack*she headbutted Siona, "HEY HEY HEY", the ref separated the two, "Sorry but that's point deducted excessive clinching and a head butt", Mimosa nodded, "Looks like you need a finish", Siona laughed knowing there wasn't much time left, "Nah I won one and two", a small bead of sweat began to fall from her forehead, "Sure", Siona got back into her stance as the ref signaled for them to start again. Mimosa immediately rushed her going in for a barrage of hooks*WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH*Siona seemed to have recovered a tad bit of her speed, "Trying to shut me out cause you know you're about to lose this decision?", a smug smile was strewn across her face, "Or do you want to look good in front of pretty boy over there?", Mimosa gritted her teeth throwing another power shot, "C'MON", Mimosa kept swinging knowing that there was a chance she was going to lose*BRRRRRR*the final bell went off signaling the end, "Oh no", Mimosa stopped in her tracks watching Siona walk past her, "This fight has gone to a decision and the score cards read 28-29 in favor of Caverly, 28-29 in favor of Vermillion, meaning your winner by split decision", Mimosa closed her eyes pointing her head at the floor awaiting the decision, "Mimosa Vermillion" "YES", she jumped up and down hearing the decision, "WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS?", Siona looked around in surprise that Mimosa got the nod, "YES", Theresa got into the ring giving her student a hug, "Hey Vermillion", Siona got in her face, "You got lucky this time- No you get lucky all the time because of your stupid name, so believe me when I say next time we go I'm finishing you", she pushed her out of the way as she left the ring, "Whatever..........bitch", a under the breathe insult left her mouth as she got out of the ring, "Hey that was a pretty awesome fight", Yuno came up to her after she did, "Oh uh uh thanks", an awareness of Yuno seemingly began to form, not in the he exists way, but in the you're a guy way, "No problem", he laughed, "He he yep no problem", Theresa nudged her with her elbow, "Well c'mon guys we gotta head back", the three of them began walking back to the locker room

In the hallway for the locker rooms

"Yeah Leo told us about it, or like she told us but me and Asta zoned out after she talked for a pretty long time", Yuno explained hearing about Fragil's party, "Y'know I always heard about how great her parties were from Noelle, but I've never really thought about going", Mimosa responded as she tapped her finger on her chin, "I did too, but Klaus and I thought it was over hyped", Yuno laughed, "I can definitely see that", Mimosa thought back to the classes the three of them shared, and yes Klaus was the "You forgot to collect the home work kid" for better or worse, but most times for worse, "But I was gonna ask if you wanted to go?", Yuno nervously stumbled out, "Like me and you or-", Mimosa could feel a slight bit of heat go to her face, "No of course not, y'know me you, Leo, Asta, Sol everyone", he clarified, "Oh right yeah sorry", a nervous burst of words quickly found their way out of her mouth. Theresa was loving it, an awkward interaction between two awkward kids, "Alright yeah yeah party, now walk faster you're taking forever", she cut the conversation short, "Right sorry", the pair picked up the pace and made their way to the locker room, "So party or nah?", Yuno whispered over to her, "Maybe", Mimosa smiled getting one back from the seemingly always ice cold kicker

*Bang bang* *Smack*the three walked in on Leo practicing some pad work with Asta, "Late again huh?", Leo laughed while practicing more combo's, "Yeah if I didn't know any better, I'd say you guys want to be alone together", Sol laughed, "HUH?", Mimosa's face went tomato red, "HAHA-OOF", Leo tried to laugh at her but got smacked on the head with one of the pads, "I know it's funny but don't take focus away from me", Asta chuckled, "Yeah yeah", Leo turned his head back to him and continued, "Whatever", Mimosa brushed them off and went to go sit down to wait for her next opponent, "What are you doing?", Theresa asked her, "What?" "No no we gotta get back to work", Mimosa frowned a bit, "C'mon this is your first real boxing match coming up in a bit, and we need to put together a different style account for the change" "And what's changed? I just took the head gear off" "Well since you asked, the head butt you hit Siona with could've cut or dropped her meaning it would have affected the fight enough to get you disqualified", Theresa said as Mimosa messed with her hands, "WHAT?", Leo took his attention from Asta once again, "Seriously?", Sol raised her eyebrow, "He he yeah", Mimosa tried to think of a reason to steer away from the subject, "WHAT HAPPENED? WHY?", Leo asked, "I uh-" "C'mon tell me we're family right?", she averted her eyes,"He's kind of c-", a slight grit of her teeth came with the memory, "C'mon-"*SMACK*"Hey", Leo rubbed the top of his head looking back to see that it was Yami dishing it out this time, "Kid you've been taking your eyes off the pads stop it", Leo just shrugged and went back to work with him, "But you're gonna tell me when we get ba-"*SMACK*"HEY I WAS GOING", Leo began hitting them again, "Phew", Mimosa was relieved that she didn't have to explain it right now, "Hey I still wanna know", Sol slid over next to her, "Ah it wasn't anything important" "I kinda want to know too, she did say something to you before you did it", Yuno joined back in to the conversation, "I um I-" "C'mon kid we got to work on your counter striking style", Theresa stopped them pulling Mimosa to stand back up, "Right", a mental sigh of relief came as she went to practice. "Ok so I think going back to your initial styles is probably better for full contact, it's the ones you have a better feel for", Yami explained, "But we just spent most of our time working on each other's, wouldn't it be better to keep going with that?", Mimosa asked, "Yeah but it's clear that it isn't perfect, Mimosa you constantly got clipped, cause you're uncomfortable with being in close, Siona exploited it near perfectly and if someone lands on you the way she was without head gear and 10oz gloves then you're probably getting dropped", Theresa explained to her, "And Leo your ability from counter striking to swarming is literally terrible, plus when they clinch you can't deal with someone constantly doing it", Leo looked at the floor, "But your styles are yours and you've almost perfected them, so for real boxing I guess it would be better to just go with what you have a good feel and understanding of", Mimosa and Leo looked at each other before nodding, "Ok", the two went to their corners , "Ok just some basic in and out foot work counter punching, ok?", Theresa looked at Mimosa, "Long combos ended with a big hit, ok?", Yami held up the pads for Leo to hit, "RIGHT", the Vermillions began working on their styles. After some time had passed, the time had come for the opening matches of Mimosa's and Leo's first real boxing match, "You two ready?" "Yea" "Then 3...2...1 LET'S GO MAGIC KNIGHTS"; our crew chanted together before leaving the locker room

With Mimosa

"Ready?", Theresa asked with a smirk, "As ready as I'll ever be", Mimosa nervously smiled, a few beads of sweat dropping from her forehead, "Introducing first, representing Clover Kingdom Academy Mimosa Vermillion", the announcement had sent a chill down Mimosa's spine, "This is it.........real boxing", Mimosa stepped to the ring touching her gloves as she made her way to the ring, "MI MO SA MI MO SA", the crowd chanted for her taking note of some of her finishes from the earlier contests, "Looks like they love ya", Theresa laughed as she walked behind Mimosa, "Seems like it", she stopped right at the steps and began to look around the crowd before settling her eyes on Yuno who shot a smile her way,"Trying to look cool in front of your boyfriend?", the memory made her shoot her head away back toward the steps, "You got this kid", Theresa held out her fist for a slight knuckle touch as the two looked at the other entrance, "Introducing second representing Witches forest boarding school AKIMO", a girl with a ponytail on the very top of her head walked out, "Hey doesn't she kind of look like-" "Kiato's sister?", Mimosa cut her off, "Yeah", Theresa just smirked with her head down, "Still don't like her a ton huh?" "Not at all", she gave a short answer as she put in her mouth guard watching Akimo enter the ring, "Knock em dead", Theresa patted her on the back pushing her to the center where the two would meet, "Ok here's a rundown of the rules no excessive clinching, no elbows, headbutts, shots to the back of the head, or shots below the belt line. The bout with be contested over three 3-minute rounds that will be judged by three people, you kids get all that?", the ref looked both ways, "Yeah", Mimosa answered, "Uh huh", Akimo followed staring Mimosa down, "Ok then GO", the ref signaled. Mimosa stayed on the outside watching for any signs of an aggressive fighting style, "You ready to box for real?", Akimo asked with a familiar smug smile that Mimosa hated, "Huh?", she shook her head at her question, "I saw some tape on you, you've never done any full contact boxing", she smiled, "So you ready to get punched in your pretty face for real princess", Mimosa gritted her teeth before smiling back, "Well won't matter when I leave you looking at the lights", Akimo rolled her eyes before approaching, "She's a swarmer?", Mimosa had a small sweat break out knowing that the match up wasn't going to be favorable if she was, "Well here I come then", Akimo stepped in pivoting trying to throw a power upper cut*CRACK*Mimosa counter with a straight*Smack*she followed up a lead hook before stepping out of range, "Was that a good start torealboxing?", Mimosa asked only getting a tsk from Akimo, "Ok good start, but let's see if you can do it again", Akimo wound up her shoulder before getting into a high guard, "I bet I can", Mimosa brought her back hand closer to her chin and extend her lead hand out, "Fine then", Akimo began to approach again, she threw out a pair of jabs trying to gauge her distance, "Look for the opening", Mimosa took note of a the slow start that Akimo was going with after telling her that she was gonna fight for real, "A few jabs that's it?", Mimosa focused slipped for a moment and instead of getting cracked like she had earlier she was only met with a few missed jabs, "Man this is....not as crazy as I thought it was gonna be", she thought throwing out a few jabs herself before seeing Akimo's back hand had gone up, "Seriously? How-"*SMAAAAAACK*Mimosa suddenly found herself sitting looking up at her opponent, "No head gear here princess, so that means one mistake and you're on your ass", Akimo walked away, "Hey the round isn't", Mimosa tried to pick herself back up*BRRRRR*, "Huh?", she looked as Akimo had already settled into the corner, "C'mon kid back to the corner", the ref urged her, "Yeah sorry", she apologized finally standing up, "Well that was rough", Theresa smeared something on Mimosa's eyebrow, "Huh?", she tried to stop her, "Hey c'mon you're bleeding", Theresa rubbed the last bit of Vaseline into the cut, "I am?", Mimosa looked down noticing that some blood made its way to her sports top, "I am", she looked back across the ring seeing Akimo laughing while talking to some people on the apron, "Ok so you caught her early, but the thing about this is that first round is usually data collecting y'know your style, reach, stuff of that nature, so we can't really tell anything from the first other than be a bit more alert find your range ok?" "Ok", Mimosa shook her head as the bell signaled for the round to start

Mimosa and Akimo met in the center, "Hey looks like I got you pretty good huh?", Akimo chuckled, "Told yah it wouldn't work", Mimosa tried to ward her thoughts of doubt away being a little flat footed, "Now", Akimo swung to the side readying a hook to go with it, but Mimosa jabbed and backed away trying to get space between them*Smack*Akimo dipped to the outside catching her with a straight that she stepped through with stumbling Mimosa back a little, "OH SHI-", Mimosa fell over surprised by how hard she hit, "Oof looks like someone isn't really used to getting hit like that", Akimo gloated, "1...2...3..", Mimosa picked herself back up nodding to the ref that she was fine, "Ok go", the two began to circle each other as they started up again, "I cut you again", Mimosa gritted her teeth as she could feel blood drip down her cheek, "Whatever", Mimosa bit down on her mouth guard and tried to start brawling with her, "NO NO NO DON'T", Theresa yelled at her while the two started wildly throwing punches*SMACK SMACK* *BANG BANG* *CRACK*the two were exchanging heavy blows in the pocket, "I TOLD YOU EARLIER STICK TO COUNTER PUNCHING", Theresa tried to get her to listen, but Mimosa was in a little world of her own thinking about the week before

5 days ago

"HAHA", Vanica laughed after knocking Mimosa on her ass, "Hey, could you go a little lighter?", Mimosa felt a bit of irritation begin to swell because of how hard Vanica had been going, "NOPE", Vanica assumed her hands down bouncing stance signaling for Mimosa to get back up, "Can I at least put the head gear on?", she followed raising her guard as she did, "NO SILLY YOU'RE GONNA BOX FOR REAL AND YOU AREN'T GONNA HAVE IT THEN", Vanica chuckled as she began to throw some offense*BANG BANG* *CRACK*a clean one one two landed stumbling her back, "Her style is so weird", Mimosa watched as Vanica spun in a circle throwing a back fist with it*DINK*it grazed off her temple wobbling her Vanica closed in and Mimosa clinched trying to get time to think, "NO NO", Vanica fended her arms off and pushed her to the ropes*BANG BANG BANG BANG* *SMACK SMACK SMACK* *CRACK CRACK*Mimosa stuck her hands in front of her face trying to prevent Vanica hitting her more, "OK OK", Theresa signaled for the two to stop, "Leo's turn already?", Vanica looked at the old lady with a bit of disappointment, "Vanica you got to pull back", Theresa pinched the bridge of her nose, "But I am?", she titled her head in confusion, "More", Theresa clarified before the girls got out of the ring. Mimosa sat down looking at the floor thinking about how she got her ass kicked, "HEY C'MON DON'T LOOK SO DOWN", Vanica popped her head into Mimosa's view, "Dude stop doing that", Mimosa leaned back in surprise, "AWW c'mon y'know ya love me", Vanica went down with her, a huge smile on her face as she did, "Look I just.....", Mimosa thought about what she wanted to say, "Mad you're getting beat on?", Vanica smiled slightly, "Yeah", Mimosa let out a sigh with her answer, "Ah c'mon just means you got room to improve" "But this is the only style I've been doing since I got into high school and you came along and-" "Beat ya up?", Mimosa looked back at the floor, "I know it sounds dumb but I just ah don't know", Vanica smiled this time rather softly, "When I say if you don't get beat you don't better that's cause I learned like that", Vanica explained, "I'm not trying to tear you down I'm trying to get you to see the openings problems with what I'm doing", Mimosa's eyes widened a little, "You aren't trying your hardest?", she asked with some disappointment, "Not that I'm not trying it's more like I hit you as hard as sparring will allow with possible openings to counter me but are also likely in a real match", Mimosa could feel her mood go up a bit, "Ok then what was that barrage at the ropes?", Vanica stood back up motioning Mimosa to follow her

The two exchanged straight hands wobbling each other, but Mimosa definitely getting the worse of it stumbling against the ropes holding her hands out in front of her face, "HERE YOU GO PRINCESS", Akimo laughed beginning to throw a large barrage of punches at her*SMACK SMACK* *CRACK* *BANG*she hammered Mimosa with pressure and the realization of her getting battered set in and she set up some basic defense

"Ok so when a lot of people throw enough punches, and they think they have a finish coming they tend to drop their hands keep their chin up y'know stuff like that", Vanica did a slow version of the motion's she was describing, "Ok what now?", Mimosa asked, "A few things you can wait till they slow down and throw a shot or a hook down the pipe", she explained using her hands, "What about the other things?" "Or you can shoulder roll with the shot that loops the most and get a power over hand, upper cut, hook the big knock out shots and if their chin is open and they are focused on attack you're probably gonna catch them" "And I'll" "Flat line em"

*BANG BANG BANG* *SMACK SMACK*a constant pressure hit Mimosa's guard, "You just gonna give up and go out sadly", Akimo mocked her as she set up a big shot, "NOW", Mimosa rolled with what turned out to be an overhand and counter with one of her own*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*a loud sound rang out as Akimo hit the canvas, Mimosa walking off with her arms up, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 OK IT'S OVER", she waved signaling the bell for her, "YESSSSS GO KID", Theresa got into the ring hugging Mimosa as the two waited to her the announcement of her victory, "Here is your winner by way of knockout Mimosa Vermillion", she lifted her arm into the air, "AAYYYYEE WHAT WAS THAT?", Mimosa jumped up and down cupping her hand to her ear only to have Akimo leave the ring without anything to say, "Early finish so let's get back", Theresa told her holding the rings ropes open for her, "Ok", Mimosa followed her out

With Leo

Leo stood in his corner looking at his opponent Kabwe Carillion a rather slender young man who was standing straight away from his corner arms down to his waist staring him down, "Kid looks angry", Asta rubbed the back of his head, "Nah he seems like he's trying to be intimidating", Yami chuckled as he looked back at Leo, "How you feelin about it?", he asked, "Little nervous, but I think I got this", Leo smiled as he placed his mouth piece in, "Alright try and open up aggressive and try to find a finish early", Leo nodded as he went to the center to meet his opponent, "Ok the rules are as follow three 3 minute rounds, no low blows, shots to the back of the head, excessive clinching, or headbutting or you will be deducted points and if the opponent cannot continue after the foul you will lose by DQ you got that?" "Yep", Leo nodded with a smile as he held his gloves up for a glove touch, "As if", Kabwe smacked his hands down as he backed up, "Then go". Leo immediately went to close the distance weaving out of the way of a few jabs before getting in, but Carillion clinched in order to prevent Leo from building any immediate momentum, Leo began to hammer hooks to the body in order to get him to let go, "Break it up", the ref pulled the two away from each other before having them start again, "Slick moves", Kabwe chuckled, "But not enough for this fight", he began to step in, Leo threw a lead uppercut to try and stop him but got caught with a looping cross as he connected with his punch forcing the two to step out of the pocket and back to circling,"Dude cracks pretty hard", Leo let out a sigh at the realization,"Good timing", Kabwe hated to admit that Leo had skill,"Vermillion huh?", he took a mental note of his last name before engaging again*Bang*he threw a jab at Leo that was blocked with his fore arm while Leo prepared to throw a counter back hand, Kabwe slipped it stepping his lead foot next to Leo's and turned out trying to catch him with a hook to body that Leo side stepped with returning the two to a more neutral position, "They're pretty evenly matched huh?", Ast watched as the two began to go through a few defensive sequences, "Maybe", Yami watched on looking for a hole in either of their game,"Leo, has shots that are way to telegraphed winding up to counter when his opponent isn't tired or hiding it in a blind spot", he assessed the kid,"Kids got a slow jab, can't establish pressure probably because he's worked on his pocket boxing rather than constantly maintain the fundamentals", Yami closed his eyes and smiled, "What's up?", Asta looked up at him, "Leo's got this", Asta turned his head back to the match watching the fight*Bang* *Smack*Leo threw a jab hook that got parried and blocked*WOOSH WOOSH*a few hooks barely missed Leo and he tried to throw a counter straight,"He's gotta do something I can take advantage of", Leo let out a small nervous sweat as he threw a few combinations to keep Kabwe occupied, "He's got a good pace", Kabwe blocked a few more shots grinning while he did, "Ha"*BRRRR*the buzzer went off, forcing the two to go back to their respective corners, "How was the first round?", Asta asked placing an ice pack on his forearm, "Alright kid so some advice, he's got bad fundamentals figure out his jab and close in when he does", Yami rubbed his shoulders, "So counter punching or swarming?", Leo asked him, "Do whatever you think is best, just as long as it comes when counter his jab", Leo nodded his head thinking of the best way to do it, "So go and get him"

Leo stood in his corner for a second thinking of what to do, "I got it", Leo dropped his hands a little and assumed a more bladed stance, "Huh? Kind of like Vanica-wait no more like Vanica and Gauche", Asta watched him while he took his stance, "So that's how it is", Yami looked on, "What stance is that?", Kawbe just snickered at the strangeness, "Don't worry about it", Leo just waved him off as the two met in the center, "Vermillion right?", Kawbe asked, "So what?" "Nothing it's just that I never thought that the family of people like Fuegoleon and Mereoleona would be such as disappointment", he snarked, "Shut up", Leo bounced up and down mimicking the movements of Vanica and Gauche, "I bet when I knock you out that the whole world is gonna know my name", Kawbe boxed his guard as the bell rung for the round to start, the two began to circle each other Kawbe using a more basic type of foot work while Leo bounced around smiling, "What's the smile for man", Kawbe asked, "Cause I'm gonna catch you", he quickly stepped in hitting him with a jab before stepping back out, "And when I do you're gonna be sleeping", Leo smiled, "YEAH RIGHT", Kawbe threw an over hand as he stepped in, Leo backed up and dipped down to the outside of the punch while catching him with a straight, "Hey that was like what Vanica did to him", Yami laughed at the movement, "Kids a good learner I guess", Leo pivoted out of range and hit him with a hook to body on his way out, "Get back-" *SMACK* Leo stepped in again with a straight, "What happened his style completely changed How?"

3 days ago

"Stop stop stop", Yami pinched the bridge of his nose watching as Leo had turned his back to Gauche and began to retreat, "What?", Leo looked back at him, "Kid you just turned your back away from him to get him away from you, that's basically game over", Leo looked back to Gauche who was already getting out of the ring, "Hey wait can you tell me how you got me?", Leo begged, "Fine but we're only going over it once"

Leo stepped back watching as Kawbe threw a few more power shots *Bang bang* he hit him with a few jabs ducking out of the way of a few straight punches

"You're not throwing the basic stuff with enough commitment", Leo shook his head, "What does that mean?" "You're constantly dropping your hands and drop them on the way back, probably cause you are trying to anticipate what is coming back your way"

Leo threw a check hook that landed on Kawbe who backed up *Smack* another punch landed catching Kawbe just above his lead hand

"So, what do I do?", Leo asked, "Well I guess if you can't commit to the straight punches and have a better pressure pocket style it makes keeping you at bay easy while also eliminating the fear of your neutral game all together so the person you're fighting will just stay at that range and can predict when you're gonna come in"

Kawbe slipped a jab trying to get in but got cracked by a lead uppercut as Leo stepped back out, "What happened we were evenly matched?", Kawbe gritted his teeth as he threw another jab*Bang* *Smack*a one two landed, stepping in again he winded up an overhand this time Leo slipped to the inside and cracked him with a rear hook

"But what about when I'm against the ropes? I mean a lot of what your telling me can't be used everywhere", Leo told him, "Sure but when you're against the ropes it's good for you so you can force pocket fighting, and if they know that, they read where you slip and are gonna throw a big power shot", Gauche showed him, "And when that happens", Gauchemotioned an upper cut that stopped right before Leo's face, "They're done"

Leo pushed Kawbe against the ropes with a few jabs, "Good right where I want to be", Kawbe got ready to slip and throw but as he slipped*SMAAAAACK*Leo caught him perfectly as he was going down meeting his glove at the perfect point dropping him face first, "1...2...3...4...5...6- He's done", the ref called the count early noticing that Kawbe wasn't gonna get up, "YESSSS", Asta jumped the ropes and picked Leo up, "Good stuff kid good stuff", Yami complimented him as the ref pulled Leo down from Asta's grasp, "Here is your winner by way of knockout in the 2nd round Leopald Vermillion", Leo shouted cheering for his first real boxing win, "So how does it feel first real fight?", Asta asked as the trio began to leave the ring, "Pretty damn good", Leo laughed as he hopped down from the apron, "Dude I'm thirsty", Leo scratched his neck, "We got some nice cold water back in the locker room so let's hurry up", Asta got in front of him, "LAST ONE THERE HAS TO BUY THE OTHER DINNER", Asta dashed away from them, "HEY WAIT", Leo followed soon, "Hey kind of reminds me of-" "Yo Yami check out my new motorcycle", Yami shook his head before walking in the footsteps of his student

In the locker room

Asta and Leo came bursting through the door pushing each other out of the wa holding each other from entering the room, "I GOT HERE FIRST", Asta budded the side of his head into Leo, "NU UH", Leo pushed back in the same fashion, "NO I DID" "NO ME", the two continued to argue before looking up into the room seeing that Yuno was showing Mimosa how to throw a proper leg kick, "Oh what's up guys", Mimosa turned her head to them, "You just noticed them?", Sol chuckled leaning her chin into her palm, "Well yeah", Mimosa looked back at her noticing that she had a smug look on her face, "What?", Mimosa raised an eyebrow, "Nothing just watching you two hang out", a small slip of laughter got through her, Mimosa just turned back to Asta and Leo as they continued to argue, "Out of the way", Yami came by picking the two up by their heads, "OW OW OW OOOOW", Asta tried to get Yami to let go, "SORRY SORRY SOORRRY", Leo thrashed similarly trying to break Yami's grip, "Yami put them down", Charlotte laughed a little, "You two promise to shut it?", Yami looked at the two as they nodded their heads, "Fine", he let go dropping both of them on the ground before looking back at the coaches, "Well Leo's fight went well, what about hers?", he pointed back at Mimosa who had a triumphant smile on her face, "Me too KO actually", Mimosa proudly stated with her hand on her chest, "Oh really so did Leo", Asta got back up sitting down on one of the benches, "Really what round?" "Second", Leo followed him to the bench, "Really? Huh guess we've had the same luck", Mimosa turned back to Yuno as he showed her a few more kicks, "Ok guys well we've got to sharpen your boxing not your kicks, your next fights are gonna be in thirty minutes", Theresa finished up writing something in a new notebook, "Cool", Mimosa agreed, "Well let's get to it then", Leo got up as well following Asta to the mats getting ready to work

A few hours later

After many of their fights went well winning them Mimosa had three decisions and Leo got two stoppages with one decision and right now, they were getting ready for their final bout of the day.*Smack Smack* *Crack*Leo hit pads that were being held, "Alright last fight of the day how are you feeling?", Yami asked as he held the pads in a one one two position*Bang Bang**Smack*Leo hit them before answering, "Pretty good today has been pretty clean", he smiled while throwing a few more combos

Mimosa was practicing some head movement drills with Theresa, "So you ready for this?", she asked Mimosa smiling confidently, "Like I said earlier, as ready as I'll ever be", Mimosa slipped out of the way of a few the rods before throwing a body hook stopping just shy of Theresa's rib, "Good cause we're gonna crush this",*Knock knock*, "Guess it's time huh?", Jack chuckled as he and Sekke got up to leave, "Good luck out there you guys", Charlotte and Sol followed them. Yuno walked up to Mimosa patting her on the shoulder before talking, "Can't wait to see you crush it", he smiled before leaving, "Ho ho prince charming huh?", Theresa laughed a little teasing Mimosa for what would be the last time of the day, "What huh? No, it's nothing like that", Mimosa explained as her face reddened, "Yeah right", Leo shot past her unable to wait for his fight, "Hope he likes you too", Asta joked in the same manor before blasting off, "See ya", Yami waved before leaving the room, "Guess it's time to knock em dead", Theresa and Mimosa left the room for the awaiting fight

With Mimosa

Mimosa began her walk out listening to the crowd chant her name, "Introducing first representing Clover Kingdom Academy MIIIIIMOOOOOOSAAAAAAA VVVVVVEEEERRRRRRMILLLLLIOOOOM", the announcement sent a slight fire through her bones as she began to skip to the ring excited for her final match, "We're almost there", Theresa watched the girl brim with excitement, "Go for it", Mimosa heard her and sprinted to the ring getting ready to meet her opponent as she got in she had her eyes trained on the other entrance way, "Introducing second representing Banisher Catholic school DAAAZZZUUUU TAAAAAYYYYAAK", Mimosa shook her head at both the name and school, "A few new schools this year huh?", Theresa looked at the entrance waiting for the opponent to come and when she did it was like a color palette inverse of Mimosa, "HA", Theresa spit out some water at the girl as she made her way to the ring,"She kind of looks like me?", Mimosa titled her head as she watched Dazu begin to walk up the steps to the ring. After she did and got settled in and got her stuff together the two were brought to the center of the ring, "You guys know the rules already?", the red asked, "I do", Dazu answered with a blank face, "Yes", Mimosa nodded holding her gloves out for a glove touch to which for the first time was reciprocated, "Ok have a nice clean fight now....................begin", Mimosa stepped out of range immediately waiting for a good opportunity to counter, Dazu kept a high guard and just slowly made his way to her, "Here she comes", Dazu suddenly began to pick up speed and close distance Mimosa got ready to throw check hook*Smack*Dazu ducked it and come over top with a straight stumbling Mimosa back*Smack*a straight to the body followed backing Mimosa up, "OK OK CALM DOWN", Mimosa dipped down and pivoted away from Dazu who tried throwing a lead upper cut that missed, but as Mimosa had backed up she ended up crossing her legs*bang*a rather light jab caused her to slip and stumble over, "1...2-", Mimosa popped back up immediately and began to move about once again, "Ok she caught me not too bad though", Mimosa thought as she threw a few jabs out gathering the distance Dazu was able to close and how much of it she could keep between them, "She's a power puncher", Mimosa gulped, "The jab she hit me with earlier wasn't anything, but the straight and the hook hurt",*Bang bang*a set of jabs connected but Dazu threw an overhand connecting on the end of Mimosa's chin dropping her to one knee but as she popped back up Dazu continued to swing heavy shots at her*WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH* *Crack*the last one caught Mimosa dropping her again, "1...2...3...4...5...6-", the count stopped as soon as she got up, "Two-no three times?", Mimosa tried counting how many times she had gotten dropped, "Some serious power", she continued to back up before slipping a jab and moving away, "Gotta find my ground again", Mimosa stepped left and right before planting and catching Dazu with an uppercut stumbling her*Smack*Mimosa followed up with a right hand*Bang*a short jab caught Mimosa in the face*Brrrrrr*the buzzer went off prompting the two to go back to their corners, "Clear loss that round, but we've got a better idea of what she's all about big power puncher with some swarming ability, so you've got the upper hand stylistically", Mimosa sighed as she looked at the ceiling while Theresa funneled some water into her mouth, "My advice, stay at range and stop moving in a linear line backwards pivot try and time your cutting with her punches plus she's a big power puncher so her shoulders and elbows are gonna give you an idea of when she's gonna throw the harder shots", Mimosa nodded as she spit some of the water into the bucket, "Well damn", Theresa looked seeing that a little bit of blood had been swished back, "No cut's, but definitely some swelling", she applied a cold metal pad to her temple and chin, "You got this", she pushed Mimosa back to the ring

Mimosa opened the round at a distance, trying to give Dazu the opportunity to get in for any big shots*Bang*a single jab snapped her head back a little, but instead of following up Mimosa fell back and kept the distance, Dazu continued to move forward swinging an uppercut from the rear hand that mimosa leaned away from*bang*she threw a quick jab down the pipe before cutting to the right*Smack*a hook landed on Dazu's guard causing her to try and counter with a straight, Mimosa dipped out of the way*Smack*a quick angled hook landed on Mimosa's cheek dropping her to one knee again, Dazu tried to throw a flurry of shot's at her when she got back to her feet , but Mimosa managed to weave out of the way of a few of them shoulder rolling a hook that had some clear power behind it, Dazu watched and waited for Mimosa to shift to the left or right so she could throw into her Mimosa tried to fake a left to right movement but got caught with a hook,"Not as powerful as the last time?", Mimosa could feel it, it hurt but not as much as before,"You're losing steam", Mimosa figured it out Dazu was trying to finish her early,"Ok play it safe", Mimosa managed to get a good distance between the two*Bang bang*she threw another set of jabs trying to land a good distance finder,"I have to balance counter punching to not get hit, but I need to throw some volume to keep her pace up", while devising her plan Dazu got close and hit her with a straight that dropped her, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7-", Mimosa popped back up stopping the count,"Ok definitely gonna want to counter strike", she nodded at the ref to keep it going, Dazu tried to come in again and Mimosa threw a check hook to prevent her from doing so,"Good chin too", a mental note was made,"But I already got dropped a few times..........I NEED a finish", Mimosa nervously shifted around noticing that Dazu had got slower in terms of foot work, "Can I stretch this out to the end?", the two circled each other before the bell went off. Mimosa let out a slight sigh of relief going back to her corner with her head down, "You ok? Got a cut above your brow your other eye also isn't looking too good", Theresa took out the Vaseline applying some over Mimosa's cut, "I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose", her face told her she was close to crying, "No no no you got this ok, she's" "Slowing down", Mimosa said without looking up, "I know but-" "Hey hey no, don't think like that you''ve gotten this far right?" Mimosa nodded her head, "Then come on, you wanna be like your mom, right?", Mimosa looked at the ceiling through a very beat up face

9 years ago

Mimosa watched her mom cry in the locker room her final fight a trilogy with her cousin for an undisputed light weight title, "You ok mom?", she asked getting her attention noticing her eyes were very pink, "I-I'm fine honey", she put her head back down seeing that a few more drops of water hit the floor where her head was facing, "Are you sad?", Mimosa sat next to her, "I........I'm a little sad and a little disappointed", her rubbed her head, "Is it cause you lost?", she asked her mom, "Yeah......it is", her mom sucked up some tears before talking again, "So uh I thought you were gonna go with Noelle what happened?", Mimosa thought about it for a second before answering, "I just wanted to tell you you'reamazing", her mom could feel her tears begin to fall from her face, "I'm sorry I couldn't win undisputed", she apologized as if it was something that terrible, "I bet you think I'm pretty lame" "NO YOU WERE AWESOME ALL THE TIME", Mimosa shot up trying to comfort her, "I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE YOU SOMEDAY", she declared tears in her eyes causing her mom to giggle a little, "Thank you", she scooped her child in her arms, "But I want you to be you, follow your own path ok?", Mimosa looked back at her nodding her head as she did, "I guess that means we get to spend more time together now that this is all over", a smile came over her face, "Can you teach me to fight then?", Mimosa asked, "Yeah I'd love to"

Mimosa looked back across the ring seeing Dazu breathing pretty heavy, "I know you can do this ok? Now go out there and show yourself that you can", Theresa poured the last of the water over her head, "Yeah", she nodded hearing the bell ring getting ready to start the final round. Mimosa assumed a high guard using approaching Dazu, "Hope you know what you're doing", Theresa decided to leave the fight completely in her hands, Mimosa walked forward preparing to try and go with Dazu who was approaching clearly slowed from trying to unload two finishes in a row last round, but was no doubt still dangerous*Bang bang*Mimosa connected a few jabs to distract her but it didn't work*Smack*an overhand landed on her fore head*Crack*Mimosa threw a short upper cut as she forced a pocket exchange Dazu ripped a hook to her body that caused Mimosa to clinch and throw a few body shots of her own while she did eventually getting pushed off*Smack*a lead hook landed dropping Mimosa, "1...2...3...4...5...6..-", Mimosa got back up and began moving forward again*Smack* *Bang*Mimosa threw a body hook straight snapping Dazu's head back*Smack*she hit her with another hook to the body*Smack*she went upstairs with one*CRACK*Dazu threw a close overhand dropping Mimosa on her face, "1...", she looked to her side seeing Theresa yelling something but it was too slow to make sense of it, "2...", Mimosa looked at the crowd seeing Yuno cheering for her,"I can't wait to see you crush it out there", sparking something inside her"I WANT TO BE LIKE YOU SOMEDAY" "So I'll show you how to throw a few punches to start with" 3... "Ok I think we can move onto kicks"4... "There's someone I want you to meet, she was your cousin'strainer" 5..."I want you to be better than I ever was" 6..."Hey mom?" "Yeah" "You think you'll be fine by the time I graduate" 7..."The doctor said I would be" 8..."I promise I'll bring you a belt before I'm done with high school" "I look forward to seeing crush em" 9..., Mimosa looked back up seeing that Dazu had begun walking back to her corner, "NO", Mimosa pulled herself back up feeling the world going back to normal speed, "You ok can you go?", the ref asked, "Yes I can", Mimosa rapidly nodded her head, "Ok c'mon he brought the two back to the center, "Go", Mimosa kept her guard up Dazu began to push forward again swinging clearly way weaker and slower than before*BANG* *SMACK*Mimosa decided to place the last of her energy into the next few punches*SMACK SMACK SMACK**CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*Mimosa planted an overhand onto the temple of Dazu, "1...2...3...4...5-", Dazu got back up clearly shaken from the hit and when they resumed Mimosa kept moving forward*BANG* *BANG* *SMACK*Dazu clinched to try and stop her to which mimosa hit a few clinch hooks and one final uppercut from the clinch and as she stumbled away*bang*a weak jab landed right before*SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*a clean straight hand planted Dazu on the floor, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 ITS OVER", the ref signaled for the bell, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", Mimosa fell to her knees and let out the loudest scream she ever had,"I think they would rather bank on a win on their name than chase victory at the cost of defeat", Theresa thought about what Gauche said about the two,"Guess that's changed a bit huh?", she joined Mimosa in her celebration

With Leo

Leo, Asta, and Yami began their walk down the entrance while many cheered and scream for him, "Here we go man last one for today", Asta hyped Leo up trying to get him ready for his upcoming fight, "I know", Leo bounced along as he made his way to the ring, "INTRODUCING FIRST REPRESENTING CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY LEEEEEEEEOPAAAAAALD VERMILLION", he listened to the announcement as he began going up the steps, "You got this", Yami offered a fist bump to which Leo accepted doing a few windshield drills while he waited, "Introducing second representing Golden Dawn Private Academy DROWA", Leo shook his head before snapping back, "Man Golden dawn must be having a lot of their fighters move up cause Charla? Now this guy", Leo bounced on his toes waiting for him, "Seriously?", Asta watched him make his way to the ring, "HAHA", Yami laughed at the young man's appearance, "He looks like Gauche", Leo gulped feeling a little intimidated by him as he slowly trotted to the ring, "Don't worry bro", Asta nervously laughed watching along with him, "Yeah.....yeah", Drowa finally made his way into the ring and after he got settled before the ref grabbed the two to meet in the center, "I assume you two know the rules?", the ref looked at the both of them to which they nodded, "Ok then I want a nice clean fight, so begin". It started the last fight of today for the Vermillion and for his credit he felt as calm as he could looking at the guy that looked like the guy who had been kicking his ass for a week,"What's his style? How am I gonna gauge it? Is he anything like Gauche?", a few thoughts began to race in his mind before Drow began to go in,"What's he doing? Is he gonna rip to the body? Long combos? Head work?", Leo began to think and think before*Smack*Drowa came in with an angled hook pushing Leo back, "And he's choking immediately", Yami sighed, "He can't overcome that mental barrier", he watched as Leo got hit a few more times, "What mental barrier?", Astas asked, "Gauche he's probably still thinking about getting clobbered", Yami watched on as Leo continued to do nothing but evade and avoid throwing almost nothing back

6 days ago

Leo backed up into the ropes as Gauche continued to beat on him before Theresa decided to break it up, "Hey I wasn't-" "You were done man, get over it", Gauche told him as he began to get out of the ring, "HEY MAN COME BACK", Leo yelled at him, "I'm not-" "You constantly shell up pathetically putting your arms in front of your face like you've never been hit before", Gauche turned around to tell him off, "I've been going easy on you and you still can't handle it same with Vanica when she batters you", he turned back and went to grab something from his bag, "THEN WHY EVEN BE HERE HUH? YOU AREN'T HELPING", Leo through one of his gloves at the back his head, "Listen kid I've helped you more in the day that I've met you then in the entire time you have been fighting", he snapped at him, "I-" "You've never been in a real fight and nyone that's punched you has done it under the pretense that they weren't trying to kill you, so go, go and keep play fighting with your family and get smacked around when you fight for real, but don't come and complain to me about it", Leo gritted his teeth before jumping the ropes, "LEO NO", Asta tried to grab him, but was too late as Leo made his mad dash to Gauche *DIIIIINK* Gauche hit Leo on his tumble bare knuckle giving him a cut from his eyebrow to his forehead, "GAUCHE", Asta got in the way of the two before it could escalate the coaches joined in keeping the two from each other, "HEY WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM", Jack asked while getting in Gauche's face, "Calm down everyone", Charlotte began to mediate, "FINE WHATEVER MAN", Leo got up trying to swing at Gauche who was laughing at him, "Ok ok Gauche go outside Leo stay in here", Theresa commanded to which the two did

The buzzer went off before the two began making their ways back to the corner, "Well not a strong way to start huh?", laughed before applying some Vaseline to a cut over his eyebrow no doubt opened easier because of Gauche earlier, "I don't know I'm having a hard time reading him", Leo looked to the side trying not to make eye contact with him, "Look man if this is about Gauche you really got to remember everything you guys talked about", Leo looked back at Drowa as the two began to meet in the center, Leo looked at him closely, "I've got this", he told himself as the round began. The two approached each other, Leo throwing a few light jabs trying to get a reaction out of him,"He's not biting on any of them", a nervous sweat began to break out over his forehead as Drowa began to approach, "What's he looking for?", he tried to go over his movement again, but was met with the same punch he had gotten hit with in the first round, "KEEP YOURSELF COMPOSED", Yami yelled to him, "Easier said than done man", Leo thought as he dipped away from an incoming straight and clinched, "NO NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET SOME OFFENSE IN", he again yelled at Leo as Drowa pushed him off and began to throw a few body combinations, "USE YOUR ELBOWS", Yami yelled as Leo got pushed against the ropes

After some time had passed and the end of the day had come Gauche and Leo had come face to face again, "So you ready to stop whining like a baby?", Gauche asked getting Leo upset, "HEY MAN-" "Dude just stop either you're ready or you're not that's it", Leo scrunched his face a bit before talking again, "Whatever just look I need your help with something", Gauche rolled hisEYEbefore agreeing, "Ok what do you need?", he asked, "I need to test something but I need you to go through it slowly", Gauche once again rolled hisEYEand put his gloves back on, "Make sure you don't try to kill him this time", Theresa scolded him, "Whatever old hag", he replied, getting into the ring, "Ok I want you to throw a pressure combination but slow it down", Gauche shook his head, "Cool", Gauche threw some stuff and Leo replied properly to it but Gauche gave a bit of an unhappy look, "What?", Leo asked, "You're blocking body shots way to slow", he answered, "How?" "You're bringing your lead hand up to push it away", Gauche returned the same energy, "Then how do I fix it", Leo asked, "Try using your elbow to push it down to save some time and then counter", Leo looked at him like he was stupid, "What?", Gauche asked with a clear annoyance, "Elbows are illegal" "Yeah, hitting someone with an elbow is, this isn't clocking them with it", Leo rolled his eyes, "Ok well then I don't want to risk it" "Dude just listen" "No", Gauche closed his eyes and looked at the floor as he took a deep breath, "Whatever", he took his gloves off and tossed them out of the ring, "Really gonna leave cause I won't do it your way?" "I'm taking a break cause you're an idiot" "I'M AN IDIOT? YOU BRING YOUR LITTLE SISTER HER WITH YOU INSTEAD OF LEAVING HER AT DAYCARE, AND YOU'RE LIKE THE SAME AGE AS VANESSA AND OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL YOU-" *CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK* Gauche whipped around and hit him again dropping him hard, "HEY HEY HEY", Vanessa jumped into the ring with Magna and Luck pushing Gauche away from Leo, "AH f*ck YOU SPOILED LITTLE-" "ENOUGH", Yami yelled for the two to stop

Leo assumed his Philly shell the same he had used against Asta when they first met, "At least he's doing something", Yami chuckled, "Let's see if it works", he and Asta watched as Drowa thew a hook to the body Leo pushed his arm down by shoving his elbow into it countering after*POP*a quick straight landed snapping his head back as Leo took a few steps back before cutting to the right and delivered a quick hook that landed just below the liver, Drowa felt it and swung a few shots at Leo of which he parried the first punch and shoulder rolled the following two*SWISH*he tried to counter with a straight but Drowa ducked it and tried to throw a body shot at Leo that got pushed down by his elbow again*Pop*a less power straight came his way Drowa grabbed hold of him hooking one of his arms as he threw a few body shots, Leo dipped out of it and when he broke the clinch*CRAAAAACK*Drowa caught him with a rear upper cut leaving Leo on his back looking at the lights, "1...2...3..."

"Dude I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you have to learn one way or the other", Gauche and Leo sat outside after school for a moment, "Yeah getting me battered in the face isn't being a jerk', Gauche sighed before talking again, "You know that me and Asta fought in the underground right?", Leo nodded his head, "Ever wonder why?", this time he shook his head, "For Asta the underground was the place he was gonna build himself up so he could one day go pro" "What does this have to do with you?" "For me it was different it was a quick way to get money, no tax but that also meant I fought more often than he did", Gauche stopped for a moment before putting his hand on the left side of his face before lifting the hair that covered it, and to Leo's surprise a blank glass eye with a few clearly visible panels showing its cheapness, "There are gonna people worse than me and I didn't know that till the day that it happened, I don't want you or your cousin to find out the same", Leo stared at the ground not knowing what to say, "But if you want me to go easier on you I can", Gauche told him, "No", Leo answered, "I want to go at the same rate we've been going, but if we can take some time to slow it down and go over counters it would be helpful", Gauche chuckled while he began to stand up, "Fine, but I won't hold back", Leo popped up and the two shook hands, "I won't either", he laughed, "GAUCHE LOOK WHAT I MADE", the two turned to see Marie and.........Grey? "Guess that's my cue to go, hey thanks for watching her again", Gauche the blue haired girl laughed together for a little bit before, "Thank you Grey", Marie hugged her, "No problem kid I think you're cool", she laughed watching Gauche and Marie walk off leaving the two alone, "So uh you and him?", Leo asked trying to make conversation, the first time the two had talked since they were forced to train with them, "HUH? NO", Grey put her hands over her face

the world began to come back to him, "7...8...""OH NOO", Leo brought himself back to his feet and got back to a high guard*BRRRR*but the buzzer went off before they could finish, "OK ok kid that was pretty good until the knock down, but that's ok if you can edge this next round out you can pull a decision out", Yami said, "But-", Asta was about to say something before Yami stopped him,"I think they would rather bank on a win on their name than chase victory at the cost of defeat", Leo remembered what Gauche had said about him and Mimosa the first time they had met, "No I can finish this", Leo shook his head while gargling some water in his mouth and spitting it back out into the bucket. Asta and Yami smiled knowing that Leo had found a new resolve for this, "Ok Leo than if you think you got this go and get him", Yami told him with a smile, "I will", Leo placed his mouthpiece in and began to approach the center of the ring

And there it was the final round Leo assumed his Philly shell again, approaching Drowa who threw an overhand that got rolled *Woosh* Leo threw a straight that Drowa slipped to the outside of it facing Leo, "He did it wrong", Asta smiled knowing what was about to happen*SMACK*Leo landed a lead hook as Drowa planted his feet wobbling and backing up*BANG*a straight followed it getting him against the ropes and the two had begun a fire fight swinging at each other, "WHAT'S HE DOING?", Yami leaned back trying not to yell but failing, Drowa had threw just as much as Leo, but in a moment where he windmilled his back arm*SMAAAAAACK*Leo landed a lead power hook that crumpled Drowa, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10", the ref held up and X signaling the fight was over while Leo began to pull his gloves off and threw them into the crowd, "HA HA TOLD YA I COULD", Leo looked back at Yami and Asta who were almost as hyped as he was, "He did", Asta joined him in the ring picking him up like he had done before,"Well little Fuego looks like your brother is on the right track"

At the locker room

As the trio made their way back to the locker room seeing everyone there waiting, but the first thing that caught Leo's attention was Mimosa, her face looked pretty bad, "Geez what happened to you?', Leo asked trying not to laugh, "Something called a fight, from the looks of it you got into a decent one too", she gave a sarcastic smile to her cousin as he looked around at everyone else, "So when are the rest of the events", he asked, "They said we have an hour before the semi contact events take place", Jack answered while he ruffled Sekke's hair, "Well I'm gonna take a shower then", Leo passed them making his way to the shower room, "So how'd he do?", Theresa asked, "He won but I'll wait for him to tell you how he did it", Yami laughed as he lit as cigarette, "You", he pointed at Yuno, "Yeah" "Me and Asta are gonna corner you for the events", Yuno just nodded as he watched Yami leave the room, "I'm gonna go with him", Asta followed him, "Me and Sol are gonna get funnel cake", Charlotte and Sol left soon after, "I guess we'll go and get something from the vending machines", Jack motioned for Sekke to leave with him. It left three people in the room Yuno, Theresa, and Mimosa. Mimosa and Yuno just stared at each other braking eye contact every time they noticed Theresa began to observe, but unknown to them she noticed the whole thing smiling at it, "Hey Mimosa, could you get me something cold to eat", she smiled as she handed Mimosa a one-hundred-dollar bill, "What? Why can't you get it?", she asked, "Oh y'know these old bones just can't make a journey like that all the time", Mimosa just shook her head in confusion, "I could go for some ice cream right now", Yuno said getting her attention, "Uhhhh ok yeah we'll go get you some", Mimosa got up

After a little time had passed Leo had gotten out of the shower looking around to see that Theresa was the only person in the room, she patted the area next to her signaling for him to join her. Leo sat down while she grabbed a few things out of her duffle bag, soon she placed an ice pack over his eye, "Heard you won", she laughed looking at Leo's face which admittedly was nowhere near as bad as Mimosa's , "Yeah found a KO in the third round", he laughed letting out a small grunt of pain after he did, "I see", she smiled as she took the ice pack off and began applying some bandaging to it, "Y'know the way you look right now kind of reminds me of your brother when he was younger", Leo's one good eye widened, "REALLY?", his reaction made Theresa smile, "Yeah, in fact it reminds me of a fight he had when he went into MMA", Leo awaited to hear the story, "His first fight ever, when he transitioned from wrestling over to it in high school, the guy did a jump knee just as he went for a take down and almost finished him" "WHAT HAPPENED AFTER?", Leo began to lean back and forward, "He rallied, he pulled himself together and won, kind of like you and Mimosa did", Leo smiled as he proudly began to strut around the room, "Wait speaking of where is she?", he asked, "I don't know", Theresa shrugged with a smile, putting a some patches over his cuts

"That was a pretty awesome fight", Yuno complimented Mimosa as the two got some shaved ice from one of the food trucks, "You really think so?", Mimosa asked ad the two began looking for some where to sit, "Yeah you were amazing out there", he responded, "I mean you got knocked down a lot, but the way you kept getting up and going was pretty cool", the two sat down on a bench next to each other, "Thanks-ow ow", Mimosa held her temple which was still in a little bit of pain, "You need help?", Yuno asked, "No I'm-", Mimosa thought about it for a second, "Yes- That is if you can do something", she let out a small laugh, "Here", Yuno place the cone of his shaved ice on her temple, "That better?", he asked, Mimosa looked down with a small bit of blush on her cheeks, "Yeah.....a lot", she answered as she leaned her head on his shoulder ending her fight day on a strangely probably platonic relational high note

On the next episode of "You Clinched my heart"

"I thought that CKA was beginning to reclaim its name with the performances from your teammates, but I guess I was wrong considering from what I've seen you haven't been all too good", Sekke's opponent smirked at him, "Don't let him get to you", Sekke tried to control his breathing feeling nervous about facing off with him, "Then again I guess from everything that I've heard about them in recent times I can't be surprised they turned out someone like you", Sekke looked at him with anger, "What mad that your mates are better thanyou'll ever be?" "Can it"

AND

"You got some promise I guess", Ryha stroked his chin while he sized up Yuno, "What are you talking about", Yuno asked with a clear amount of annoyance in his seemingly blank face, "See considering that this is your first time doing this that opening bout was impressive", Ryha circled him a few times, "Plus you got a pretty good build for this", Rhya backed away getting a full body look of him, "Just think about my offer ok? Don't just ignore it", he waved as he walked off, "Golden dawn huh?", Yuno looked down at the invitation he was handed, "Weirdo"

Chapter 9: Semi contact fight, but a full contact will

Chapter Text

In the food truck area outside the building

Yuno and Mimosa made their way back to the locker room after their little ice cream adventure, leaving them more time to talk. The current subject, Yuno rather why didn't he go into combat sports program when he got to high school, "So you aren't going to answer the question?", Mimosa asked with a smile, "Why does it matter?", Yuno replied, trying to dodge answering it, "I mean I guess it doesn't matter, but I want to know", she asked as the two trashed the paper cone that came with the ice cream, "I mean I really don't know what to tell you, I never gave it that much thought", he said as he held the door open for her, "But you gave it enough thought to hide it", Mimosa raised her eyebrow as she passed him, Yuno's cheeks began to burn with embarrassment in response, "Ahhh gotcha", Mimosa giggled as she wagged her finger at Yuno, "Hehe ok ok you got me, you happy?", the lanky teen followed her inside where the two would continue to walk side by side, "Enough about that though, how you feeling about your first fight?", our orange haired heroine popped a question, "I'm nervous, not gonna lie", Yuno nervously rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a strange sort of pit in his stomach and a lump in his throat, "That's normal, happened to me the first time I fought", thoughts of her first ever match up had come back to her, "Really?" "Yeah, but I guess it's a little different since I didn't have to worry about getting kicked or anything like that, so", the reality of the two's differences were brought to light for a moment, leaving them feeling as if maybe there wasn't a ton of relatability. Sensing it, Mimosa decided to try and circle what she was talking about back to Yuno, "I mean I was still super nervous, and I was maybe even more nervous today", some nervous laughter emitted from the girl, "Not used to getting hit for real?", Yuno returned a little bit of the teasing that Mimosa sent his way previously, "Oh so you can make a joke", Mimosa nodded her head with a smile, indicating more so smugness than joy, "And you can be sarcastic", she laughed at his response, "Ok Mr. smart guy, I get it you're witty", Mimosa gave a playful one handed shove while Yuno laughed a bit, "Hey I try", a sarcastic smile had formed on the young man's face as he raised his arms before returning to her side. Mimosa and Yuno kept walking on, as they continued their hands accidentally touched, but instead of retracting them the two's hands over lapped until, "HEY WHAT'S UP GUYS", Asta came between them, adorning a body pad. The two looked at each other and rolled their eyes, "What?", Yuno asked clearly agitated, "Oh this? It's so you can practice your kicks full force on my mid-section", the ash blonde boy answered, patting the stomach region of the pad while he laughed, "Seriously?", Yuno raised an eyebrow, trying to signal for Asta to leave, "Yeah they are pretty useful to practice body work on", Mimosa added, remembering that her mom had used it when she was a kid, "You've used one?", Yuno asked, "Yep, but it was when I was really young", she answered with a head shake.

Although Yuno thought Asta was getting in the way a bit at first, but as they continued and walked as a trio, he appreciated the advice that he was giving him. More in particular aspects of range and how his build would play to that strength, "I'm telling you man, from what I've seen when you were sparing with mars and luck, close range is not your thing man", Asta emphasized the not, trying to drill in the fact that his boxing sucked, "I don't know man I feel pretty good about my boxing, I've been doing work with Mimosa on it", he did a few shadow punches to show his shorter friend, "Dude", Asta stopped and put his hand on his shoulder, "That was terrible", he announced with a blank face, "Hey I didn't think it was that bad", Mimosa tried to defend him, "I mean I guess, but it's going to have to be his backup plan cause it isn't anywhere near as good as his kicks", Asta explained as he stroked his chin, "Why can't you be this critical with your thinking during class?", Yuno co*cked an eyebrow as the group finally reached the locker room door, "HEY", Asta raised his arms in anger, "Calm down they don't want to hear you scream first thing back", he pushed the door open.

"Sup", Leo nodded his head at the group as Theresa finished up the bandages for his face, "Sup", Asta raised an arm to return his greeting, "How was the ice cream?", Theresa looked at Mimosa with a smile, "It was good, I got-", she began to talk about it when she suddenly remembered that she and Yuno were supposed to get the old lady ice cream, "OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY, I FORGOT TO GET YOU SSOME", she apologized with a rapid bow, "Ah don't worry kid I'm not really feeling it anymore", Theresa motioned her hand to indicate that she didn't care, "Are you sure?", Mimosa asked, "Yeah yeah, just hope you had a good time", the old lady chuckled causing Mimosa to blush a little. As for everyone else in the room they just brushed past it, and moved to the mat area, "Where are Yami and the other?", Asta asked, "Yami is in the restroom and the others...I don't really know", she shrugged after her answer, "Fine I guess we can just do some basic stuff till they get back", Asta told Yuno who nodded in response, "What do you want to work on?", he asked, "I guess maybe some range set ups", the taller one shrugged, not really having much of an idea of what to do, "Cool, just let me know when you're gonna throw something so I can brace it", Asta instructed, "Nice", Yuno nodded. "Front kick", he said*Pow*a decently clean kick landed, "Ok so I'm guessing you already know this, but when kicking from long range it is ok to let your arms down and then back up to generate more momentum", Asta explained, "Really? Ok", Yuno geared up for another one*POW*the kick definitely felt more powerful than the previous one, "Good stuff, keep going" "Body round house" "*POOW* the shot rang out through the locker room, "Again"*POW*Yuno tried to rapid fire the second one, "So when doing multiple kicks on the same leg, don't try and balance power and speed, it has to be on or the other since you're already let it rip", Yuno once again nodded at the boys instruction, surprised that he was as good at it as he was.

Theresa, Leo, and Mimosa watched on also surprised that Asta was such a good coach, "Say, was he a big help in your corner kid?", Theresa nudged Leo with her elbow to get his attention, "Oh uh...yeah honestly he was", Leo remembered the advice him and Yami would give him in his fights, "He had a really good understanding of distance", Leo watched as Yuno threw a body side kick, just enough to meet his heel to the body pad, yet still retaining its sound, "I see, guess that makes sense, it isn't exactly like the kid has a lot of reach to work with", Theresa voice her thoughts to her pupils, following Yuno throw kicks which all of them did look clean at least to her, "Can I try a spinning side sick?", Yuno jerked his head in question, "Sure man", Asta nodded so that he could get ready for the kick*POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW*once again it rang out, "How was that?", Yuno asked with a smile, confident that the kick was good, "That was alright", Asta responded to, surprising the others, "Aw what? That kick was great", Yuno complained, "Yeah, the impact was, but it was way too telegraphed, you're throwing it out there just to do it and you aren't doing anything to hide it", the explanation didn't make sense to him though, "Who cares? It's pad work, right?" "I care, cause when you start doing it like that it becomes instinct to do it, and it's going to be harder to fix it when it comes to a real fight", Yuno sighed in defeat knowing that he was right, "Fine, but is there like a way to do that, that is feasible to learn in like an hour?", he asked, "I can show you some set ups to land the kick and from it", Asta nodded, "Like?" "Like this", Asta took the pad off and stood next to him, "So a good way to hide it, is to instead of using your lead leg to kick, spin clockwise off of it so that it's harder to see", Asta did the kick rather fast, "But wouldn't that mean less power?", Yuno raised an eyebrow, "Sure, but if you telegraph it and they see it coming then they can get out of its line and catch you", he raised his eyebrows, "Wanna see some more?" "Sure", the duo continued to work until the other's got back.

"Good to see you kids working", Yami commented as he entered the room along with Charlotte, Jack, Sol, and Sekke, "Yep I was just showing him some ways to cover up some spinning attacks", Asta explained, "Good, cause we're going to work on some combos next", Yami tossed a pair of gloves at Yuno's feet, "Nice, guess I get to make use of that boxing huh Mimosa?", he laughed while looking over at her, "Yep", she cheered for a second, before Asta nudged him with his elbow, "Cut that out", Yuno pushed him so he would shut up, "Whatever", Asta went to sit on the bench with the others, while Yami slipped on the pads to get to work, "Alright we're gonna do what I usually do with Asta, combo's and ramp them up as we go, eventually fitting in weaving for, that sound good?", Yami asked, "Yep" "Good cause I was going to do that any way", the two got to work

"Sekke you and Asta are going to do a bit of touch sparing", Jack pushed his student to his feet so that he could get to it, "But I was thinking that maybe you and I could do some of that?", he nervously messed with his hands, "We can do that some other time, for now it's better for me to observe you and try to find holes in your game that might be exploitable", Jack said, trying to get him to leave his comfort zone once again, much like he did when he sparred with Luck, "Oh ok I was just, y'know- It's whatever", he stood up and strapped on his gloves so that him and Asta could start, "Hey man don't worry this won't be like when we fought", Asta laughed while he slipped his shin guards on, "Hehe yeah", Sekke nervously laughed and got ready squaring up his guard so that he could get ready, "Alright here go's", Asta stepped in a threw a light four punch combo, Sekke shelled up in response to protect his head and when he did Asta immediately began to fury at his body, "Ok ok stop", Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, "What?" "Kid you just shelled up and you barely started", Sekke shook his head in confusion, "I was just waiting for an opening" "Yeah, but if it was a real fight then he would've just swarmed you", Jack said, Sekke just nervously agreed before getting back to it. Soon the usual knock would come at the door, telling our fighters it was their time, "You guys ready?", Yami asked Asta and Yuno, "Yea", Yuno nodded as Asta tied up his gloves, "Sekke you good to go?", Jack asked his only student, "I uh...Yea sure", Sekke gave an unconfident answer, "Then let's go", they left for their fights.

With Sekke

Sekke's head nervously jittered while staring at his opponent, Ina a young man with a similar stature to his own who was currently staring straight across from him, "You two know the rules?", the ref asked only getting a head nod from each student, "Then you may begin", the go ahead was given. Sekke remained on the outside as a start waiting for Ina to come to him, "Watch for micro movement", he kept his eyes trained on his opponents main tell areas, shoulders, hips, and feet to try and watch for slight changes that could give away whether he was going to throw or not. Then a quick low kick came*Check*Sekke reacted nicely and stopped it*Bang*he flicked a quick jab out to find his distance *Smack* Ina caught him at the same time that the jab connected with a straight. Sekke began to move backwards and while he did, he saw Ina load up on an over hand*WOOSH*he ducked out of the way*Smack* *Bang*on the way out Sekke landed a body hook and a cross snapping Ina's head the other way*Crack*Sekke hit an uppercut while his head was still turned and backed away, "He didn't go for a finish?", Jack watched the sequence with little frustration at Sekke not going for it. After he circled back to the center Ina whipped around to chase him*Woosh*Ina threw a lead question mark kick*Pow*Sekke caught him on the supporting leg, toppling him over, "1...", Ina got back to his feet immediately and took a moment to compose himself. As the two began again Sekke maintained his outside position*Pow*a quick tapping calf kick came Ina's way causing him to hobble back for a moment and giving Sekke the signal to move forward*SMACK*Ina caught him with a decent over hand and stumbled him back a little*POP*Sekke threw a teep kick to keep him away*SMACK*he followed his teep with a cross pushing Ina to the side *Woosh* a missed uppercut barely grazed past Ina's head before the bell went off. The two fighters went back to their corners, "Kid you had this in the bag in the opening", Jack criticized him, "I was worried he would try to throw a counter", Sekke finished up drinking his water before Jack spoke again, "Look kid, do you really want to just be subpar?", he asked, "What?" "You had a finish, and you didn't take it" "I know but I was just a little on edge", Jack just shook his head, which made Sekke feel a little bad, "I-" "Come on to the center", the ref stopped him from continuing and beckoned him on

As the second round began Sekke went with a slight over aggressive approach*Bang Bang**Smack*he connected on a one, one two combo on the guard of Ina*Woosh*Ina responded by trying to throw a check hook that, but Sekke got out of the way by leaning back*Crack*he countered with an uppercut. Ina immediately retreated and shelled up against the ropes, Sekke followed him and ripped a good leg kick*Bang Bang Bang*he landed a set of jabs on the guard again. He co*cked his arm back for a power shot *SMACK* Ina caught him in between with an over hand *WOOSH WOOSH* Sekke tried to get away before Ina ripped a good body kick *POW* Sekke hunched over, feeling the wind leave his body*Crack* *Smack*Ina hit an upper cut cross that sent him reeling back*Swish*Sekke moved out of the way of a looping cross and clinched*Bang bang bang*letting knees rip to the body Ina groaned and pushed away*Crack*as he did Sekke caught him with an elbow at the end*POP*he followed with a head kick wobbling Ina. Seeing his moment Sekke put the pressure on*SMACK* *BANG* *CRACK*connecting a straight, body jab, uppercut. Setting Ina against the ropes for him to go into a barrage *CRACK* but he was stopped by Ina throwing yet another panic overhand, knocking Sekke over, "1...2...3...4...5", as he sat on his butt, he looked up at his opponent who was pacing back and forward for him to get back up, "6...7...-", the count stopped when he got back to his feet, "You ok?" "Yeah" "Alright, go ahead", the fight was started back up, leaving Sekke on the defensive, "Ok you made a mistake it happens, you're still better than this guy", he kept his guard raised and slowly circled his opponent*Pow*he threw a very uncommitted low kick. He kept the distance between them just popping weak low kicks. That was until he threw one more and*BANG* *SMACK*Ina took it and walked through it, catching him with a one two while his hands were down. Sekke began to shell and back up*BANG BANG BANG*Ina hounded on his guard, Sekke pushed him off*SMACK*Ina got him with a straight while his arms were out which snapped his head back. Ina stepped in and began to hit him with a barrage of hooks, most of which landed on the guard*BRRRRR*the bell went off before Ina could finish it. "Bad round got caught a few times", Jack nodded to acknowledge the faults of the round, "But he does bad up close", Sekke shook his head, "He keeps trying to get in though", he dismissed his coach's assessment of the opponent, "Sure but he keeps shelling up so he can load a power punch when he does, so I think that the best counter is to clinch very heavily", Jack patted his student on the back as the third round was about to start

The final round was underway and Sekke thought about the advice Jack gave him,"Just have to clinch well", he nodded as he stayed on the outside, waiting for Ina to come to him. Sure, enough the boy began his forward march at Sekke throwing a few jabs to get in*Bang bang* *WOOSH*he swung a power hook and Sekke responded by teeping his knee*Smack*after it landed, he threw a lead hook to help him set up a circle away, "Wait for my moment"*Woosh woosh* *POP*Ina used a few punches to set up a low kick, causing Sekke to hobble on it for a second, "NOWS MY CHANCE", he geared up for a power shot before he got grabbed by the back of the head into a clinch*BANG BANG BANG*he let a few knees to the body go as Ina pulled away*Pow*Sekke caught him at the end with a body kick making him hunch over slightly*Bang* *Smack*he hit him with a one two to follow up, but when he noticed Ina glaring at him, he backed away. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?", Jack yelled with his head in hand causing him to look over to his corner*Smack* Ina caught an uppercut, but it lacked much power only snapping Sekke's head back slightly. As he backed up Ina chased and once again got clinched*Bang* *Smack* *Pop*a knee, hook, knee caught Ina in the body as Sekke pushed him into the ropes holding him there until the ref broke it up. After the two were reset and forced to engage with each other again Ina again moved forward*WOOSH*an overhand barely missed and Sekke clinched again*Bang Bang*He threw two knees, the last one hitting as Ina broke the clinch. Ina again tried to swing heat at him and got clinched for his efforts*Smack* *Crack*Sekke hooked his body and switched to a one arm clinch and hit a knee to his head, stumbling him back. Ina panicked and tried to throw his overhand again, "Does this guy seriously not learn?", Sekke scoughed and clinched up hitting him with a few knees to the body. Sensing the fight was almost over he pushed him against the ropes again, getting boos from the crowd*BRRRR*the bell went off to signal the end of Sekke's first fight. Which he was proudly prancing around the ring before the ref grabbed him for the official decision, "This fight has gone the distance, and it has been scored a split decision", the ref announced, getting Sekke worried, "First score card reads 29-28 in favor of Sekke", he continued to stare at the ref, nervous of the outcome, "The second score card reads 29-28 in favor of Ina", what felt like a millions years passed as the ref got ready to read the final card, "And the final one reads 29-28 giving you your winner Sekke", the young man let out a sigh of relief before leaving the ring, "Kid you had a finish on your hands multiple times" "I know, I just got really nervous", Sekke explained to him, "I get it kid, but if you're ever going to be more than you are, you really need to learn how to bite down and throw", Jack told him, walking on ahead, "Yeah...sorry", he nervously followed his disappointed mentor

With Yuno

Yuno walked out hearing people whisper about him, "Isn't that the son of that space program?" "Yeah, the ones that sponsored clovers first shuttle" "Why is someone like him here", many questions about the boy arose likely stemming from his parents, "What are they talking about?", Asta raised an eyebrow as he looked around the crowd, "They're talking about my mom and dad, but I guess that should be normal", the crowds doubts didn't dampen the young man's resolve though, only fanning a fire to prove them wrong, "I'm gonna prove why I'm here though", he smiled. "Introducing first representing Clover Kingdom Academy, the son of the third most valuable space conglomerate in the world Yuno Grinberryal", the ref announced him giving the crowd confirmation on who he was, "THIRD MOST VALUABLE? LIKE WORLDWIDE", Asta yelled with his hands on his head in surprise, "Thought your name sounded familiar", Yami chuckled at Asta's reaction, "You've heard of em huh?", Yuno looked over to him, "I've only really seen a few things on the news, so don't worry", the trio turned their heads back to the ring. When they finally made it and Yuno was making his way up the steps, he decided to have a look at the crowd for himself. Mostly finding people who didn't seem very enthused that he was fighting, save for one orange haired girl cheering him on, "YOU'VE GOT THIS YUNO", Mimosa looked at him with fists pumping into the air, "Thanks", he thought before getting into the ring to settle into his corner, "Introducing second representing Golden Dawn private school Alecdora Sandler", a young man with a similar build to Yuno with dark green hair walked out of the opposite entrance. Alecdora maintained a stone face on his walk to the ring, constantly staring his opponent down, "Cutthroat kid", Yami commented on the boy's attitude, "Kind of like you", Asta tacked on, "Whatever man", Yuno smiled making his way to the center to meet him, "Ok here are the rules, this bout will be contested over three, 3minute rounds, no blows to the groin, back of the head, or spine, clinching is allowed, but will be broken up if both combatants are too inactive, am I clear" "Yes", Yuno answered, but Alecdora kept his death stare with the ref backing the two up, "THEN BEGIN", the signal to start was given.

Yuno didn't move forward and only circled to begin, while Alecdora moved forward, *Pop* Yuno stopped him with a lead side kick, "Ok manage your distance and counter strike", he remembered the gameplan that Asta put together for him, Alecdora got pushed back a bit, but continued forward after recovery*WOOSH*he threw a looping cross to which Yuno shoulder rolled it*Bang*he clinched in response to the miss and kneed him in the stomach*SMACK*Alecdora landed an over hand causing Yuno to break the clinch, "Damn it I was only able to get one knee off", Yuno thought as he began to circle away*POW*Alecdora landed a lead body kick, the power being increased by Yuno moving into it, "OH", he hunched over, feeling what it was like to be kicked like that for the first time, "Even with shin guards it hurts that much", Yuno watched Alecdora close the distance*Woosh Woosh*the green haired kid threw a few meek combos to the head, Yuno rolled away from most of them until*POW*a hard low kick connected right above the knee to the back of his thigh, "sh*t", he tried to back away*BANG SMACK*a jab cross landed on his head gear pushing his head back*POW*Alec landed a hard body kick after and began to get in again*CRACK*Yuno landed a lead uppercut and initiated another clinch*Bang bang*a couple knee's landed, but when he shot for a third one*SMACK* *CRACK*Alec threw a body hook and an overhand, "AGAIN?", Yuno backed away*WOOSH*Yuno barely managed to get out of the way of a head kick*POP*he threw a front kick to an off balance Alec causing him to fall over. He popped right back up and began to fury at him again*Smack* *Pow*Yuno slipped a to the inside of a straight and hit a cross low kick *Pop* he backed up with a side kick to get the distance between the two back, "He's good, damn good", Yuno switched to a south paw stance and threw a body kick that Alec caught.

Yuno got swept clean off his feet*BRRRR*the bell went off, and for what he could guess Alecdora won the first round. "Pretty back and forward, but considering the sweep and the overhands he clacked you with, pretty likely that he won the first", Yami sighed, sure it was the kids first time, but he was still getting back into the flow of how a fight feels, "Made some mistakes man, when you get into the clinch tuck your head close to his so that overhand doesn't land, and don't constantly back up in a linear line it makes it easier for him to dictate the fight, but moving left and right helps open up your spin kicks", Yuno nodded, but was surprised by his friends understanding of his situation so fast,"He's a slow poke in class, but when it comes to this stuff, it's like he's a doctor", the lanky teen thought while turning his neck in circles, "Anything else?" "He's really boxing oriented so try and disrupt his combos so that you can change it to a more kick-oriented fight" "OK", Yuno left the corner for the second round.

Round two had begun and the opening approach for Yuno had changed, he began to close in and ripped a body kick*Crack*Alec checked it with his elbow, "OH f*ck", Yuno quickly retrieved his leg which wobbled when he brought it back down*SMACK*a clean straight snapped his head back again and in response Yuno threw a lead hook*Woosh*Alec ducked it and was coming up for an uppercut*CRACK*Yuno stopped him by clinching and throwing a big knee, stumbling him back*Bang* *POW*A jab into a body kick followed giving Yuno a moment to back up, "Move sideways", he thought as he began to move from side to side while backing up, Alec recovered and once again started his march forward. Yuno threw a leg kick when he stepped in causing Alec to stop for a moment, and Yuno let a side kick to the body rip causing Alec to back up a bit. Yuno took note and closed in*Bang* *Smack* *Bang*utilizing a blitz combination he snapped his head back with each punch, Alec clinched to stop him and hounded a few knees to the body before breaking away*CRACK*as they broke, he landed a good elbow pushing Yuno to the side*Pop*a quick calf kick came after*BANG* *SMACK* *SMACK*A jab cross body hook combo caused Yuno to hunch over a bit*SMACK* *SMACK*he shelled up to protect his head,*Bang*Alec clinched and kneed him to the body in response, Yuno pushed him off*Smack*a lead hook caught Alec when he tried to reenter, spinning him around a little which gave Yuno time to circle back to the center of the ring *Woosh woosh* Alec threw a jab cross that Yuno rolled with*POP*a sidekick followed all the way through pushing Alec a good distance away, "He's about to throw heavy", Yuno watched Alec faint twice in a row, with obvious tells such as a fake turn of the hips and loading of the shoulder. Alec set his back foot down and pushed off of it giving Yuno the perfect moment to counter, when he finally tried to blitz in

Yuno knocked him down, and while he hadn't landed a hard head strike for it. It was significant*BRRR*Yuno leaned over and smiled at Alec, who had begun to get back to his feet. The two then retreated to the corner, "Good stuff man, you kept you range good, but his boxing is still clearly better than yours", Yami patted him on the back, "Thanks", Yuno nodded, "His checks aren't looking too good, so try to rip lower kicks more often" "What about when it's close?" "Well, you aren't exactly the best boxer, but he does duck his head pretty often when slipping and when throwing power shots, like the uppercut he got you with" "How do I deal with it then?" "Time a knee up the middle, which with the length of your legs shouldn't be a problem", one more nod and a sip of water, then Yuno was off for the final round.

"Final round", Yuno started more like the first this time and circled to the left*Swish*Alec threw a jab out, but Yuno noticed that it was much slower than the ones he was throwing earlier giving him time to slip it*Bang* *Smack*Yuno leaned into a jab body straight and moved backward*Pop*Alec tried to follow him with a slow straight and got caught right in the center of his stomach with a lead side kick, "What happened?", Yuno raised his arms in confusion. Alec chose to ignore it and move forward again*Woosh woosh* *smack*Yuno again rolled away from the head shots but got caught with a low kick at the end. Yet it didn't feel as bad as the first few he had taken, "What happened to the guy? He seemed like he had heat", Asta raised an eyebrow at Alec's sudden lack of power, "Kid tired himself out" "Huh? he literally threw one maybe powerful combo, but that was it", Yami closed his eyes, "Sure, but he was swinging heat the entire two rounds before, and probably empty the tank when he had Yuno on the ropes", the explanation prompted Asta to look back into the ring. Yuno and continued to circle around Alec occasionally letting a body kick and a sidekick go, so that he could keep him away,"What happened to him?", more thoughts about the guy's bad power came by until the answer suddenly came to me, "You're tired aren't you?", Yuno asked, "What?", Alec tried to play it off, but underneath the head gear he was sweating quite a bit, "You're too tired to go much harder, aren't you?", he smiled, "No I'm not", Alec responded "Oh ok", Yuno shrugged*SMACK*a low kick slammed into Alec's thigh causing his leg to hobble*SMACK*another came*Smack*and another,"sh*t I gotta do something", Alec tried to figure out a way to end the fight, knowing that he had lost the last two rounds,"AH f*ck it", Alec jumped forward and winged an over hand

The knee Asta would be there was, and to make it worse his knee fit right at the gap under the chin of the head gear, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10, IT'S OVER", Yuno walked off after the count, proud that he had proven to the crowd that he was legit, "HAHA GOT HIM", Asta leaned over the roped, leaning back and forward, "Picture perfect knee, good stuff", Yami shook his head in approval. Yuno and Alecdora were brought to the center for the official decision, "Now is time for the official decision, and your winner by way of knock out in the third, Yuno Grinberryal", the ref raised his hand while he just nodded, "Good start kid", Yami patted him on the back, "SERIOUSLY AWESOME KNEE", Asta did the same for a little, but way harder, "CUT THAT OUT MAN", Yuno smacked his arm away, "Hey I'm just trying to be supportive", Asta shrugged, "Whatever man", Yuno brushed past him to leave the ring, "Welp at least he wasn't that mean", Asta shrugged and followed him

When the three had begun making their way back, Yami had went ahead of the two boys to take yet another smoke break, leaving them by themselves on the way back to the locker room. The subject of the moment, Fragil's party and how they would be attending, "My mom said that I could maybe take the car, but if I pick everyone up, they'll need to pitch in for gas", Asta said, moving his mouth awkwardly to the side feeling bad that he had to charge his friends for gas again, "I mean that's not really a problem most of us have the money", Yuno shrugged wanting his friend to know that it was ok, "I know, but I feel kind of bad that I have to say something like that, feels like I'm taking advantage of that", he rubbed the back of his head, "I mean she does do that for everyone else, so it's not like we're the only ones paying, and your friends don't ask us to pay more cause we have more so it's really not that big a deal", a final bit of assurance let Asta relax before moving on, "Still though, would be cool if I could just take you guys without worrying about it", he sighed, "Speaking of the party, you think that uh...Mimosa would go with me?", Yuno quickly sputtered out realizing that he didn't want Asta to answer in the middle of saying it, "OOOOOOOO", Asta "Hey guys wait up", Mimosa's voice called out for the two, "Oh hey it's your girlfriend", Asta held his hand over his mouth, not letting peeps of laughter come through, "Shut up", Yuno shoved him upside the head while Mimosa approached the two, "Hey Yuno", Mimosa waved when she got to them, getting a slight smile out of Asta, "What?" "Oh, nothing I just realized that I dropped my wallet, and I was about to go get it", he nudged his friend one more time before leaving, "You're not going to go help him?", Mimosa lifted an eyebrow, "Nah he's got it", Yuno assured her, "Oh ok", she titled her head with a confused smile, "Anyway I just wanted to congratulate you on your first win", Mimosa smiled with her hands behind her back, "Thanks", Yuno blushed, "No problem, I mean the way you tiered him out was pretty genius" "I mean I learned from the best", he joked in clear reference to her last fight, "I would be inclined to agree, but y'know", she pointed both of her index fingers at her bandaged face, "I mean you still look pretty good", a slight bit of awkward flirting came from him, "Reall? Uh thanks", Mimosa's cheeks also began to burn up a little. "Mimosa so hey-", Yuno was about to ask her a question before someone interrupted him by wrapping their arms around the two, "Asta I thought you-", Yuno shirked the arm off of him and turned around to see the guy with black and white hair, "Sup", he smiled, "Wait a minute you're that Rhya guy", Yuno raised his arms to a long guard, "That would be me", Rhya stroked his chin while looking at the two, both of which were ready to fight with him, "Don't worry I'm not here to fight honest", he said to try and put them at ease, "At least not yet", he approached Yuno to do a bit of a size up, "You got some promise I guess", Rhya stroked his chin as he circled him to inspect the young man, "You've also got a pretty nice build too", he backed away to get a full body view of him, "Say what would you think about joining Golden Dawn Academy?", the question caused Mimosa to widen her eyes, "AS IF", she once again raised her arms, "Can it lady this is between me and him" "Don't talk to her like that", Yuno did the same, "Calm down dude, I'm just making an offer", a chuckle followed his statement, "If that's it, then beat it", Yuno glared, "Fine I'll go, but give my offer some thought don't just ignore it", Rhya waved before leaving. Mimosa and Yuno had some nervous sweat on their foreheads, "Man that was tense", Mimosa let out a sigh of relief after he left, "Tell me about it", Yuno agreed, "Anyway what were you going to ask me?", Yuno's cheeks began to flush a little, "I was just going to ask if you were going with Asta in his car?", he said, not being able to find to courage after what had happened , "Oh", Mimosa's face just blanked in disappointment, "Nah I'll take my car", she answered, "Hehe yeah", Yuno just laughed to try and brush past it, "Guess we should head to the locker?" "yep"

The two awkward teenagers walked along, but this time in mostly silence. When they made it back, they saw everyone aside from Yami and Asta there, "Cool looks like you're finally back", Sekke snarked as he practiced a few kicks on pads with Jack, "Where's Asta?", Leo asked, "He went to go look for his wallet", Yuno answered, grabbing a water bottle from his bag, "But his wallet is right here", Sol chuckled while pointing at his bag, and in the net pocket on the side was his wallet, "Oh maybe he forgot", Yuno responded, trying to find some justification as to why he didn't join them, "Anyway, you should get to work since the lady came by and said that your fight would start a little bit earlier", Leo said, "Why?" "She said that the guy ended his match pretty early", Yuno nodded, but felt a little bit uneasy since Asta and Yami weren't present to help him. Mimosa noticed it and began to think up of a way that she could help him, she finally settled on helping him with his boxing, "How about I help improve your boxing?", she voiced her thoughts, "That would actually be really helpful, thanks", he nodded while walking over to the mats, Mimosa for her part grabbed hand pads to help him practice. "Ok so I think brushing up on some hand focused footwork would help", Mimosa explained as she made a few basic movements, "What do you have in mind?", Yuno asked, "So I was thinking starting off basic and progressively getting more complex, for right no jus step, step, right, back, left step step", she acted the motion out as she explained it, "Ok so like this?", Yuno followed rather well, not having a clear bad part, "Good, now do that and we'll progressively add more stuff", she nodded watching as Yuno played it out a few times, "Good now add a jab for your first step, a cross for your second step and pivot out", once again she tossed some instructions his way, of which he followed them rather well. This continued for a while, that was until Yami had comeback with Asta in tow, "Looks like you've been busy", Yami walked over to them holding a square pad, "Yeah, Mimosa has been helping me with my boxing", Yuno nodded as he slipped a few shots, "Good, it's definitely your weak point, but now we need to get you to chain them into your kicks", Yami patted him on the shoulder, signaling for Mimosa to step aside, "Actually I think that maybe focusing on my boxing, it IS the weakest part of my game", he responded, looking over to Mimosa, "This is kickboxing not hand fighting kid, you gotta learn to use them congruently", Yami slipped held the singular square pad, "Why just that? It's really small", Yuno raised a questioning eyebrow at his methods, "We need to focus on what you're really good at, flashy spinning stuff", the answer still didn't seem to satisfy him, "You need to hit this pad in the center consistently, helps with your accuracy", Yami motioned for him to go, "What do you want me to throw?", he asked, "Any spinning attack should work", Yami nodded, "Ok". Yuno danced around a bit before letting a lead leg spinning back kick go*Pow*he caught the pad with the end of his foot, "You're trying to move away while you're doing it, try moving forward with it", Yuno nodded and tried to do as he was told*Pow*. Yami shook his head at the lack of power, "What?" "You keep moving back on instinct", he nodded his head, understanding that it was likely coming from taekwondo that was making him that way, "So how do I fix that", Yuno asked. And to be fair it was a good question, "I think I know", Yami stroked his chin as he looked over at Mimosa, "What?" "You need to merge you kicking into your boxing, help yourself get into a range that gets your kicks the power that they need, but in order to kick while moving forward, the confidence that being able to box well is something that's going to help" "Ok and?" "And that means Asta's out and you're in", he pointed at the orange haired girl, "What?", Mimosa shook her head in confusion, "You're going to be the one that helps him get comfortable with moving forward on the front foot, and set up his spinning kicks from his punches", Yami clarified, "So when she tells you to punch, I'll instruct you when to kick and vice versa", he continued to explain to the two, "Ok then let's do it", he clapped for them to get to work.

Sekke worked on some simple shadow boxing, that was until Jack began to speak, "Sekke how about you work some offense with Asta", his coach suggested, giving his student a concerned look, "I mean I guess, but like how?", Sekke showed worry about going with him again, "I was thinking that Asta can work defense and you work the offense, since I noticed that while your defense is good your offense is a little lacking", Jack tried to put it in a way that wouldn't hurt his feelings. But as well as Sekke thought he could hide it; it was still a bit clear that it got to him, "Yeah ok, that's fine I was thinking the same too", he awkwardly nodded as Asta stepped onto his part of the mat, "You ready to go?" Asta asked, "Sure", Sekke lifted his arms into the standard Thai guard. He started off with stepping in and throwing a one two body hook combo*woosh* *woosh* *Tack*Asta rolled out of the way of the first two and used his elbow to push, seeing that he leaned away Sekke tried to throw a low kick*Check*Asta stopped it and threw a weak poke at Sekke's face, "You dropped your hands to do that and kept them down, don't do that", he told his peer as the two returned to a neutral distance. It continued like this for thirty minutes, before the knock at the door had come. "Looks like it's time", Jack stretched, "Guess it is", Yami smiled, "Now let's go out and crush em", the group focused their hands into a circle, "3...2...1 LETS GO MAGIC KNIGHTS", they all chanted before leaving the room.

With Yuno

Yuno banged his gloves together during the final walk out for the day, "Ready?", Mimosa asked him, "Yep", he smiled at her, "Cool it, we got to have our heads in the game", Yami chuckled at the two's clear 'I like you' energy as they began walking out, "YUNO YUNO YUNO", the crowd chanted for the young man, watching him slowly make his walk to the ring, "Introducing first, representing Clover kingdom Academy Yuno Grinberryal", the ref announced him for the last time today, "Hope you're ready", Yami looked over at Yuno who had a blank look on his face, "I'm fine, just a little excited to finish this", he nodded, "Please just be safe, ok?", Yuno turned his head to see Mimosa smiling at him, "Hey Mimosa can I talk to you after this?", he asked, "Sure, just make sure you though", a slight giggle. Yuno finally got to the steps of the ring, bouncing up and down for a moment, "Go get em", Yami pushed him onto the steps. Yuno stared at the other end of the ring, waiting for his opponent to be brought out, "Introducing second representing Golden Dawn private academy David Swallow", the ref announced his opponent, another young man with a similar build, this time a blonde greaser fade. David made a slow stride to the ring, keeping a smug smile on his face while he did so, "Seems like the kids got confidence", Yami smirked, "Who cares? doesn't change what I have to do", Yuno rolled his neck around as he kept his eyes on David. He made it to the ring, but before getting between the ropes he stared Yuno down. "He's trying to intimidate you", Mimosa lifted an eyebrow, "I could tell", he tried to laugh him off and seem cool to her

David got in and when he did, the two were brought to the center of the ring, "I assume you know the rules?", the ref gave them both quick glances, "Yes", both answered together, "Alright then, BEGIN". The first round started, and Yuno took up an aggressive approach*Bang bang*he jabbed David's guard before*Smack*he threw a rear hook to his body*Woosh*Yuno tried to jab after, but David slipped it to the outside*crack*a rather weak uppercut cracked him clean*Smack*it was then followed by a cross causing Yuno to back away*Pow*David ended his combo with a low kick, causing Yuno's leg to wobble a little when he put weight back on in. David began to close in with a straight*SWISH*"HUH?", David's eyes widened while witnessing Yuno shoulder roll it*CRACK*an upper came in the opening that the roll gave Yuno*POOOW*he followed up with a spinning back kick knocking off balance*Pop*he tapped a calf kick and David began to move back. Yuno began to box in throwing a few jabs*Smack*he hit him with a straight to the body, causing David to hunch over, "Now's my chance", Yuno geared up for an upper cut*SMACK*David caught him with a hook right on the liver, dropping Yuno to one knee, "1...2...3...4" "NO", Mimosa popped up from her stool, watching him stay on one knee, "5...6" "YUNO GET UP", she slammed her hands on the apron over and over, trying to get his attention. On his end, ears were ringing, body felt like it had just gotten shocked by a taser, "YUNO PLEASE GET UP", a sudden cry for his name brought him back to reality. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Mimosa screaming for him to continue, but it was painful, every time he tried to move something it felt like his body shocked him for trying, "GET UP GET UP GET UP", her voice was still the only clear thing he could hear,"Hey mimosa can I talk to you after this?" "Sure, just make sure you win", Yuno thought about their conversation before the fight started, "Damn it", he gritted his teeth, "7...8", looking over his shoulder one more time he could see that she was still cheering for him, "I CAN'T LOSE HERE", trying one more time to pull himself up, "9...""NO NO NO", Yuno pulled himself back to his feet at the last second, "YES", Mimosa yelled in relief, "You ok? Can you still go?", the ref asked, "Yeh", Yuno quickly nodded his head, "Ok then go", the positions were reset and the two circled each other. "Got you pretty good, didn't I?", David mocked him, "No", Yuno tried to keep his cool and threw out a few jabs*Bang* *Swish*David parried the first one and slipped on the inside of the first. This time Yuno clinched him *Crack* he hit David with a knee to his head*Bang*he followed with one to the body before David pulled away*POW*Yuno got him with a body kick and tried to go in*SMACK*David caught him with a hard straight to the body, dropping him again*BRRRRR*the round ended. "Rough round", Yami chuckled, "I know", Yuno lowered his head. Mimosa recognized that look, it was the same one she had after she lost the second round to Dazu, "Hey look at me", she tapped him on the shoulder, "Yeah?" "Come on dude you got this far, it would be a waste to give up", the last two words bothered Yuno, "I'm not giving up...Not yet", he took large breathes in between each word, "Hate to break it to you kid, but you don't got much left", Yami poured water into his mouth, "What?", Yuno lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "He got you clean on the liver and the solar plexus, when you get hit there, your entire core basically goes out on you and without your core you useless", as he listened to Yami's explanation, "I'm honestly surprised you got up kid, but you need to finish this now or you're done", Mimosa stared at Yuno, a new worried expression forming, "You think you can end this here?", Yami asked. And for a moment there was no answer, "Do I?", Yuno asked himself. And he meant it, could he keep going? His body felt like it was gonna give out on him, "Hey come on don't think like that", Mimosa tried to comfort him, "but-" "No buts, you told me you'd win right?", her question while rhetorical, did make him think, "I did..." "Then go out and do it", she pushed him forward, "I will".

The second round began as Yuno made it back to the center where he and David stared each other down, "I'm ready to get you out of here", his opponent mocked him. Yuno didn't say anything, his side hurting him so bad that even talking would sting, "Nothing to say?", he remained silent, "Fine, just don't be too mad when I crumple you", David began to move forward*Bang bang*he snapped Yuno's head back with a few jabs*WOOSH*David tried to follow up with a body hook, but Yuno stepped away*Pow*David caught him with a low kick right above the knee, giving him time to step in. Yuno grabbed him by the neck and clinched*Bang Bang*two knees connected *Smack* David hit him in the stomach with a straight making him let go *Crack* he shot back up with an upper cut*Smack*another straight to the solar plexus dropping him, "NO", Mimosa threw her head back, "1...2...3...4", Yuno felt it again, that searing shock hitting his body,"Damn it", he lowered his head to the floor, "No I have to win", he brought himself to one knee, "6...7...8", eventually he got back to his feet, "Can you continue?" "Yes", Yuno nodded, his vision beginning to blur, "Ok then start". David smirked, watching Yuno trying to meet him, "You done star boy?" "Shut...up", Yuno heaved in between the words, "Fine, I'll just finish this now", he loaded up on a power shot, lowering his head. "Now", Yuno stomped his lead foot as hard as he could before

He caught him with a spinning back kick to the head, slumping him face first, not needing a count. "It's over", the ref got between the two, "YES", Mimosa jumped onto the apron and got into the ring, "YOU DID IT", she tried to latch onto him, but the lanky teen fell over onto his back and looked at the ceiling, "OH MY GOD", she knelt to his side, "ARE YOU OK" "I...feel...like...sh*t", Yuno huffed out, "Ha", Yami came from behind her, "What?" "I thought you were about to get finished, but you pulled one out", he stroked his chin, staring at the young man, "Reminds me of a certain loudmouth", Yuno smiled, understanding what he was implying, "Heh...Aweso-", his mouth sudden filled with liquid and he threw up on the canvas, "ARE YOU SERIOUS? ANOTHER CLEAN UP", the ref complained, ushering them to leave the ring.

WithSekke

Sekke bounced up and down to try and calm his nerves, staring at his opponent. Xerx Lugner, a guy with a similar build to his own standing across from him, a cold death glare coming his way. "You two understand?", the ref asked, but Sekke hadn't been paying attention since Xerx glare was all that he could focus on, "What?", he turned his attention back to the ref, "The rules, do you understand them or do you need me to give you another rundown?", the ref lifted a brow at him, "Oh no I know them already", Sekke nodded, "Alright, then you two may begin". The round started off with Sekke remaining on the outside so that Xerx would try and come to him, on Xerx end he began a march forward with a pretty low guard, "Should I go in?", Sekke asked himself as his opponent kept going straight with his hands low, "Screw it", Sekke stepped forward and planted his lead foot*POW*Xerx caught him with a hard low kick*Smack*he threw a hook to the body causing Sekke to clinch annd unlike many before him, he was aware of the need to keep their heads tight connected*Bang*he landed one knee to the body before elbowing him and circling away."Ok good start", he and Xerx made eye contact again with him nodding. Xerx began to once again move forward*Pop*he caught Sekke with a teep straight to the stomach, Sekke moved to the right to get off of his line*Pow*catching him with a low kick*Pow*following with a body kick Sekke began to close in for a cross*Crack*Xerx ducked and caught him with an elbow, "Nope", Sekke backed away*Smack*Xerx got him with a straight to the body. Sekke hunched over, feeling it*WOOSH*he barely managed to move his head out of the way of a knee*Crack*Xerx caught him with an uppercut*Bang*snapping his head back with a jab, Sekke grabbed him for a clinch*Bang Bang Bang* *Crack*he elbowed on the break*POW*but Xerx caught him a hard body kick again forcing him to hunch over*Crack* *Smack* *Bang*he rushed Sekke with an uppercut, cross, hook combo knocked his head around causing him to try and get away. Xerx kept the pressure on and swung for his head*Woosh* *Swish**Woosh*Sekke managed to use his head movement to evade his boxing, but after an upstairs barrage it took the focus off of the lower body*POP*a hard low kick swept one of his legs from under him*Smack*as he fell Xerx hit him with a lead hook, toppling Sekke over fully, "1...2...3", Sekke popped back up and shook his head, "Can you keep going?" "Yeah" "Ok go", the two reset positions, "Man you're a real disappointment", Xerx said with a cold tone, "What?", Sekke raised an eyebrow, "When I say the performances of your teammates, I thought that CKA was beginning but after meeting you I think I was wrong", Sekke gritted his teeth at his answer, "What?", Xerx asked him, "Have something to say?" "SHUT UP", Sekke yelled, "Oh no", Jack face palmed, knowing what was coming.*WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH*Sekke swung at Xerx wildly dipping hishead *CRACK*Xerx caught him with a knee up the middle, badly wobbling him. "KEEP YOUR HANDS UP, MOVE AWAY", Jack yelled and for the first time Sekke listened*Woosh*he dipped out of the of an over hand*CRACK*but got caught with an uppercut snapping his head back. Xerx followed with a straight, but Sekke saw it and slipped it and clinched*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*Xerx let a quick-fire of knees go and caused Sekke to let go. On the break Xerx threw a jab and Sekke tried to weave to parry with his back hand and

*POOOOW*as it turned out, the jab was a ploy to get Sekke to drop his hand, leaving his chin open for a high kick that crumpled him, "1...2...3...4" GET UP KID", Sekke looked over as his vision began to fade, "5...6...7" "PLEASE KID COME ONE", Sekke put two hands on the canvas to try and push himself up, "8...9", but it was to no avail, his arms gave out and his vision faded completely, "10, it's over", the ref waved his hands to call off the bout. Xerx walked off before the ref got him in the center while the medical team began to wake Sekke up, "Huh", Sekke opened his eyes to see that the medics had sat him on a stool, "What happened?", he asked, "You lost kid, knocked out", they told him before bringing him to the center, "This contest has been stopped in the second round by way of knock, therefore your winner Xerx Lugner", the ref raised his hand, leaving Sekke to clap for him. He went over to congratulate his opponent who gave him the cold shoulder, "Whatever", Sekke turned around to see Jack waiting for him, "You ok?", his coach asked him, "Yeah", he nodded, trying to hide his disappointment, "You sure?" "Yes, so can we just go", Jack stood in the ring for a second, "Sure, let's go."

Sekke and Jack walked in silence back to the locker room, heads hung low because of the loss. Finally getting back with everyone staring at them, "Hey", Leo awkwardly greeted him, "Hey", he responded before taking the wraps off of his hands, "How you holding up?", Sol asked, "I'm fine", Sekke nodded for an answer, "You sure?", Asta asked him, "Yeah yeah, I'm fine, don't even care", he shook his head and let out a little bit of air, trying to get them to believe . But he couldn't keep it in for very long, "I'm gonna go get some fresh air", he stood up and left the room quickly, "Man that guy is a bad liar", Leo sighed, "Gotta feel for him though, he got so far and to have it squashed like that, sucks", Sol looked at the door he had just left from, "And I know how that feels", she closed her eyes, "Still though, hope he's alright", Asta went back to shadowboxing after he left, "Hey where's Yuno and Mimosa", Jack asked seeing that the everyone was there aside from them, "Oh there just getting some pain patches, y'know for the elderly woman here", Theresa answered, a smile on her face knowing that she felt fine, "I see, well I'm gonna go check up on Sekke", Jack left the room to follow his pupil.

Behind the building

Sekke was currently sitting on the curb, looking out into an empty lot blanky as he thought about the fight that had just happened, "How you holding up?", the young kickboxer heard his coach from behind, "I'm fine", he gave a quick answer, wanting him to leave as soon as possible, "You sure?", Jack asked him one more time for conformation, not totally buying his answer, "I'm sure", Sekke again answered wanting to end the conversation, "Oh ok, I'll see you in the locker room", Jack nervously chuckled before leaving. Sekke could listened as his footsteps began to gradually move away from him, eventually hearing the door to the building open and close once again leaving him alone. After a few seconds and Sekke was sure he wasn't there, "UUHHHHHHHHHHHH", a stream of tears began to flow from his eyes, letting the emotions he had bottled up for so long finally go in his solitude, "DAMN IT", he tucked his head between his knees, "I knew you weren't telling the truth", Sekke lifted his head to look over his shoulder, seeing that his coach hadn't actually left, "How did you know?", Jack chuckled before taking a seat next to his pupil, "I've been coaching you since middle school, no?" "Yeah", his response came with a turn of his head so he wouldn't have to face him, "I remember you came up to me cause you wanted to be popular with the girls", Jack leaned back to look at the sky, "OH DON'T BRING THAT UP", Sekke complained, "Look, point is I know you pretty well, so I could tell you weren't exactly telling me the truth", Jack explained, wanting him to let his barrier down, "OK and?" "And I know that in all the time that it's unusual for you to care this much about losing let alone a draw", the student turned his head back to face his teacher, "I don't know I guess I just felt it this time", he shrugged, "Come on kid, I know that's not true", the coach tried to prod for an answer, "I don't know, really", he hung his head low, looking at the ground, "Come on, you can tell", one more go at an answer caused a little bit of silence between the two, "Everyone is trying so hard, all of a sudden they wanted to make it to triumph", more tears began to flow as his explanation came out, "But I'm nowhere near good enough to get there", Sekke began to wipe his face with his hands, "And because of this loss I'm basically back at square one, now they're going to get so far ahead even Yuno cause I haven't been doing anything of note while I've been here. I thought my match with Asta was a fluke, but I'm starting to think that I really don't belong here", Jack sighed when heard why he was feeling bad, "Kid, stuff like that happens all the time", he met Sekke in the same pose, "How do you know?" "Cause, it happened to me" "Really?" "Really, When I was in high school with Yami and them, Yami became a big deal pretty quickly when he was fighting in the amateurs, I felt like I was being left behind by one of my best friends", Sekke lifted his head to finally see eye to eye with jack, "Then what happened?" "Life, Yami got injured, me and Ginno broke up, Charlotte left to do...whatever, the twins stopped talking, stuff like that, and it sucked so I just went on with my life" "That was a bad ending to the story", Sekke gave Jack a blank stare, "I'm not done, and as life went on eventually most of us reconnected here" "Can you get to the point" "Point is, life goes at different paces for everyone, don't feel like you need to meet them on their level immediately", he rubbed his shoulder to try and make him feel better, "But even you said that I was subpar", Sekke sighed as he tucked his head back into his knees. Jack felt guilty about what he said, "I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have said it. I just wanted to see you at your best", he rubbed the back of his neck, "I just....wanted to make it there with them so bad" "You will, I believe in you", Sekke cracked a slight smile, "And if it's any consultation, I'm proud of you" "But I lost" "I don't care, you left your comfort zone and tried to go after it and that's way better than just dancing to a decision you maybe didn't earn" "HEY" "Not saying that that's ever happened , but I'm glad to see that you've found a reason better than just wanting to be popular with girls", Jack nudged Sekke with his elbow , "Hey it was a good goal at the time, but thanks", he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, "Anytime kid", jack dusted himself off, "Now let's go and get back to the locker room" "Right"

Yuno and Mimosa walked along side each other, Yuno's arm draped over Mimosa's shoulders after collecting the cold patches Theresa had requested, "f*ck my side is killing me" "You did take a few killer shots to the body", she giggled , "Man I'm gonna hate to get old", Mimosa joked, staring at the box of them, "My grandma used to use those a lot", Yuno stared at it with her. However, the only thing on his mind was asking her about the party, "Can I tell you something?", he asked, "Sure" "Earlier when I asked you about how you were going to the party" "Uh huh" "I wasn't exactly being truthful", Mimosa smiled, thinking that she knew what was coming, "Then what did you want to ask?" "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the party with me", Yuno looked away, since at this point the red on his face would be unignorable, "Like together as friends or?", Mimosa giggled, "No not as friends, but like I don't know maybe two people who are talking", he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "I'd like that", Mimosa answered, "Really?" "Really", she smiled as the two began to walk back to the locker room.

*BANG BANG BANG* *POW*a loud set of bangs echoed in the hallway to the locker rooms, "Is that?" "Yep", Yuno popped a slight smile as the two began to approach the school's room,*POW* *POP* *SMACK*again it echoed and began to get the attention of the people around, "What's that?" "Is it a student?", the crowd that had listened in began to talk. When they had reached the door and opened it, the sounds of loud fire had almost rung their ears out, "Oh hey guys", Asta nodded at the two, "Could you be any louder?" Yuno sarcastically asked, "You know me", he replied*WOOSH* *POW*Yami tried to punish him with a hook, but got ducked and countered with a Kick on the pads, "Good good", he propped him up, "Guess that means you're ready?", Asta smiled widely, "HELL YEAH"

On the next episode of "You clinched my heart"

"INTRODUCING SECOND HE CALLS HIMSELF THE BLACK CLOVER ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIAAAAAAAAA"

Are you? Are you coming to thetree?

Asta's music played throughout the arena as he began to walk out, adoring a flag with a black five leaf clover on it, "LADROS LADROS LADROS LADROS LADROS", the arena called his name believing that he was going to make quick work of him

They strung up a man they say who murdered three

"REVCHI IS OUT" "RADES HAS BEEN PUT AWAY" "HEATH IS OUT JUST LIKE THAT?", the echos of his earlier fights, the crowd and their reaction rang out in his head

Strange things had happened here no stranger would it be

"LADROS GONNA KILL YOU LADROS GONNA KILL YOU" "WHAT IS THIS BUM DOING HERE?" "YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT HES THE ONE THAT BEAT REVCHI WITH ONE KNEE?" "HE'S A CHEAT" "HOW COME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM", the crowd began throwing trash at him wrappers, cups of liquid, food the whole garden refusing to accept he made it here on his first go, "Keep your cool kid you've got this", Yami tried to assure him noticing that Asta had kept a neutral face the whole time

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

At the halfway point down the ramp Asta stopped and took another look around, "Man I can't wait to see where you go someday, hell maybe you'll go all the way to undisputed", he thought about those words, the meaning that they've held in his life since he first heard them, "Huuuu", he let out a breath of air before he continued

Are you? Are you coming to the tree where dead man called out for his love to flee

At the third quarter of the ramp Asta got down to one knee doing the cross-symbol thing across his chest (I don't know what this is called), "I don't think it's good for us to be seeing each other anymore", Rebecca's words played in his mind since that day

Strange things did happen here no stranger would they beIf we met at midnight in the hanging tree

"I'm sorry I was being an insensitive jerk, but I had a good time with your friends, and I would like to do this again", Noelle held out her hand, in it his wallet that he thought he lost

Are you? Are you coming to the tree

"HEY HEY BREAK IT UP YOU TWO", a teacher separated him from a strange kid with no eyebrows, "HE STARTED IT", Asta yelled, his first day of the fourth grade in his new apartment and safe to say it wasn't going well as a teacher had to pull, them apart for fighting

Where I told you to run so we'd both be free

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", Asta cried into his mom's lap kicking his legs, "I know honey I know", she held him trying not to cry herself as not to make him cry harder

Stange things did happen here no stranger would they be

"Mam I'm having some concerns about your children", one of the teachers sat her down in the principal's office with Asta and Liebe sitting next to her, "What? Why?", she worriedly held her children's hands, "Asta's clothing is rather tattered, and he's has displayed overly aggressive behavior with the other students, at least ones that seem to have rather checkered records", she said looking at him with a small but noticeable amount of disgust

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

"What?", Asta looked at his brother, "Dude when you were a baby Mom wasn't eating much, literally like a banana a day so that she could buy you diapers", Liebe answered while the two played video games, "I had to take a big cut too, but hey man it was worth it cause I got a cool brother out of it", he smiled pulling Asta closer with his arm. The memory at the time was hard to swallow, but right now as he stepped onto the ring's steps Asta closed his eyes one more time

Are you? Are you coming to the tree

"I'm sorry mom", Asta put his head down after she had to pulled him from the warehouse he had been fighting in, "Asta I told you if you want to do this, you were gonna do it through your school program", he maintained his downward gaze at the car floor, knowing that he was in big trouble

Where necklace of rope side by side with me

"Wait we're getting a house?", Liebe raised an eyebrow listening to their mom talk, "Yeah I finally was able to take out a mortgage, and it's close to your high school", she sung, "Plus its closer to-" "Dante", Liebe put his chin in the palm of his hand and rolled his eyes, "I like him and his siblings", Asta smiled as he began to fill his face with cereal, "Look I know you have your reservations about him but he's a cool guy and his siblings like you guys", she assured him, "Ok I get it"

Are you? are you coming to the tree

They strung up a man they who murdered three

Strange things did happen here no stranger would they be

If we met at midnight in the hanging treeeeeeeeeeee

Chapter 10: A new Star(Ia) has entered the game

Chapter Text

"There is no talent here, this is hard work.

This is an obsession; we are all equals as human beings.

You could be anyone if you put in the time.

You will reach the top and that's that.

I am not talented, I am obsessed."

-"The Notorious" Conor Mcgregor

*BANG BANG* *POOOOOW*Asta connected a jab jab head kick onto the pads that Yami was holding, "Dude he said 60%", Yuno said while the rest of the gang watched him work, "That was", Asta told him, keeping his eyes trained on Yami, "Seriously?", Sekke raised an eyebrow at what he was saying, "Yeah" "Good now jab cross low kick", Asta nodded*BANG* *SMACK* *WAAAAACK*he followed as Yami began to move around*WOOSH WOOSH* *SWISH*Asta got out of the way of few punches*BANG*he hit a cross on one of the pads soon after, "Good good, but when you land the cross try and throw a kick behind next time and don't fully commit to it", Yami instructed to which Asta nodded his head as they began to go over it again, "He seems really zeroed in", Sol watched on looking for some hole in Asta's striking that would be apparent to somebody who wasn't very good at it, but to her there didn't seem to be a clear one, not so much as moment of weakness was observable to her*BANG* *SMACK* *POOOOOOW*the kick rang the loudest, louder than anyone Leo had seen or heard before, "No doubt he is", he quietly tacked onto Sol's statement, "Its impressive really", Sekke held an icepack to his head watching Asta throw combo after combo, "Was he going easy the day we fought", he slightly gritted his teeth, deciding that for the time it didn't matter, "That junior guy sure got him worked up", Mimosa surveyed him, looking for any sort of telegraph, "Looking for something?", Yuno looked over to her with a smile, "Trying to look at his feet, see if they give away any sort of giveaway to what he's going to do", she continued, yet much like the others couldn't find an obviously exploitable, "I mean of course not", Yuno watched for the same picking up that there wasn't, "This is basically second nature to him, same way you don't think when throwing a jab", it made sense, anyone who fights know that it becomes muscle memory, "There", Mimosa noticed that Asta started to shift his lead foot for a kick*CRAAAAAAACK*but a spinning back elbow came in its place, "Not there", Yuno teased her a little bit, "Oh c'mon I was close", she playfully shoved him*Bzz bzzz bzzzz*her phone went off buzzing a call, "Who is it?", Yuno leaned over to look at her phone, "Noelle", Mimosa replied pressing answer, "Hey", Noelle's voice came through the phone, "Hey", Mimosa waved at her through the video call, "Day ended and I just wanted to see how you were doing, but from the looks of it-" "Don't worry I won all of my matches", Mimosa smiled, busted face and all, "Phew good I thought you got done in and was worried", Noelle laughed with her, "So what's up? Forgot I wasn't there to give you a ride", Mimosa smugly asked with a wiener dog look on her face, "No I'm getting a ride from Charmy, I just wanted to see how you were, but seems like I didn't need to" "I appreciate it though"*BANG BANG* *SMACK* *CRACK *POOOOOOOOOW*Asta let another long combo rip*Bink Bink*he blocked Yami swinging the pads at him*CRAAAAAAACK*"What the hell is that?", Noelle shook her head after hearing the noises, "Just Asta doing some pad work", she pointed her phone in his direction, "Jesus I forgot about that", Noelle thought back to the day that she, grey, and Charmy had to train with them, "Yeah he's really zeroed in, one of the Triumph champions were talking smack earlier", Noelle shook her again, it got her attention I mean someone like that huffing air at Asta? Weird, "Why?" "Well earlier Asta tried fighting one of them and told her to tell her friend he was going to snatch his belt" "He threatened to fight a girl?" "Yep", Noelle giggled slightly, in the short time she had known him he seemed like he was a "These hands are rated E for everyone type", "NOELLE C'MON", Mimosa could hear Charmy call for her, "Ok, I gotta go, but tell Asta I said good luck", Noelle waved before hanging up, "Huh? Y'know she's never called me while I've been doing this", Mimosa slid her phone back into her bag, "Really?", Yuno asked her, "Yeah, we've always just talked about it whenever I got back to school", she shrugged as they got back to watching Asta strike, "Good we're gonna drill some low kick defense", Yami told him, Asta just nodded in response, "Ok every time I throw a leg kick check or walk through it and throw a one two at the pads", again his instruction was met with a nod, "Go" he started by throwing a few swings of the pads before throwing a low kick*CHECK* *BANG* *SMACK*Asta followed it perfectly*CHECK* *CRACK*another kick went, but this time he threw a lead elbow*CHECK* *POOOOOOOW*Asta threw a leg kick in return, "Good good",*CHECK* *BANG SMACK SMACK*a jab cross lead body hook combo went through*CHECK*Yami's last ditch leg kick was stopped, "Man this kids got some real defense", Jack squinted a bit while he watched him, "I know, kind of reminds me of Yami when he was younger", Charlotte hunched over leaning her chin into her palm, "His training is odd""HAHA", Vanica tried wheel kicking Asta, but was front body kicked away pushing her over,"Way too hard"*CRAAAAAAACK*Asta landed a head kick cleanly on Luck dropping him face first, but not knocking him out,"But as much as I hate to admit it, it churns out real tough kids", Gauche and Leo swung at each other bare knuckle and as hard as they could, seeing who was going to be the first to land,"Preach", Leo snorted seeing Asta begin to move back and forward, in and out side to side before Yami held the pads right below his neck*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*a flying knee came with it ringing everyone's ears, "Damn", Sekke watched on wondering how that would feel if it landed on him, "Glad he never tried that", Yuno rubbed his chin*Knock Knock*, "Who is it?" "Mr. Staria's opening match is about to begin, "Okay then kid, let's go and do this, from the underground to now K?", Yami held out a back knuckle Asta met it with his own, "Good, now let's go out and kill it", the gang began to make their way out of the locker room

Out in the walkway to the ring

"Introducing second representing Clover Kingdom Academy Asta Staria", a bleak announcement of his name was spoken by the ref, "Who's this guy?" "I've never heard of him" "Isn't he the rookie who was doing two full contact events?", the crowd had questions which was understandable, a sudden no name young man making his debut against a top hundred fighter was absurd, "Starting to think they paired you with this Revchi guy to give him a win", Yami remembered how his first few fights were against hyped prospects, "Doesn't matter though huh?" "Nope", Asta answered as he touched his 12oz gloves together, hyping himself up. When he looked at the ring a lanky guy with shaggy, greasy, unkempt hair and a huge scar on the left side of his face, "WEW talk about uuuuuugly", Yami mocked the guy as Asta smiled while stepping into the ring, "So, we didn't really pick up a strategy, but I assume you got one?", Yami raised a confident eyebrow, "Yep", Asta opened his mouth and made his way to the center of the ring, "So, the rules are as follows, no back of the head shots, kicks to the groin, no kicking or punching a downed opponent, you two got that", the ref looked at the two, "Yep", Asta answered, "Of course", Revchi licked his lips staring Asta down,"Ewww", Asta thought while he raised his hands for a glove touch, but Revchi ignored it and began to back away, "Ok then BEGIN", Asta began to move forward to start*CHECK* *BANG*Revchi threw a leg kick but was met with a straight to the face when putting his arms down, "Good stuff kid keep it up", Yami called out with a slight laugh*BANG BANG* *POW*Asta popped a few jabs and a leg kick of his own causing Revchi to hobble a little*WOOSH*Revchi tried to throw a check hook to catch him*SMACK*Asta hit him with a lead hook wobbling him, "JUMP KNEE", Yami yelled for Asta to finish it

*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*Asta complied dropping Revchi on his face. All you could hear was crickets, silence , everyone was shocked how easily he had dispatched him, "This was the guy that made it to the top fifty a while back?", Leo tilted his head while looking at him, "So, the power wasn't just for show", Sol chuckled while she stroked her chin, "Tell me about it", Charlotte's vision was focused on Yami,"How the hell did you train this kid", Jack choked up a bit, feeling as if the way he had been training Sekke was ineffective in everything, "That's insane", Sekke's knees began to tremble thinking about when he had ducked into an over hand when the two fought for the first time, "And your winner by way of knock out in the first round Asta Staria", the ref raised his hand, "REVCHI DOWN JUST LIKE THAT?" "REVCHI IS OUT" "NO WAY" "THIS GUY IS THE REAL DEAL", the gang looked around seeing the people begin to cheer from the crowd, "Guess that was easy as is", Yami laughed as he watched Asta began to approach him, "Dude he hasn't gotten up", he expressed some worry for his opponent, "Calm down kid, he's ok you just cracked him real good", Asta looked as he got to his feet with the assistance of his corner, "See? You're all good kid", Yami held up an ok symbol with his hand, "Yeah ok", Asta hopped the ropes and began to go down to the entrance way

"Dude that was crazy", Leo laughed as the gang went back to the vending area, "Thanks", Asta gave a glancing answer as he shook one of the machines that had gotten his chips stuck, "I don't think you're supposed to do that", Mimosa pointed at him with some worry, "Nah I got it", Asta assured her while he climbed on top of it, "Not a good idea", Sol face palmed with a sigh, "Trust", Asta began leaning left and right shaking it, "Asta stop it", Yuno kicked the machine to stop him causing Asta to fall off, "WHAT THE HELL MAN?", Asta shot back up, getting in Yuno's face, "You were going to break it", he kept a straight face meeting Asta in the middle keeping their eyes trained on each other, "Calm down guys", Sol got in between the two, "Yeah not good for our own students to get into scraps with each other", Mimosa tugged on Yuno's wrist getting him to look back, "HE STARTED IT", Asta flailed his arms in the air as Sekke, Leo, and Sol grabbed him, "Fine", Yuno sighed as he approached the vending machine Asta was shaking, swiping his card entering the number for Asta's chips, "Here", Yuno grabbed the two bags that fell and began to go over to him, "Huh?" "Sorry ok", Asta looked at Yuno, swiping the chips away from him, "Fine", Asta replied while he stuffed him mouth with chips, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU EARLIER", Sol grabbed him by his throat and shook him, "Talk about pathetic", the crew stopped what they were doing to look at the source of the voice

"You're really the guy that took out Revchi just like that?", He co*cked one of his brows as he stroked his chin, "Rades", Sol rolled her eyes, "Rades?", Asta looked at him as Sol put him back down, "He's your opening opponent for 4oz", Sol gave him a dirty look, "C'mon now that's no way to treat your former Team mate", he laughed while approaching the crew, "Have to say though looks like you've made some downgrades", he bent over to talk to Asta, "Downgrade? Please he flatlined Revchi like he was nothing", Leo gloated, "Yeah what he said", Mimosa backed him up as him and Asta locked eyes, "Call it fluke cause I don't see anything special about you", Rades smiled, "And whys that? Cause you were caught juicing?", Sekke made a smug remark even if he was hiding behind Asta a little, "Oh you finally found some courage to talk to me like that-", he began to get closer before he felt something stop him, "Cut it out", Rades looked down to see Asta placing his fist to his chest, "If you wanna fight we can do it now", Rades looked at him then at then at the others seeing that everyone seemed to not be worried about him, "Whatever you tools are going to get can crushed at some point, and I'll be there to watch and laugh", Rades just waved and began to walk away, "Hey jack ass", Asta said trying to get his attention, "What did you call me?", Rades whipped around seeing Asta staring at him, "I'm going to flatten you later", gritting his teeth Rades decided to leave it, "What a jerk", Asta said while he turned around to leave, "Tell us about it, we had to deal with him for a year", Sol rolled her eyes and began to follow, "Phew", Sekke wiped his brow, "Happy he didn't kick your ass?", Yuno jokingly asked, "Whatever", he laughed back, everyone going back to the locker room

In the Locker room

"You serious?", Leo asked as he looked at what Asta was doing, "Yeah why?", Asta looked back*WOOSH*ducking a slide over from Yami as he held pads for him, "Asta I get that your confident in your abilities, but this isn't a good strategy", Mimosa commented trying to back up her cousin, "Nah I got this"*WOOSH* *SMACK*Asta did a pullback counter smacking it hard, "I think Sekke was right, banking on one hit or quitter plan as your only plan is dumb", Sol pointed out tapping her foot while she watched, "Well it's not the whole story, of course I have a backup plan, but I can't wait to get to 4OZ fighting"*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*Asta did some half meet pad work before throwing a high kick that Yami didn't catch stopping just short of his shoulder, "Good, you're getting better at hiding those", Yami and Asta circled beginning the pattern again, "Yami don't you think that you should be doing other stuff rather than practicing this", Charlotte added on to everyone's concern, "I don't, but I know the kids got the ability to do it" "Sure but-" "Look guys I've been training Asta since he was a kid, I know what he can do and he knows what he can do, so just leave it to us", Yami looked back at everyone slightly annoyed, "Fine but if the kid gets himself Ko'd then it on you", Jack shrugged, "Well we don't have to worry about his chin like yours did", Yami said causing Jack to stop in his tracks*Gulp*Sekke looked at the two noticing Jack began to look over his shoulder at Yami, "Oh yeah? So, what are you saying, you're a better teacher than me", he fully turned around and began to approach Yami, "And what if I am?", Yami began to slide the pads off of his hands, "Hey hey you two c'mon Asta still has a day of fights coming up ok? Let's all just keep this till after its all over at least", Charlotte got in between the two causing a pretty drawn-out silence in the room, "HAHAHA", Yami cut through the silence with laughter, "WHATS SO FUNNY?", the laughing had gotten Jack riled up again, "Nothin I just", Yami wiped some tears of laughter from his eyes, "Just reminds me of when we were younger", he shook his head lightly before putting the pads back on, "Heh yeah guess so", Jack decided to leave it and Charlotte just had a warm smile strewn across her face, "Kay kid from the top", Asta just smiled and followed*WOOSH WOOSH* *SMACK*hitting the same pull back counter they were practicing before a knock at the door came, "Guess that's our cue huh?", Yami looked as Asta smiled, excited to fight again, "YEP", He screamed finishing a one two head kick combo on the pads*BANG* *SMACK* *POOOOOW*

Three fights down the line and Asta racked up two first round finishes and one second round Ko getting a decent amount of hype in the process, "Gotta admit Yami, I wasn't all too sure about the hard hitting gameplan, but I can't deny the results", Theresa followed with everyone back into the locker room seeing that Asta hadn't a scratch on him, "Told ya I know the kid", Yami laughed as he ruffled Asta's hair, "And you were right", she held her hands up knowing that there wasn't really anything she could say, she was wrong, but was happy to wrong, "Ok we get it, Yami is all great and powerful let's just move on and get ready for the next", Jack laughed stretching his arms watching Asta getting back to work doing a little bit of shadow boxing, "No rest huh kid", Asta nodded his head before answering, "OF COURSE MY OPPONENT MIGHT BE TAKING A BREAK SO I GOTTA GET AHEAD WHILE I CAN", he yelled prompting everyone to cover their ears, "Ok Asta, now please redirect that energy in the ring", Charlotte sighed and tried to redirect his volume to a more productive place, "Oh sorry", Asta rubbed the back of his head in apology, "Don't worry about them kid let's just get back to work", Yami sat down this time electing to put on 18oz gloves, "Huh?", Leo looked on thinking it was weird, "Oh no", Sol pinched the bridge of her nose knowing what was about to happen, "We're gonna do some sparing", Yami touched his gloves, "Yami", Charlotte groaned, "C'mon Prickly Queen kid isn't getting challenged, so I need to find a way to provide that challenge", she stopped for a moment focusing on the name, a slight bit of a throwback to when the two were a couple, "What did you call me?", a slight smirk formed on her face, "Prickly Queen", Yami returned the look with an added little laugh, "Uhhhh", Sol looked at the two noting the silence that took place before saying something, "Shouldn't you get to sparring?", she asked trying to stop whatever......thiswas, "For real you two", Jack let out a small cackle, "Right, Okay kid I'm gonna do some light touch stuff and you can go as hard as you want", Yami turned his attention back to Asta setting into a similar stance to when he and Fuegoleon sparred, "You sure about this", Theresa spoke up voicing her doubts about it, "I'm sorry who knows the kid?", Yami asked, "Yeah yeah I get it", she shook her head and took a seat to observe, "Guess this is a good way to gauge where Asta stands", Sol sat on the floor next to the mat as the other students followed her,"Watch this it's a good way to get a higher level of understanding",Yuno thought about his conversation with Mars when they first met,*BRRRRR*"He almost had me",Leo clinched his fist thinking back to their first sparring session, "Kinda wondered where Asta stood", Mimosa sat next to Yuno to watch, "Okay come at me", Yami smiled signaling for Asta to approach, "ALRIGHT"

On the way to the ring

Asta began to make his walk to the ring with a pretty upset look on his face, "Still mad?", Yami asked, "No", Asta answered shifting his mouth into a smile, excited that he would get to fight again, "Hm", Yami chuckled, "Introducing second representing Clover Kingdom Academy Asta Staria", the announcement set a bit of excitement through the crowd who had seen Asta's earlier performances, "Crowds starting to warm up to him", Leo looked around leaning on the barricade, "Guess that's what happens when you're a finisher", Sol shrugged while taking a sip from a bottle of natural, "Still though to get it this fast it pretty unheard of", Mimosa followed his gaze looking around, Yuno stood silent seeing that the people seemed to be hyped to watch the short kid fight, "Hmm", Asta did a bounce walk throwing a few shadow uppercuts while walking towards the ring looking in seeing a guy with a large scar patch in the upper right part of his forehead that leaked into a thinner scar that went from there to his jaw, "Kids seen a few things huh", Yami griped scratching his neck, following Asta up the steps settling on the apron while he watched his student get into the ring, "You ready?" "Yep", Asta bounced up and down before going to the center meeting the guy face to face, "I assume you two know the rules", the ref asked, "Yea", Asta nodded, Heath though had a stagnant look on his face looking down at Asta,"How the hell do these guys make 145?", Asta thought noticing how tall he was with a bit of uninterest, "First round" "I'm sorry?", he shook his head surprised that the guy said anything, "I just don't want to waste time, I'll finish you in the first, "Ha sure man", Asta smirked backing up before the ref signaled for a start, "GO", Asta began to go to the center Heath came to meet him, "Let's see what this one's got", Asta kept his guard up throwing a few jabs and a low kick*WOOSH*Heath swung a power hook that Asta ducked and ripped a lead body hook and backed away and when Heath tried to follow Asta front kicked him to the body*SMACK*Asta closed distance and ripped a hook to the body again leaning out of the way of a check hook, "He's hard to hit", Heath thought as he began to go forward throwing a lead leg kick*CHECK*the block had a clear effect on him seeing a slight wince when their shins collided, "Not solid huh", Asta said with a grin on his face, "Why you", Heath gritted his teeth and began to swing heavy shots until

A heel hook kick to the face landed causing Heath to fall onto his back, "YEAH", Yami clapped watching the ref count to ten getting Asta the win, "Just like that again", Sol leaned onto the barricade watching everyone else cheer,"And here I was thinking this guy might be a problem", Jack thought to himself, looking at Sekke as he did,"Is this just where we stand? How the hell am I ever supposed to get there", Sekke bit down on his hand trying to hide his anguish, but it was clear, "Told you guys that he wasn't in danger", Leo laughed while Mimosa and Yuno just twitcthed their brows in annoyance, "Yeah whatever", Mimosa said with closed eyes hearing the ref read the verdict, "AND YOUR WINNER BY KNOCKOUT ASTA STARIA", he lifted his hand as Asta did self-pointing motion with a huge smile on his face, "Ok kid c'mon you're not out of the wood works yet", he ruffled his students hair, "I know, but C'mon that's the 12oz qualifier in the bag", Asta responded as the two began to leave the ring, "I know and its impressive, but something harder is on the horizon"

Meanwhile with the promoters

"Damn it are you serious?", a man with shaggy black hair and a teal tied piece at the top of it slammed some papers on a desk, "Yeah said he had to pull out cause he pulled his tricep", a woman with a medium pink and long hair with a hat said with crossed legs and folded arms, "And there are no notable names that can take his place?", he asked, "Nope", the woman sifted through a list of ranked contenders from 78 to 1 seeing that no one would was either in good enough standing to get a ranked 17 opponent, but many of the ones from 16 on would likely see it as an insult to be presented with something like that instead of a jump in competition considering how close they would be to earning a title eliminator bout. She also looked through a list of potential names from either famous schools, families, etc. and all of them seemed to be tapped out Grinberryal the son of the spade space programs son? No, he was done, Leopald Vermillion? No, he's a boxer and he's done, Sekke Bronzza? No, he was well three 28-27's and one KO loss, he was also a semi contact fighter, the only big thing about him was the school, but then when she followed the page over, she saw a new face Asta Staria, "Hey Conrad?", she said trying to get his attention, "Yes" "Clover Kingdom's got a new one" "Huh?" "A new student all together", Conrad looked up the information getting his attention, "And?" "He was selected based on a scout", she read through the profile the school provided seeing what district he lived in, his sport, and.......a record? from the underground? "Oh my god", Conrad got up and over to her, "What tell me", she handed him the paper and as he read it his eye widened, "Well give Ladros and his team a call, we found our replacement", he smiled thinking he found something interesting, "Let's hold on for a moment" "Why's that?" "He's got a fight with Rades coming up, so let's see how well he does", Princia looked at the other kids' profile.

In the locker room

Asta was shadow boxing bouncing around before throwing a counter at the air, "Asta are you sure you got this?", Sekke asked while pulling on his collar, "Of course, why wouldn't I?", Asta chuckled throwing a one two one two and pulling back for a front kick, "How do you know though?", another question came from the blonde. Asta stopped for a moment to think, "I guess I don't, but I'm gonna do my best to make it happen", Asta shrugged and went back to work, "But what if you-" "Sekke cut it out man you're distracting him", Sol nudged him as she sat down, "I'm just being realistic", he shrugged, "No you're just being a downer", Leo frowned while watching Asta duck into a right cross, and he kept doing the same thing over and over again, "Is this the only thing you're going to drill?", Yuno asked, "I don't know might switch something up, but for right now I don't know", he shrugged, "See this is what I mean, what if this doesn't work?", Sekke again questioned the viability of what he was doing, "It worked on you" "I-", he thought about it for a moment, "What are you kids talking about", he turned to see his coach entering the room, "Sekke keeps saying Asta's game plan isn't going to work", Mimosa answered, "I'm not saying that it won't, I'm just asking if it's smart to bank on that as his only way to victory", Sekke clarified while Jack just stroked his chin, "I mean if thats what he wants to do, then let him be", Jack shrugged after trying to find an answer, "But-" "Look kiddo, its Asta's fight there isn't too much you can do other than trust it's going to work out", he shrugged before grabbing a water bottle*Knock Knock*"Yeah?" "The next bout is about to begin", a voice called from the other side of the door, "Looks like we have to go", Jack motioned his head for the students to follow, "Wait where is everyone else?", Sol asked, "Don't know", he shrugged as he opened the door to leave, "But Yami isn't here", she said getting nothing but a shrug in return, "Ah I got this", Asta smiled while he grabbed a set of gloves, "Are you sure?", Mimosa asked, "Yep" "Just don't complain if you lose", Yuno remarked before leaving, "Good luck out there man", Leo decided to trust him and leave, "You think you don't need his help", Sekke asked, "I don't know", Asta shrugged as he left the room, "Wait", Sekke followed him, "You can ask-" "Dude just go and watch, I got this", the two stopped and Asta gave him a thumbs up causing Sekke to look at him for a few seconds, "Fine", he complied going ahead to watch

45 minutes later

Asta had begun to speed walk to the ring hearing people cheer for him, but he also saw Rhades there waiting for him with a smug smile on his face that caused him to break out into a sprint, "He seems like he wants to get him out of here", Leo laughed a little, "Damn it Yami did it have to take that long?", Charlotte asked, worried that a student wouldn't have their coach with them especially in a round based system, "Ah the kids fine", Yami just pushed the air with laugh, "I guess this is a chance to see what he can do all on his own", Theresa stroked her chin while watching Asta basically sprint to the ring, "He's got energy at least", Jack leaned on the barricade, "Hmmm", Sekke moved his mouth to side watching Asta approach the center of the ring. In the ring the two fighters met face to face to hear the rules, "Ok I imagine you two know the rules, just adjusted to be done in 4oz gloves", the ref looked at the two for a response, "Yep", Asta smiled, "Yeah", Rhades stared at Asta with a smile, "Then two can.... BEGIN". As the round opened up Asta stepped forward*Pop*a quick tapping low kick landed on Rhades calf, Rhades began to close in throwing a few jabs to try and measure the distance between the two, but Asta slipped the second one to the inside and threw and elbow over top*SLICE*a cut opened up on his eyebrow, "DAMN IT", Rades backed up seeing Asta going after him seeing him load up for a some type of power shot*POW*the shot never came and low kick took its place, "He's a good fake, but I see you", Rhades smiled as he prepped a check hook,"Idiot", Yami smiled knowing the fight was going to come to an end soon. Rhades planted his feet beginning to rotate his hips and pivot his foot with the hook

*SMAACK*Asta caught him with a hook over top knocking him over and much like the opening, fight for 12oz gloves the crowd was silent before a sudden eruption, "WOW AGAIN?" "RHADES OUT IN THE FIRST NO WAY" "WHO IS THIS GUY?", Yami looked around smiling at the praise his student was getting, "Guess you're pretty happy you found something special huh?", Jack asked while he stared ahead at Asta getting out of the ring, "Nah", Yami shook his head, "What?" "Asta isn't special whatsoever", he opened his eyes again to watch Asta walk away, "What do you mean? The kid has literally been looking unstoppable", Yami just laughed again, "What?", and again he continued to laugh, "That kid isn't special that's it", Yami put his hands in his pockets,"You aren't special kid", he looked forward deep in thought,"But that's exactly what has made you special"

Nine years ago

A year after the accident Yami had landed a job working at an auto shop, but only as one of the guys that goes out to get parts and the pay wasn't all too great, so he took up an afterhours and weekends job at an MMA gym as a striking coach alongside a middle-aged guy with red hair who taught the Brazilian Jiu-Jitu class there. One day though before the gym closed for the day, the old man had struck up a conversation with him, "What?", Yami looked at the old man, "Look I know it's a bit to ask, especially since you aren't getting paid extra, but could you please consider it", he nervously smiled trying not to upset Yami, who no matter where he was, he was intimidating 6'3 and a dangerous striker, "Look I'd like to help, but I got my own sh*t to look after", he answered while picking up hi duffle bag to leave before the old man put his arm in front of him, "Please? I'm bringing him in with Mari tomorrow and if you like him or not you can make your decision", Yami thought about it for a second, "Yeah sure", he answered to just get the old guy to stop bothering him, "Thank you", he removed his arm and waved as Yami left

The next day after the bjj class ended the old man had brought a scrawny kid with grey hair with him to meet Yami, "This is the kid I was talking about", Fanzel pushed him forward so that Yami could see him better, "Hello", Asta smiled, one of his front teeth missing, "Uh huh", Yami nodded while he study the kid small, skinny, and a few nicks on his face, "I don't think-" "Hold on, just give it a chance ok?", he had his reservations, but against what he thought was his better judgement he just nodded for Fanzel to leave the kid with him, "So you ever do martial arts before?", Yami asked the kid, "Sort of my mom was teaching me before I met the old man", the boy answered, "What was it?", Yami asked him only getting a shrug in return, "Can you show me?", he complied and began to throw some strikes, "Kickboxing, but what kind?", he stroked his chin before watching Asta do a sort of lunging head butt, "Chaining a headbutt into a combo?", Yami sat down before talking to him again, "Hey kid can I ask you a question?" "Uh huh" "Did your mom teach you that?" "Yes", Yami moved his mouth around a bit awkwardly, "Leth Wei huh? now that I think about it, it makes sense" "Ok kid, we're gonna try something, mind showing me a combo?", he did and it was terrible, but for some reason Yami decided to keep going, and from that day on Asta would begin going to the kick boxing class every day. When summer came and he was out of school Asta trained day in and day out yet somehow, he would train harder than any of the others. One night when Yami got off of working at the auto shop late he went to get a work out at the gym before going home*bang bang bang bang*but when he got there the sound of something being hit was the only thing he could her, and it was coming from the kick boxing room, "498...499...500", it was Asta and he was kicking a wooden dummy over and over again, "Kid didn't I tell you to go home?", Yami looked as he fell over, "NO I HAVE TO GET BETTER", he watched as he began to pick himself back up, "OW", but he couldn't, "Look it's fine to-", as he was trying to talk to him he noticed bruises, cuts, and welts on the boys shins, knuckles, feet, elbows, and one in the dead center of his head, "He's been at it all day?", Yami observed him, "Look kid I think it's time you go home", he helped him up, "But I-" "It's not going to do you any good to go until you die", Yami said while he picked him up, but that seemed to set the boy off causing him to flail and scream, "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP", Asta flailed more before Yami put him down, "He still has that much fight left in him?", he smirked, "Ok ok, but I have to close in an hour then I'm gonna call the old man to come take you home", Yami put his hands up in surrender, "REALLY?", Asta asked clearly excited, "Yeah", after he answered he watched as the kid got back up, "1...2", he began to head butt the dummy, "WOAH WOAH WOAH", Yami stopped him before he could do it again, "HEY" "What are you doing kid?" "Practicing" "A head butt?" "Yeah", Yami pinched the bridge of his nose before he asked another question, "Can I ask why you're even doing this?", he watched as the kid messed around for a little, "I like watching fights" "And?" "I want to be a champion one-day y'know like Acier", Yami just sighed and closed his eyes before, "Look I think for right now getting your technical ability is the most important, being tough is great but building your skills is more important especially now", Asta frowned, "Then what do you think would be good for me?", Yami stroked his chin, "You ever hear about Dutch kickboxing?"

Yami exhaled some smoke while looking at the parking lot, "Hey", Yami heard Charlottes voice come up from behind him, "What's up?", he asked while taking another drag, "Nothing just wanted to see what you were doing", she took her place next to him, "Just having a smoke", he answered, "Pretty damn good student you got huh?", Charlotte laughed before holding her hand out, "Guess so huh?", Yami looked over to her with a smug face, "Yeah", she nervously rubbed her arm before asking a question "Sorry, but can I bum a smoke off you?", Yami chuckled, "Sure", he reached into his pocket to pull them out before he handed her one, "Can I get a light?", Charlotte made a smug face of her own, Yami just nodded and lit it for her, "I thought you stopped smoking?", Yami nudged her, "I did......but I guess one every now and again isn't bad", Charlotte replied with a bit of blush as she took a drag*COUGH COUGH*but she couldn't keep it down the same way she had all that time ago, "Haha", Yami laughed a little at her reaction, "Guess you got used to not smoking huh?", the smile from the laugh stayed, "Yeah", Charlotte returned the smile, but hers had some embarrassment behind it, "I remember you did always tell me to quit though", Yami looked back as cars on the street passed, Charlotte remained silent for a time before talking again, "I did didn't I?", she watched cars with him up until he threw his smoke on the ground and stomped on it, "Yami can I ask you something?" "Shoot" "Did you ever think about me when y'know...after everything", she nervously looked over to him, "Ummm not really no", Yami began to walk past her, leaving a slight sting when he did, "I see", Charlotte held her hand close to her chest, "We should probably get back to the locker room, right?", Yami looked over his shoulder to her, "Sure"

Back at the locker room

Our heroes are currently waiting on the next fight talking amongst themselves while Asta was doing some cardio exercise, "Man, this hasn't been too long", Sol leaned her chin into her palm as she watched Asta skip rope, "Tell me about", Sekke leaned his chin into his palm while he watched, "Maybe I'm just that good", Asta laughed before tripping on the rope and falling face first, "HAHA", the students laughed at him, Asta elected to just stay planted on his face as to not face them, "Get up and keep going kid", Yami called while sharing some funnel cake with Charlotte, "I know", Asta picked himself back up and began to skip rope once again*Knock Knock*, "Huh? It's been like five minutes", Jack got up to open the door, "What's-", Jack stopped in his tracks after he opened the door, "Jack what happen-", Charlotte looked past Yami seeing a guy with shaggy hair and a teal top and a woman with pink hair

"Wha-wha-wha-WHAT", Sol shot out of her seat seeing the two, "Conrad, Princia its good to see you", a nervous sweat formed on Theresa's forehead, "Ah Theresa it's good to see you as well", Princia tipped her hat, "Who are these guys?", Asta asked causing everyone to look at him, Sol and Leo signaling for him to stop talking, while Sekke fell over in his chair, "You must be Asta", Conrad stroked his chin as he approached the young man, "What do you think you're doing?", Yami stood up, almost towering over Conrad, "Yami stop it", Theresa commanded, "No its fine, I assume you're his coach", Conrad seemed to size him up, "Yeah", he stayed between the two. Princia however, had focused her vision on the Vermillions watching to the two nervously look at her and Conrad, "You're Leopald right?", she asked clearly making him nervous, "Yes mam", he answered making her chuckle a little, "Calm down kid I don't have a beef with you, neither do I have one with your sister, she just has something I want", Princia assured him, causing him to let out a sigh of relief, "So uh who are they?", Asta asked again, "That guy right there, is-" "I'm the owner of Triumph and its promoter", Conrad interrupted Sol, before walking past Yami and meeting the kickboxer almost face to face, "My associate there is Princia FunnyBunny""FunnyBunny?", Asta maintained a blank look on his face, "I'm Mereoleona's next mandatory challenger", she boasted drawing eyes from Theresa, Mimosa, and Leo, "Cool.....Cool but why are you guys here?" "ASTA", Sol yelled, nervous because of Asta's perceived disrespect, "No worries, I'm here for something important", Conrad continued to stroke his chin, "And that issss?" "Ranked number 17 had a fight scheduled to headline the early preliminary card, but his opponent fell through, and we need a replacement", Almost everyone in the room widened their eyes, "It just so happens that you were an optimal candidate", Asta looked at him blankly while the others smiled,"Damn he pulled a head just like that",Leo clinched his fists in a bit of frustration,"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CATCH UP NOW",Sekke was practically pulling his hair out at the thought of trying to get there,"Guess you are closer to making it than we thought",Theresa narrowed her eyes while she stared at the young man, Yuno gritted his teeth and just bit his tounge before he felt someone squeeze his hand, looking over to see Mimosa smiling at him, "Hm", he turned his head back to look at Asta,"What does that mean?", Asta asked causing a long silence in the room before Sol tackled him, "ARE YOU DUMB? DO YOU NEED EVERYTHING MITICULOUSLY EXPLAINED TO YOU?", she strangled him, shaking him back and forward, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", the rest laughed, "It's alright it just means that we've selected you", Conrad chuckled a little bit with them, "G-G-GET OF ME", Asta struggled, "Fine", Sol let go watching as Asta held his throat, "Wait I haven't even finished my bracket yet", Asta sat back up looking at Conrad, "I see, well I suppose that you can go through with the fights, but I would like you to fight on the card tomorrow and the opportunity to be ranked so highly right off the bat is an opportunity that very few people get", Conrad held his hand out,"I'm just happy to see that the thing you love gets to make you happy" "I can't wait to see you become a champion" "So you must be Asta? Yeah, old man Zel told me about you", Asta smiled taking his hand to get up, "Yeah ok" "Good, the press conference will be tonight at six at Elysia ", Conrad shook his hand before leaving, "Oh my god oh my god", Charlotte slouched in her chair, "What?" "This is the first time one of our students have made it to T.V since Fuegoleon", Theresa smirked crossing her arms, "Really? Huh", Asta just went back to skipping rope, "What are you doing?" "Gotta be in good condition if I'm gonna be on T.V later", "NO WE NEED TO GET YOU READY QUESTIONS, A SUIT, ANY-", Charlotte popped up pacing around trying to figure out how to put it all together on such short notice, "Nah I'm just going to do me", Asta shrugged, "Asta", Charlotte bent over and grabbed Asta by his shoulders, "I need you to listen", he nodded his head, "This is the first time in like ten plus years our school is going to be on T.V for any of our sports programs" "Uh huh" "And we need you to represent us best as possible" "Uh huh" "So you-" "Charlotte cut it out", Yami picked Asta up and away from her by his head, "OW OW OW" "Be quiet for a moment kid", Yami told him before turning his attention back to her, "Just trust him ok? Don't need to force him to do anything he doesn't want to", he gave her a look as if to remind her of something, "Right sorry", Charlotte put her hands to her hips and sat back down, "So what should he do then?", Theresa asked, "Like he said he'll do him, right?", Yami brought Asta out forward to look at him, "Yep", he smiled rubbing while rubbing the back of his head, "Then its settled", he let go of Asta's head dropping him, "And now that it is how bout we go get something to eat to celebrate", Yami dusted his hands off and grabbed the keys to the bus, "OH YEAH", Leo darted past him while the others followed, "Hold on I'm gonna use the restroom really quick", Asta waved watching as everyone left the room leaving only him. He grabbed his phone and scrolled through his contacts, calling one of them*Bzz* *Bzzz* *Bzzzz* *Bzzzzz*"I'm sorry this user is currently unavailable please leave a message at the tone" "Hey man I uh I'm gonna be on TV, crazy huh? I just wanted to let you know, y'know? Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing and to let you know that I've been pretty good school, friends, and....... this so uh yeah can't wait to see you again, love you bye"

At a nearby restaurant

After the gang had eaten together, the adults went outside to discuss something while the students stayed at the table talking amongst themselves. Asta in particular was looking at a post on Instagram, one by Triumph Promotions Official and it was of him and Ladros facing off on stage, "Man I can't believe it, I'm actually going to be on TV", he leaned over the table while he held his phone, "First time we're going to be on TV for the first time in ten plus years, and its Asta", Sekke sighed knowing that Asta was either going to embarrass himself or the school, "Oh come on I'm not that bad", Asta sat back up, "Dude", Yuno looked at him, "What?" "Did you forget your spectacular CKA debut?", Sol asked while she leaned her chin into her palm, "Oh yeah", he nervously rubbed the back of his head, "We could've been on tv with Sol, but y'know", Mimosa leaned back in her seat, "What?", Asta shook his head as he looked at Sol who seemed rather disappointed, "Back in freshmen year when me and Fana had our match, it was for the grappling belt she has now", she began to squeeze her palm after removing her chin, "Wait why wasn't it televised?", Sol rolled her eyes at the question, "The last champion held the belt throughout high school, and when she left to Vacate it they felt that no one would be interested in watching two fake champs duke it out for her belt", she grimaced at the memory, "I got close, but ultimately when it went to the judges and they felt she did enough to win", Sol closed her eyes before throwing a fry into her mouth, "For what it's worth I thought you won", Mimosa patted her on the back, "Wow, you were really that close? What happened? Why didn't you get your rematch?", Sol grunted before answering, "I......I didn't make it back", she opened her eyes again and was mostly just trying not to make eye contact, "Oh", Asta felt bad for asking, "I guess as it is I'm ranked now, even if it is at the bottom so I can make another go at her", she smiled feeling newly confident in her abilities, "Nice", he was happy to see that her spirits hadn't been completely dampened, "Ah who cares about those golden dawn kids, we're plenty good", Leo laughed, "Yeah, I mean looking at that Rhya guys record his last opponent had fought at fly weight, and has a spotty record", Sekke piped up while he scrolled through his phone, "Really?", Asta was surprised to hear something like that about someone who seemed so elite, "Y'know it might do us some good to look through their records and stuff", Mimosa began to scroll through her own phone, "Why?" "So that you're not a sitting duck out there with them, if they decide to clown you", Sekke answered, "I guess", he shrugged before leaning back in his seat*Bzzz* *Bzz* *Bz*Mimosa looked at her phone to see an incoming video call from Noelle, "Hey what's up?", she answered seeing that Noelle was in her room, "Nothing I just wanted to see if you were done yet, since I stopped by your place and Kirsch said you weren't around", Noelle said, looking at the background, "Oh I forgot to tell him", Noelle made a confused face, "Tell him what?" "We're going to be staying till Wednesday", Mimosa responded, "WHAT WHY?", Noelle yelled basically ringing the ears of everyone that hear, "Well turns out, Asta's going to fight on the card then", Noelle once again shook her head, "What card?" "Y'know those ones that champions fight on", and once again she watched her cousin's face become even more confused, "He's going to be on tv?" "Yes", Asta answered in the background, "Seriously?" "Yep" "Well damn......What channel do I go to for that. So that I can watch" "It should be on four leaf fight sports", Mimosa said, "Ok...damn I guess I'll watch you later", Mimosa turned the phone to Asta, "Good luck out there man" "Thanks", he smiled, "Hey guys time to go", they heard Yami call from the door, "We got to go now, but I'll talk to you later, bye", she hung up following every one to leave

6:00pm at Elysia central arena

"Hello everybody, thank you for coming to Triumph new blood eleven's prefight preconference we will be getting the fighters out shortly", Conrad sat down on a middle table that was center stage. Asta was standing backstage waiting for his name to be called to the stage, "You ready?", Yami asked, "I think so", Asta shook his arms out trying to get the nerves out, "You'll be alright", Yami ruffled his hair, "Hehe yeah", Asta looked over to the stage seeing that a few people were getting on, "Hey", the rest of the gang came to meet him before he'd get on, "We're counting on you so don't go do anything stupid", Sol jokingly shoved him, "I know I know", he chuckled, "AH C'MON SOL HE'S GOT THIS", Leo jumped on his back and rocked him back and forward, "HEY", Asta began to lose his footing and toppled over causing the others to laugh, "Good luck out there Asta", Mimosa laughed while she helped her cousin up, "Thanks", Asta laughed before seeing Yuno hold his hand out, "Don't embarrass yourself", Asta smirked before gripping his hand, "Whatever you handsome jerk" "And don't get a big head I'll be up there in no time", Yuno vowed, and in his eyes was a clear fire, "Sure, but make sure it's not a opener for a card I'll main event", Asta retorted, "Ok ok you two", Sol broke it up again, but this time it did feel much more like playful team banter, "C'mon guys", she ushered the others over, "On 3", she put her hand out, "1...2...3 LETS GO MAGIC KNIGHTS", they cheered together before they could hear Asta's name be called, "INTRODUCING HIS OPPONENT A REPRESENTATIVE OF CLOVER KINGDOM ACADEMY THE BLACK CLOVER ASTA STARIA", Asta waved and made his way to his seat sitting at the very end of the table and after some more people came out mainly the four Triumph champions from earlier and Ladros on one side, the other four others and Asta with each of them having a microphone facing a sea of people, news sources, and interviewers, "Thank you for coming and we will now be taking questions", Conrad looked around as they began to argue over who would get the first question, "You to my left" "Thanks, I'm with four leaf fight sports and my question would be for Junior" "Yeah" "I want to know what your thoughts on your opponent are?" "Uh yeah I mean-", Asta began to tune them out to think about everything before the next question got his attention, "Thank you, and my next is for Fana" "Yes" "So there were some rumblings that you had got into a little bit of an argument with one of the students participating in the qualifier, was just wondering if you could give some clarification on that", Asta looked over at her waiting on an answer, "Umm Yeah sometimes people just disagree and-" "No no", Asta picked up the microphone to interrupt her, "I'm sorry?", Fana looked over at him, "You came to dunk on Sol", Asta began to raise his voice, "Oh no", Charlotte face palmed knowing Asta was going to start mouthing off, "You came over to sh*t talk Sol and tried to hide behind saying you just there to congratulate her", Asta retorted, "How would you know what my intentions were?", Fana shook her head in annoyance, "Ah that's bullsh*t I could see it in your eyes", Asta slammed his mic down, but Fana came with another reply, "You're telling me that you could tell all from my eyes?", she followed another question, with a look of sarcasm on her, "You got a problem with that?", Asta asked, "Calm down short stuff, the question wasn't even directed at you", Rhya mocked him leaning over to look at him, "Ah shut up Yuno made you flinch", Asta returned the mockery and the crowd was eating it up a few members of the media gearing up for more questions

"YES, THERE IT IS BRO TALK YOUR sh*t", Liebe jumped out of where he was sitting and screamed at the TV, "Calm down", Lichita chuckled dragged her son down back to the sofa with a chuckle, "Y'know it's kind of weird watching someone like Asta look so serious on live television", Zenon said while tossing a few chips in his mouth, "Tell me about it", Vanessa added, "Nah I think he's fine", Magna smiled watching for hat he was going to say next, "YEAH", Luck hopped onto Magna's back leaning back and forward

Noelle sat down on the sofa in her living room watching the press conference alone, "Hehe", she giggled hearing the boy speak, "What are you watching?", she turned her head around to see her sister leaning on the sofas frame, "Oh my friend is just doing some press thing for his fight", she explained to her sister, "That's right you posted something on your story about it" "Yeah, wanna watch it with me?" "Sure", Nebra hopped onto the sofa with her sister

"MARS HURRY UP", Fana called out for her boyfriend while her and her sister sat down in their living room with their mom in dad, "Wow Asta's come a long way since you taught him huh?", Dominate joked with her husband, "Taught him is a strong word, but I mean I guess I taught him something", he laughed while pulling his wife closer, "If you mean by taught him something, meaning that he thought grappling was wack and asked if you knew any strikers then yeah you taught him amazingly", Marielle remarked, her eyes kept glued to something that wasn't her phone, "Hey! I taught him a little", Fanzel smiled, "Did they just call that girl Fana?", Dominate watched the interviewer ask her another question, "You're right", Fanzel chuckled, "Nah Fana's way prettier", Mars came back to the room with some drinks and popcorn

"Ok ok next person, um you in the middle back row", Conrad tried to stir away from the argument, "Thank you, I'm with Akazya Karate magazine and my first question would be towards Rhya the short notice guy said something about you flinching anything to add?", Rhya rolled his eyes before picking up the mic to answer the question, "Nothing just a dumb altercation", he gave a slight tisk of annoyance, "That's not what I saw", Asta once again spoke up against him, "And what did you see?", Rhya stood up before Fana dragged him back down, "HEY YOU GUYS THIS GUY FLINCHED BECAUSE A GUY THREW A FAKE KICK AT HIM", Asta made a few exaggerated motions of his arms making fun of him, "EH HE'S LYING", Rhya shot out of his seat again, but this time Asta also stood up, "OK OK OK", Conrad stood up and got in the way of the two directing them back to their seats, "Sorry, but I guess my second question would be for the newcomer Asta right?" "Yes sir" "Good to know I got it right" "Guess so" "So I don't think we've ever seen you at any of these or y'know win a seasonal main event I was just wondering how you got here" "Good question I-" "HE WAS FIGHTING BUMS", Rhya yelled getting a laugh from the crowd, "Mate your last fight was with a guy who was 28 and 16 you're fighting sh*t heaps", Asta chucked one back at him, "That was a short notice replacement ok So-" "So you can kiss my ass you suck", the crowd laughed finding the young man amusing, "How tall are you kid? I would f*cking bury you if stepped into the cage, little, short f*cking midget", Asta was getting to him and the raising of his voice as well as the changes in his face showed it, "Dude you're not gonna bury anyone you fought a fat flyweight on short notice and finished him in the fourth", Asta smirked and shook his head, "And who have you beat?", Rhya looked around in confusion, "Well it's gonna be you if you don't shut it", Asta leaned over the table to look over at him, "You ain't gonna do anything" "And whys that?" "Bro, you have no grappling when I get you down, I would literally split your face open" "Like you did with the fat flyweight?", Rhya and Asta continued to go back and forward for a little on the subject while the people back home watched.

The Staria household was almost filled with laughter watching the young man curse and poke fun at elite fighters was amusing to many of them, "These guys are dry as hell", Liebe remarked trying not to laugh, "Dude Asta's gonna make this sh*t look easy", Magna rolled around a little before Luck stopped him, "THIS IS AWESOME", the two laughed together, "Calm down calm down they're about to talk again", Vanessa tried to get the room quiet for the next one

"Your friend has quite the mouth on him", Nebra threw her head back in laughter, Noelle followed in her sister's movements, "Yeah he's had one since the day we met", she fiddled with her hands remembering the two's first interaction, "He's also kind of cute", Noelle's face began to burn up a little before she snapped her attention back to her sister, "W-w-what?" "What? I just said he was kind of cute", Nebra looked at her sister with a bit of confusion, "Don't say that, he's short and loud", Noelle just crossed her arms and continued watching

"Just saying if he stuck tosomegrappling then all this talk would be a lot more valid", Fanzel put his hands up sarcastically, "But didn't he just hit you in the face when you tried to heel hook him?", Mariella looked back at her father, "That's because he didn't get what we were doing" "There's a lot of things Asta doesn't get and fighting is one of the few things he does, he just thought grappling was dumb", Mariella tossed a bit of popcorn into her mouth, "Aw man" "Don't worry honey Mari uses what you teach all the time, right hon?", Mariella just closed her eyes and smiled, "Maybe"

Rebecca had just got home from school and was getting ready for work before she heard a familiar voice coming from the living room,"So you can kiss my ass, you suck""Asta?", she shook her head before making her way to the room seeing her siblings gathered around watching TV, "What are you guys watching?", Rebecca snapped her fingers a few times to get their attention, "We're watching Asta", her youngest brother answered, pointing towards the TV before it flashed the young man,"Like you did with the fat flyweight?", He was being quick and witty on live TV and she couldn't believe it, Asta on TV? How was that even possible? I mean while she hadn't really spoken to a majority of the mutuals the two shared, there was no way he would make it on TV and she wouldn't hear about it, right?*Ring Ring*her train of thought was interrupted by the home phone ringing, "Hey hire it up", she pointed for one of her siblings to do so while she got the phone, "Hello?" "Becca have you tuned into Four leaf sports?", she heard the voice of her friend Erika question her over the phone, "Yeah I saw", she turned her head back to the living room to tune back in

"YOU'L DO f*ckIN NOTHING", Rhya yelled, "I WON'T DO ANYHTING? I'LL COME OVER THERE AND SMACK YOU UPSIDE YOUR WACK ASS CUT", Asta yelled back, throwing a few insults at him, "Ok well next question ummm you in the middle right", Conrad began to sweat a little at the amount of attention the newcomer was getting, whether it was for better or for worse would have to wait for tomorrow , "Thank you I'm with independent hearts and my question is for Ladros, the newcomer is making quite the splash, and considering you're the one that's going to standing in the ring with him do you think that he has anything about him?" "No haha absolutely not, I mean the guy is what five foot one? Think he weighed in at 137, so no this is the real sh*t so y'know" "Keep saying that when I leave you flat on your face", Asta scoughed, "Dude you are a sacrificial lamb meant for me to steam roll so I can take that guys belt someday", Ladros said while pointing at Juniors belt, "Sure man dudes on an ok streak as a rookie and thinks he's hot sh*t", Junior laughed him off, "Hey you don't need to worry about that clown cause when I'm done with him I'll rip through the top 15 and rip that belt from you", Asta slammed his mic down with a smirk on his face, "Same thing the last eight people said and this thing is still around my waist so", Junior just shrugged before placing the mic down, "Thank you and my next question is for Fana, the guy over there brought up Sol earlier and from the best of my knowledge she was the girl you beat to win the belt after it was vacated in a match a lot of people at the time considered to be a bit controversial so do you think you'll ever meet again?" "Hmmm uh huh no I don't think it was 'controversial' but definitely a very close one, and I don't know maybe but as things stand, I've evolved, and she's never made it that far again so", Fana shrugged, "Nah that sh*t was bull sh*t, Sol should've won and you know it", Asta once again interjected himself into her answer, "BULL sh*t? YOU DON'T KNOW f*ckING ANYHTING ABOUT GRAPPLING" "Enough to know you're a boring ass crotch sniffer just like your friend who got bitched by a guy who made his fight sport debut", Asta's response elicited an ooooo from the crowd, "Oh shut up man Ladros is gonna flatten you and we're never gonna hear from your bum ass again", Rhya's frustration continued to mount, but Asta shot back at him, "Dude I'm snatch Juniors belt and I'll go and snatch yours, but when I flatline you I'm gonna get to pound your face in", Asta laughed, "Yeah yea yea", Rhya just shook his head and put the mic down, "I guess my last question would be for Junior, New guys a riot huh?" "Lack of a better word, so yeah", Junior just maintained a neutral face before Conrad picked out another person

"Nah they should've kept it going", Liebe complained, dissapointed that he wasn't able to keep going at him, "HAHA NAH HES GOOD", Magna and Luck laughed while holding each other, trying not to fall over, "I just hope he doesn't think he can say all this and not do chores for a week", Lichita folded her arms in a mother fashion, "Lichita its all good he's just trying to sell the fight", Dante calmed her down, "I guess" "So no chores?" "Oh no he's still doing that", Dante sighed,"Sorry kid couldn't get you out of it"

"HAHAHA", Noelle fell over holding her sister, "Didn't know your friend was that funny", Nebra wiped a few tears of laughter from her eyes, "Honestly didn't know he was either", she smiled while looking at the tv, "So like do you have his number or something?", Nebra asked leaning back into the cushions, "Why?", Noelle asked with a slightly annoyed tone, "Just wanted to know sheesh, is that such a problem?", Nebra rolled her eyes before the two went back to watching"

"I don't know who taught him any of that", Fanzel scratched his cheek, "Pretty sure he learned it just from being around idiots", Mariella said mostly thinking about Liebe, Magna, and Luck when it came to stuff like that, "HEY", Mars turned his head back to her, "Oh yeah another idiot", she rolled her eyes

Rebecca covered her little brothers' ears, not wanting him to hear any of what Asta was saying, "BECCA HEY I WANT TO HEAR", he pulled on her arms trying to get her hands off, "No", she responded a little frustrated with him, "Becca who cares? It's just Asta", her little sister shrugged already knowing better than to repeat what Asta was saying, "I don't care", she just looked forward, continuing to watch.

After forty more minutes of back and forward the time for face offs had come, "Let's hope that Asta doesn't do anything else", Charlotte shook her head, "HAHAHAHAHAHA", Jack and Yami on the other hand were holding each other, laughing to their hearts content, "I don't see what was so funny about that, Asta just made a fool of himself out there", Theresa shook her head, "ARE YOU KIDDING THERESA THAT WAS AWESOME", Leo bawled his hands into fists and jumped up and down, "Not gonna lie, thought he was going to flop out there but hey he was pretty funny out there", Sol shrugged with a clear smile on her face, "Guess he wasn't as dumb as we thought", Yuno commented, "Hey, he's not that dumb", Mimosa playfully pulled on his arm, "NOT THAT DUMB? HE PISSED THOSE GUYS OFF AND NOW THEIR GONNA KILL US", Sekke panicked before he fell to his knees, "Then we're gonna have to get good enough to stop them", Leo smiled, Sekke wasn't convinced though putting his head down, "Dude", he felt someone nudge him with their foot, "What?", he looked up to see Sol, "We're gonna do this", she held out her hand, "I""HAHA YOU'RE SLOW" "I don't know if he has the same heart for this","I......Yeah you're right what was I even saying", he took her hand getting pulled back to his feet, "Oh here it comes", Leo tapped him on the arm seeing Asta and Ladros face off

"To finish off the preliminary weigh ins and face offs this will be a kickboxing out done in 4oz gloves, A newcomer with a big mouth Asta Staria", Asta began to walk to the center of the stage where a scale was, "137 official weight for The Black Clover Asta Staria" "AAAAAAAAAAAAA", Asta screamed while doing a bit of flexing for the people before stepping down for the , "Going second the number 17 ranked kickboxing contender Ladros "The reinforcer", the built young man made his weigh to the scale, "154.5 for Ladros "The Reinforcer" ", after he got off he and Asta got face to face, "I'm sending your ass back to the hole you crawled out of", Ladros smirked, "Keep that talk around when I'm screaming over you after finishing your sorry ass", he squared up getting closer before Ladros pushed him, "HEY HEY HEY", Conrad got in between the two before Asta tossed a water bottle at him, "Trust me man I can't wait to whoop your ass", he warned Lardos as security escorted him off the stage, "Well that wasn't the worst thing ever", Charlotte shook her head as she watched him come back, "DUDE YOU WERE HALARIOUS OUT THERE", Leo wrapped his arm around him, "Just don't get why you can't do that when we're in class", Yuno remarked with a smiled, "Ah whatever", Asta just laughed and picked up his bag, getting ready to leave, "Hold on", he turned his head to see Conrad approaching, "sh*t" "Hey sir I know I'm sorry I won't-" "Hold that thought", Conrad began reaching into his pocket before pulling out a card, "Here", he handed it to Asta, "What's this?" "Just go to the Elven hotel across the street and hand this to them, you should be able to get a fighter suite", Charlotte raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Are you serious?" "Of course, you've done us a pretty big favor by taking this fight on such short notice, so thank you" "No problem and thank you for giving me this opportunity", he held out his hand and Conrad shook it before returning to the stage, "Nice", Asta looked at the card

~𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖗𝖆𝖉 𝕷𝖊𝖙𝖔~

𝕿𝖗𝖎𝖚𝖒𝖕𝖍 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘

𝕱𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕻𝖆𝖘𝖘

"I guess we can just go and settle in then get dinner?", Charlotte looked around mostly getting nods for agreement, "Cool, let's go"

At the Hotel

"WOAAAAAAAAAAH", Asta looked around at the hotel's lobby it was incredible easily the fanciest place he had ever been, "Damn nice digs", Yami looked around as the crew walked together observing, "Tell me about it", Charlotte looked around, "This place is fancy as hell", Sol watched a few guests coming in, taking note of the expensive bags, clothes, etc. that they were adorning, "I guess it's pretty good", Mimosa who had seen much nicer around the world agreed a little, "YOU GUESS?", Asta's eyes were practically popping out of his head, "I mean I've been all over Paris, heart country, y'know places like that" "HUH?!?!?!", Sol and Asta fell over together, "I forget", Asta groaned through his face on the floor, "You guys are loaded", Sol finished his sentence being slumped over in the same manner, "Cheer up you two, we're gonna have a great time", Mimosa patted Sol on the head trying to comfort her, "I guess", she rolled to look at the ceiling,"He made it here that quick", Sol's eyes had moved towards Asta, "Guess I''ll have to punch a ticket soon too, I mean I beat Salena, but.........ranked 72 compared to a possible 17 rank is a big difference to try and overcome so quick", she gritted her teeth a little before shaking her head, "No he's your team mate be happy for him", Sol sat up placing her hands on the floor to push herself up, "Check in time guys c'mon", her mom called for the students to catch up with the coaches. When they did, they had made it to the front desk, "Hello I assume you guys have a reservation?", the guy working the desk asked, "No, but-" "Good day then" "Hey dude let her finish", Asta told him, "Sorry without a reservation you can't get a room" "But I have this", he handed him the card from Conrad, "Hmm let me call and make sure, stay right here", the crew watched him walk into the back waiting a few minutes before he came back, "My apologies here are your keys and meal voucher", he placed them in Asta's hands, "So cool", Asta thought with a stream of tears going through his closed eyes, "Room 2123 on the 12th floor", he rang a bell that cause a few bell hops to come, "They'll have your stuff in your room in no time", the group just nodded and made their way to the elevator, "This things huge", Asta held his arms out horizontally, surprised they didn't touch the sides, "Your arms are literally so short, that's a bad way to measure length", Yuno joked causing Asta's face to go a little red, "AH WHATEVER", he yelled causing them to cover their ears, before Sol shut his mouth the same way she did when he ate with his mouth open, "Inside voices man", Asta nodded and she let go, "Calm down everyone let's just go get our stuff and go eat", Charlotte quelled the arguing before more good happen.

"Nah I don't think-", Asta conversed with Leo before opening the door

"This place is so large", Sol walked in and poked around seeing that there were three rooms, "Man these kids are living likes kings", Yami laughed, "Its bigger than my place" "Your place is kind of sad", Asta said before his coach gripped his head, "What was that?", he asked a darkness covering his eyes, "SORRY SORRY SORRY", Asta flailed and kicked trying to get his grip loose*Knock Knock*Yami let go dropping Asta on his butt, "Oww", he groaned, watching Yami open the door, "What?" "Sorry sir we have your things", the bell boy stepped ack to show the hop, "Ok bring it in and just place em in the living room", he ordered to which the bell boy complied, "You guys want to eat now?" "YES", the students yelled, "Ok let's go". The rest of the night played out rather smoothly the students talked and joked while the coaches drank, and a particular trio had a "remember when" conversation getting some tears, some laughs, the whole shebang. However, when the night had come to a close and our heroes were sleeping a particular short and loud young man stood on the balcony looking at the city lights, "I'm really here", he watched as lights*Bzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzzz*his phone went off in his pocket, "Who's calling me at this time?", Asta dug through his pants and pulled out his phone

Incoming Call Noelle

"What the?", Asta decided to pick up to see what was wrong, "Hello" "Hey babe I-", Asta cringed a little immediately realizing her mistake, "Uh this is Asta", there was a little bit of silence before she spoke again, "Oh sorry I meant to call Kiato" "Nah it's all good I was wondering why you were calling me at 12", he laughed causing Noelle to laugh with him, "Yeah.........I guess while I have yah, I saw the press conference you were pretty funny out there" "Thanks I was trying", another silence came about, Asta wasn't sure what to say, while Noelle thought about her sister, it bothered her and she hated that she couldn't figure out why, "My sister asked about you" "OH yeah what was it about?" "She..........she just said that you were really funny", why? Why couldn't she just tell him, "She single?", the question poked her a little more, "Uh.... no she has a boyfriend" "Damn well can't blame me for trying", Noelle bit her bottom lip before popping a question, "And if she was? Like she wanted to date you what would you do?" "I don't know I've never really got that far outside of one girl, but y'know", again it bothered her, "Would you go out with her though?" "How old is she?" "Dude why do you keep asking questions about her?", Noelle had a small snap, "I don't know just trying to get a better picture of it" "Ok well just right of the bat would you" "I guess", a weird feeling formed in her stomach, "Not", and there it was a weird amount of relief came over her, "Really?" "Yeah, I mean I literally have never met her and if she's older than you then she's like 19 20 no" "Yeah, she is" "Well I had a nice time talking but I got to head to bed but tune in tomorrow I'll give you a shout out or something. Or are you too famous for one already?", Noelle giggled before responding, "No I'd like that" "Cool then I'll KO him and say I did it for little miss pigtails" "HEY", a playful offended tone came from her, "But hey I'll see you when I get back" "See ya", Asta hung up leaving Noelle in her room scrolling through her phone, "Triumph", she searched the organization on social media seeing the first five fights of the main card be advertised, and on the sixth most recent post a graphic of Asta and a guy named Ladros, "Hmmm", it gave her an idea. She shared the post to her story

"Hey guys a friend of mine is competing on TV tomorrow so tune into the preliminary card to watch him" and below it the post of the two facing off

+like

+like

+like

like after like came in Noelle decided it was time to go to sleep, "Hope he appreciates it", she dozed off forgetting why she was up in the first place

*Bzzz bzz bz bzzz bzz bz bzzz bzz bz*

Missed call from Kiato

Elysia Central Arena 6:00 pm

Asta stood in the green room practicing a few combos, transitioning from kicks to punches, punches to elbow, etc., "We can't turn back now", Yami smiled knowing very well it was never in Asta's intention to go back, "As if I ever would have", Asta chuckled before letting off a question mark kick, "Ok free style stance", Yami said confusing the others, "What?", Charlotte looked at him, "You think Asta's fought and trained with so many different styles and didn't pick up anything else?", it clicked, this kid was different from the start. Hell, the people Yami brough in were different from a karate fighter that was beating on two royal boxers and a few grapplers that were giving her trouble. She turned her attention back to Asta who was in a similar stance to when Yami and Fuegoleon sparred (Think 2014-2016 McGregor), "Jab body jab upstairs", Asta complied and mimicked the motion he wanted, "Good now lead side kick into a back kick" again he copied it, "Bladed kickboxer", he assumed a squarer stance similar to his usual one (Think Leon Edwards), "Jab cross body hook wheel kick", yet again he did as he was told, "Now switch to a wider bladed stance", Asta spread his legs and turned to his side a little (Think Yair Rodreguez), "Nice nice now lead uppercut back hand dip overhand", the others watched it wasn't perfect but it was pretty close, "Now-" "You're on", a guy from the walkout area called for them, "Guess we got to go now huh?" "YEP", Asta bounced up and down, "Guess you guys are gonna go to your seats?" "Yea" "Then-" "Don't lose", Yuno spoke up interupting the two, "AS IF I EVER WOULD", Asta screamed, this time everyone didn't seem to have a problem with it, "Then vow it" "VOW HUH?" "Right here and now vow you won't lose", Yuno smiled with a fist in the air, "Hehe fine I vow", Asta began to walk to him, "I won't lose, and I will be the first to get a belt" "Don't think I'll let that happen", Yuno watched as Asta rose his fist to bump his, "SEE YA", Asta began to leave with Yami, "You ready to show them?" "YEAH"

"C'MON C'MON ITS TIMME FOR HIS WALK OUT", Liebe yelled for his mom who was getting some snacks for everyone ready, "I'm coming", Lichita tried gathering everything she wanted to bring, "Need help?", she turned around to see Dante with a smile on his face, "Why thank you officer that would be greatly appreciated", she returned the smile, "All in the days work mam", he joked before grabbing half of the stuff while she got the other half

"Oh, here he comes", Noelle raised the volume on the tv for her and her sister to hear it better, "So like is your friend cut? Ripped? What is he?", Nebra asked, "Who cares? He's like five one" "That's not a problem I think-", but before she could finish, she was cut off by their brother Solid, "You guys are watching a fight? Like a fight sport?", he asked feeling that it was rather out of character for any of the two to watch any sport, "Yeah one of my friends is competing", Noelle answered his question, "Oh who" "He's coming out right now", she heard the announce begin to talk

"ASTA ASTA ASTA", Mars and Fana chanted for him while Mariella just looked at her sister and smiled, "ASTA ASTA ASTA", Fanzel and Dominate joined in, their eyes being trained on their black-haired daughter, "MARI COME ON JOIN US", she blushed and after some persistence, "ASTA ASTA ASTA", she joined in seeing Asta come onto the head of the stage

"I thought you two broke up", a girl with glasses asked Rebecca, "I also thought you had work?" "Erika......Shut up, ok? I just wanted to watch this", Rebecca watched as Asta began to walk out. it felt surreal, "BECCA HE'S REALLY THERE", her little brother looked back at her and pointed at the TV, "Yeah yeah"

"INTRODUCING SECOND HE CALLS HIMSELF THE BLACK CLOVER ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIAAAAAAAAA"

Are you? Are you coming to the tree

Asta's music played throughout the arena which once held many rings and mats adoring a flag with a black five leaf clover on it, "LADROS LADROS LADROS LADROS LADROS", the arena called his name believing that he was going to make quick work of him

They strung up a man they say who murdered three

"REVCHI IS OUT" "RADES HAS BEEN PUT AWAY IN THE SECOND ROUND" "HEATH IS OUT I REPEAT HEATH IS OUT", the echos of his earlier fights, the crowd and their reaction rang out in his head

Strange things had happened here no stranger would it be

"LADROS GONNA KILL YOU LADROS GONNA KILL YOU" "WHAT IS THIS BUM DOING HERE?" "YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT HES THE ONE THAT BEAT REVCHI WITH ONE KNEE?" "HE'S A CHEAT" "HOW COME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM", the crowd began throwing trash at him wrappers, cups of liquid, food the whole garden refusing to accept he made it here on his first go, "Keep your cool kid you've got this", Yami tried to assure him noticing that Asta had kept a neutral face the whole time

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

At the halfway point down the ramp Asta stopped and took another look around,"Man I can't wait to see where you go someday, hell maybe you'll go all the way to undisputed", he thought about those words, the meaning that they've held in his life since he first heard them, "Huuuu", he let out a breath of air before he continued

Are you? Are you coming to the tree where dead man called out for his love to flee

At the third quarter of the ramp Asta got down to one knee doing the cross-symbol thing across his chest (I don't know what this is called),"I don't think it's good for us to be seeing each other anymore",Rebecca's words played in his mind since that day

Strange things did happen here no stranger would they be If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

"I'm sorry I was being an insensitive jerk, but I had a good time with your friends, and I would like to do this again", Noelle held out her hand, in it his wallet that he thought he lost

Are you? Are you coming to the tree

"HEY HEY BREAK IT UP YOU TWO", a teacher separated him from a strange kid with no eyebrows, "HE STARTED IT", Asta yelled, his first day of the fourth grade in his new apartment and safe to say it wasn't going well as a teacher had to pull, them apart for fighting

Where I told you to run so we'd both be free

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", Asta cried into his mom's lap kicking his legs, "I know honey I know", she held him trying not to cry herself as not to make him cry harder

Stange things did happen here no stranger would they be

"Mam I'm having some concerns about your children", one of the teachers sat her down in the principal's office with Asta and Liebe sitting next to her, "What? Why?", she worriedly held her children's hands, "Asta's clothing is rather tattered, and he's has displayed overly aggressive behavior with the other students, at least ones that seem to have rather checkered records", she said looking at him with a small but noticeable amount of disgust

If we met at midnight in the hanging tree

"What?", Asta looked at his brother, "Dude when you were a baby Mom wasn't eating much, literally like a banana a day so that she could buy you diapers", Liebe answered while the two played video games, "I had to take a big cut too, but hey man it was worth it cause I got a cool brother out of it", he smiled pulling Asta closer with his arm. The memory at the time was hard to swallow, but right now as he stepped onto the ring's steps Asta closed his eyes one more time

Are you? Are you coming to the tree

"I'm sorry mom?", Asta put his head down after she had to pulled him from the warehouse he had been fighting in, "Asta I told you if you want to do this, you were gonna do it through your school program"

Where necklace of rope side by side with me

"Wait we're getting a house?", Liebe raised an eyebrow listening to their mom talk, "Yeah I finally was able to take out a mortgage, and it's close to your high school", she sung, "Plus its closer to-" "Dante", Liebe put his chin in the palm of his hand and rolled his eyes, "I like him and his siblings", Asta smiled as he began to fill his face with cereal, "Look I know you have your reservations about him but he's a cool guy and his siblings like you guys", she assured him, "Ok I get it"

Are you? are you coming to the tree

They strung up a man they who murdered three

Strange things did happen here no stranger would they be

If we met at midnight in the hanging treeeeeeeeeeee

Here it was, his moment to prove it prove everything. The only thing stopping him from doing it was him, Ladros the first real obstacle in that journey and here he was to scale it, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THIS FIGHT WILL BE CLOSING THE PRELIMS AND WILL BBE A KICKBOXING BOUT IN 4 OUNCE GLOVES AND WILL TAKE PLACE IN THREE ROUNDS THAT ARE FIVE MINUTES. THIS CONTEST CAN BE STOPPED EARLY VIA DOOCTOR STOPPAGE, KO, TKO, FORFEIT, BUT THESE THINGS WILL BE DECIDED BY THE REF. NO BACK OF THE HEAD SHOTS AND NO GROIN SHOTS, BITING, OR SCRATCHING. OTHER THAN THAT, ANY STAND UP IS ALLOWED. WITH ALL THAT SAID COMBATANTS MEET IN THE CENTER", the two did as they were told and met in the center, "You came a long way little mouse, now do me a favor and lay down for me", Ladros mocked him, "I'm gonna crack your pointy chin", Asta met his gaze before the pushed the two apart, "The moment of truth", Yami watched Asta back up to their corner, "This must be Asta", he remembered meeting the young man for the first time

"MOM I'M GONNA PUT YOU IN A MANSION SOMEDAY", Lichita reminisced to when he was a child and how that compared to the now as she watched her son get ready, his face more focused than she had ever seen, "I still remember the day we met", Dante always saw Asta as a kid, much like no matter how grown Zenon wanted to seem he would always be a kid, yet here he was on national maybe even international television representing them and all those who came from a similar situation, "Wanna learn how to head butt someone?", Vanica rocked back and forward while thinking back to the first time Dante trusted the kids to be alone, "So you know Allen?", Zenon smiled at the thought of their first conversation, "VANNNY PLEASE MARRY ME", Vanessa giggled while she thought about how much the kid had grown, "I'm Asta" "You got time out too?", Magna and Luck and the day they had met the trouble maker, "YESSSSSSSSSSSS C'MON MAN REP THE STARIA NAME", Liebe has had a lifetime to think about his brother and only thought of one thing "How he was gonna win?"

"Your friend has a pretty nice-" "Nebra please stop that we're trying to watch", Solid tried to get her to shut up,"I hope we can still be friends", his toothy smile and carefree nature made Noelle's face heat up, "Maybe I'll give a shout out to little miss pigtails"she pulled on those famous pigtails and covered her face a little, "You better win.......Dorksta"

"HEY, BREAK IT UP", A teacher pulled mars and Asta apart after the two had fought, "TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND TO SHUT IT", Asta yelled at Fana, she laughed at the memory, because little did she know that a great friend would come out of it, "Are you gonna stay glued to that thing? Come hang out with us", Mariella remembered the day Fana and Asta literally dragged her out of her bed to hang out with them, "Hey um you're that guy that works at that grappling school, right?", Fanzel could see it clear as day, a woman with greyish hair and green eyes came up to him with her son, "Yeah the kid has problems, but Asta's funny", Fana stuffed her face with cereal the day after a confrontation with the boy, "You really did help them"

"I think you're cute",a Valentines Day heart gram she bought at school for her crush, and much to her surprise the boy reciprocated, "Wanna go do that dance thing Saturday", she watched as the boy nervously pulled at his collar and fiddled with his legs,"I would love to",she answered with a bit of spit coming through her newly minted braces and TADs keeping it in place, "I love you",the two cuddled in his bed before falling asleep, "Yeah uh o-ok sure I was just, sure",he stumbled over his words and what he was hearing, "Asta I'm sorry, but I think there's just someone else",the last time the two had spoken, ending things on an incredibly sour note. Why? Well, it was complicated maybe it was just time, maybe something between the two had gone. Rebecca couldn't answer but sometimes she wished...........things could go back to that

"BEGIN", Asta began to approach the middle, at the same time Ladros did having a very clear muay thai stance*Pop*Asta opened up with a quick tapping low kick*Woosh*he slipped a jab to the outside, but before he could do anything with it Ladros came up with a knee that barely missed, "Close, but the guys got good reactions", Ladros thought before the two initiated another exchange Asta threw another quick low kick*Check*this time Ladros checked it and tried to move forward*Woosh woosh*Asta got out of the way of a one two before*Bang*he landed the first clean shot, not a powerful one but the first to show something, "Ok ok that was an ok one", Ladros nodded before he threw a couple hooks none of which hit, "His hand speed is way faster than the others", Asta noted before stepping in and trying to rip some hooks to the body, Ladros was able to stop him and clinched*Bang Bang*he landed a couple of knees to the body causing Asta to withdraw, "How were those?" "That was sh*t", Asta answered with a smile on his face, before he began to move forward again throwing a couple of hooks to make him more wary of getting clipped, but Ladros kept moving backward and tried to throw a check hook to catch Asta with his chin up but barely missed when Asta ducked, "Damn he's too short for normal stuff like that to work", he frowned before*Smack*Asta landed a clean hook to the body at about half power*WOOSH WOOSH*he swung some heavy power shots of which Ladros got out of the way*POW*but while he was focused on the upstairs attack he ripped a heavy low kick right in the sweet spot, "So this kid isn't a complete idiot", Ladros noted, feeling the effects of the kick when he pivoted on his lead leg. Asta didn't let the moment slip though and began to move forward throwing a few fake jabs to hide a big shot*SMACK*he connected a cross just as Ladros tried to move his head to the right catching him at the perfect moment causing him to fall down. The crowd roared watching the ref count, "1...2...3...4- ", the count was stopped as Ladros got back to his feet, "How was that?" "It was sh*t", ladros wiped his temple feeling a little bit of blood drip down his face as the two began to engage again Asta threw a front kick, Ladros stopped it and caught Asta in the face with a straight. He kicked off and began to ack up while Ladros chased him smelling blood in the water, "You're done", he moved forward and as he did Asta threw out an overhand*Smack*cat the same time however Ladros threw another knee up the middle*CRACK*he wobbled Asta who began to lean against the ropes, he began to close in and when Asta threw a couple hooks he ducked and opted to clinch*Bang bang bang*he let a few knees rip to Asta's body and when he felt his grip on the clinch get loosened he threw an elbow that dropped Asta to one knee. However, Asta quickly got back up seeing Ladros trying to get to him, at the last minute.

The kick wobbled him causing him to fall into the ropes, Asta began to hound a few shots at him most of which were blocked. Eventually Asta landed an uppercut straight the middle of his guard*BRRRRRRRRRR*the bell had stopped him from the finish and the two began walking to their corners, "Ok bit of a swing round, but you got a more solid knock down" "He also had some pretty damn good shots" Asta touched right above his eyebrow bringing his fingers down to see blood, "Damn kid, the most damage you've taken in a while huh?" "Yeah", Asta chuckled as Yami began to put Vaseline over the cut, "Guess this fight is in your hands" "Yea", Asta spit some bloodied water back into the bucket before going back to the middle.

The two once again met in the center of the ring, before they started, they began to talk, "Almost had you", Ladros laughed, "I could say the same about you", Asta returned the mockery with a laugh of his own as the round began. Ladros opened up with low kick that landed pretty nicely, but as it did Asta came forward and caught him with a couple of jabs, Ladros leaned back to get out of the way of a cross*Smack*Asta ripped a rear hook to the body causing Ladros to hunch over a little, as Asta began to close in and try to catch some more body shots Ladros clinched, "HERE", Asta threw an overhand where he thought Ladros' head would be,*Woosh*"His head isn't-"*CRACK*he landed a huge knee to Asta face crumpling him, "NOOOOOOOO", Leo popped out of his chair, "Well at least he had a good first round", Sol sighed, "OH NO", Sekke face palmed feeling like the end had come, but Yuno sat there watching the ref count, "1...2...3..-", While the ref counted Ladros did a bit of show boating. Yami laughed drawing some attention from the crowd, "Is he laughing at his student?", a few people in the audience began to whisper, "He's not going down that easy" "4...5-", Asta got back up with a smile, "How was that?", Ladros mocked him, "sh*t", Asta spit a glob of blood before the ref asked if he was good to continue, "Yeah", he nodded to the ref and the fight was resumed, "You feeling alright?", Ladros asked with a snicker as the two circled each other for a moment, "Yep", Asta returned the snicker before stepping in with a lead upper cut, "Again?", Ladro tried to throw a check hook, but got smacked with an elbow over top, pushing him back as his knees bent a little*Smack*Asta ripped a lead hook to the body*POW*and low kick followed it causing Ladros to spin around*WOOSH WOOSH*he barely got out of the way of a jab cross. Asta loaded up an overhand once again, "There you are", Ladros clinched and backed up to throw a knee*CRACK*an overhand from Asta landed "HUH?", Ladros let go and fell over, "1...2...3...4...5...6", Ladros got up just as the ref reached six. His face showed genuine confusion,"How did he get me?", he thought as the fight once again started, "Got you didn't I?", Asta smirked as he lowered his hands to a bit more of a free style karate stance, "As if", Ladro came in with a jab and feinted an uppercut, Asta bit on it though and boxed up to try and stop it, but ladros once again got into a clinch Asta over hooked his arms and pressed up against him, "The hell are you doing?" "Can't generate power if you're this close" "You can't either idiot", Asta smirked before he ducked down.

He slammed his shoulder into his face and jaw over and over again, doing it until Ladros let go and backed up,"You're good I hate to admit it", Ladros looked as Asta approached and began to once again hound on him with hand combinations, to stop him Ladros got over hooks of his own, but decided to spin their positions and push him off. Asta turned his aggression up once again and hit Ladros with an uppercut, Ladros head snapped back a little and he began to back up even faster, Asta saw an opportunity and came in with a one two

A clean elbow landed flush on Asta, but he didn't drop. His legs buckled and he began to fall backwards but stopped himself by using his left hand to post on, he also used it to push himself back up. Ladros rushed him catching Asta with a one two, gearing up for a head kick*BRRRRRRR*he couldn't finish it though, but ended the round with a lot of confidence, "Damn a little less close this time", Yami commented while he placed an ice pad on Asta's eye, "Tell me about it", he swished some bloodied water out of his mouth and into a bucket, "You figured out his clinch though, he can't pressure you as hard as he was before" "I know" "Then go in there and get him to respect your body work, you're saving the nasty power for upstairs shots and he sees it coming" "Alright", Asta nodded, "One more thing kid" "What's up?" "No matter how this fight ends I'm proud of you", he smiled holding out his fist, "Thanks", Asta met his fist bump and Yami watched him move back to the center,"You've come a long way....", Yami watched as Asta walked ahead to the center, "Asta"

Four years ago

Yami was working on a car in his newly owned shop, until he could hear his pupil call for him, "Yami", the kids call echoed in the garage, "What's up?", Yami pushed himself from under the car to see what he needed, "I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?", he sheepishly rubbed his arm, "So long as it doesn't get you or me killed, sure", Yami answered while he used a towel to rub grease off of himself, "Nice", Asta sighed, "You gonna tell me what it is?", Yami asked while he leaned on the counter next to the sink, "Oh uh yeah", he watched the kid rub the back of his neck before he rummaged through his back pack, pulling out a piece of paper, "Here", he held out the paper face down and Yami walked over to grab it, when he did his eyes read through the paper which was a flyer for some sort of underground fight ring, "Ok well I-", Yami was about to stop him, but, "Look I know, but I really want to do this", he pleaded with his coach, "I mean.....did you ask your mom?", Asta looked down which answered the question, "I...................Fine, but if your mom catches you don't tell her I did this, cause then she's gonna kill the both of us", Yami smiled before ruffling his hair, "SERIOUSLY?" "Yeah, now help out" "YES SIR"

Final round, the moment of truth Asta bounced up and down as he and Ladros made eye contact for what would likely be their last show down, "I have to hand it to you, I've torn threw a sloo of former top 10 fighters and even one guy who was a title challenger and you have been the toughest of them all", Ladros said this time meaning it, "Same for you", Asta held out his fist to which Ladros met it for a glove touch before the final round would begin. The round began and Ladros was the one to open up aggressively this time swinging a few hooks*Bang bang*Asta countered with a set of jabs to the body before he backed away*POW*Asta let a hard kick to the body rip as Ladros chased him causing him to hunch over for a split second and when he did Asta came in with a jab straight to the body, "No head shots?", Ladros thought it was weird as he began to go forward instead*Check*he attempted a low kick, but it was checked Asta opted to throw a front body kick go backwards, "He's trying to counter strike", Ladros pieced what he thought was his strategy was and decided to switch to a more volume approach*Bang bang* *Smack* *Pow*he landed a jab jab body cross low kick forcing Asta to iniate a clinch, "GOT YA"*BANG BANG BANG BANG*Asta ripped knees as hard as he could trying to wear down his core, "DAMN IT", Ladros felt the shots before ripping himself away, "Damn he's strong", Ladros thought it was the case when he managed to get control last round, but trying to rip himself away from him solidified that Asta chased him and Ladros threw an overhand to catch him on his way in*Crack*Asta stumbled, the punch throwing him off. Ladros jumped at the opportunity and began to barrage Asta with a few big shots, catching Asta with a left hook. It slacked him and Asta dropped his hands*Smack* *Crack*a lead hook over hand combo landed dropping Asta face first, "NO", Sol and Leo popped up together this time clinching their fists, "Damn it", Mimosa began to sweat a little, but again Yuno remained calm,"This can't be the end, can it?", he thought as he watched Asta staying on his face

"Do you remember?", Asta looked at him like he was stupid, "Remember what?" "When you said that you'll be a champion, do you remember?", Asta rolled his eyes at what he was saying, "Of course" "Then what are you doing?" "I don't know man I'm just.........I'm waiting" "Waiting for what?" "I don't know let's just drop it ok?", Asta gave him a look, as if to say he didn't or wasn't going to talk about it, "Alright", the two got out of the car and into the store

"7...8...-", Asta picked himself back up, his face bloodied by the barrage, "HE'S BACK UP", Leo yelled at the top of his lungs clearly bothering some of the other spectators, "I was right", Yuno smiled before closing his eyes, "Damn you're up again", Ladros laughed, "Shut up man", Asta said, the ref went up to him asking if he could continue, "Yeah" "How many fingers am I holding up?" "Three" "Now?" "Four" "Alright he's good", the ref signaled for the two to begin again. Ladros began to approach fast sensing a finish was near, Asta ran into him forcing him to get into a pocket fight,*Smack*one hook to the body*Smack*and another*Smack*and another, and they kept coming and every time Ladros tried to back up Asta would waste energy to catch up to him and stick like glue. Once he backed up again, he clipped Asta with a jab snapping his head back, Ladros stepped in, but got caught with a jab himself and he clinched to stop any other follow up shots *SMACK*a huge uppercut hit him right in the solar plexus*SMACK*a lead hook landed on his liver, "Ooo", he broke the clinch backed off. Asta took advantage of the range and threw a kick to the body*BANG*Ladros hunched over, instead of getting right back to it he stayed like that as he backed up*POOOW*Asta hit him in center of his stomach with a front kick*BANG SMACK*a body jab and straight landed forcing him against the ropes*POW*another front body kick*SMACK*a straight to the body*POW*another front kick popped his stomach and Ladros had to drop his hands to deal with it

"OOOOOOOOOO", the crowd roared watching Asta walk off after Ladros crumpled into a ball, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 HES DONE", "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", the crowd yelled collectively, "HE'S DONE IT", Leo and Sol screamed while constantly tapping Mimosa on her shoulder, "HA HA THERE IT IS", Jack laughed while watching Asta strut around the ring, "Hm guess you turned out a better fighter than I thought you could", Theresa tisked in annoyance knowing Yami wouldn't shut up about it, "He really did it", Sekke watched as Asta climbed onto one of the turnbuckles and scream into the crowd, "I knew that wasn't it", Yuno smiled before standing up to clap for his rival.

"THERE WE GO BABY", Lichita yelled along with many people in the house yelling with her, "ASTA ASTA ASTA", Magna Luck, Zenon, and Vanica chanted for him while Dante just smiled and watched the former troublemaker doing a loose arm walk around the ring, and Vanessa chuckled while watching him do the same.

"YES YES", Noelle and Nebra cheered watching Asta land the cross that ended the fight, "Guess Your friend is pretty good", Solid raised his eyebrows in surprise, "TOLD YAH", Noelle yelled in her brother's face watching Asta do a stupid walk around the ring.

"YESSSSSSSS", Mars screamed while bawling his fists, "Dude calm down", Mariella said with annoyed tone, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HE JUST FINISHED A WORLD CLASS GUY LIKE THAT AND YOU'RE ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN?", Mars responded, "C'mon Mari, Asta IS his rival", Fana tried to stop the two from arguing, "Yeah yeah", Mariella rolled her eyes before she pulled out her phone, knowing that the rest of the card was likely not going to be that great

"HE WON HE WON", Rebeccas brother cheered, he looked up to Asta the most and definitely spent the most time with him, "BECCA WHEN IS HE COMING OVER AGAIN", her little sister crawled onto her lap, Erika looked at Rebecca as if she was crazy, "You-" "Don't worry about it", Rebecca just shut the subject down immediately, "Whatever you say", Erika just put her hands up and kept watching

After Asta had done some celebrating a man entered the ring with a microphone, motioning Asta over, "I'm here with the winner Asta Staria, Asta how did this feel", he smiled and grabbed the mic, "AYE NUMBER 17 BABY HEHE", the crowd roared with him and he let go leaving the mic back into the interviewers' hands, "Yeah, that was an incredible finish, but there was some smack talk yesterday-" "HEY JUNIOR KEEP THAT BELT WARM FOR ME CAUSE I'M GETTING THERE IN NO TIME", Asta taunted while motioning to his waist for a belt, "Junior? Isn't he a light weight?" "ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANY WEIGHT, ANY TIME, I DON'T CARE ANY OF YOU GUYS CAN GET IT", Asta again grabbed the mic from his hands, getting a loud reaction from the crowd "Well we need to get going, but is there anyone you want to say hi to?" "HEY MOMMA LOOK AT ME", Asta yelled, "ALSO LITTLE MISS PIGTAILS SEE YA AT SCHOOL", he threw his arms up before pulling the wraps of his hands off. The crowd laughed at his closing statement finding the young man amusing.

"See mom?", Liebe shook his mother by her shoulders, "I know I know", she smiled as she watched her baby boy, now a young man flaunts to possible millions on national TV, for dream she once worried about. Above all though, it was nice to see that he had a future in it.

"That's me", Noelle fell over laughing, not thinking that Asta would actually do it, "Huh?", Nebra shook her head, "Nah it's just I talked to him last night, and he said that when he KO'd him, he'd shout me out or something", she giggled, "Oh yeah you posted something about a fight on your story", Solid tapped his chin, "I just thought it would be a nice way to get eyes on his fight for people who don't really watch fight sports", Noelle shrugged, Solid and Nebra just gave each other a weird look but decided too just leave it

"Little miss pigtails?", Rebecca chewed her finger nails a little trying to figure out if they knew anyone that wore pigtails, "Dude, are you serious? Didn't you two-", Erika was about to remind her, "I'm just wondering, is that so bad? Wondering if someone I cared about is doing well?", she put together a rather unconvincing explanation, "Ok well I'm just going to leave now, I'll see you......some time I guess", Erika grabbed her things, "Wait sorry just stay till the end?", she asked her, "Fine", Erika smiled before placing herself back onto the sofa, "Thank you and I promise I won't talk about it" "Thank you" "No problem", she never said she wouldn't think about it though,"Little miss pigtails?", she went back to thinking about it

Asta began to leave the ring, but this time there were people holding out their hands in the walk for him to high five, "Why not?", he shrugged, trying to meet as many high fives he could before making it backstage, "BEATIFUL", he was surprised by Conrad, who immediately came up to him and shook his hand, "Uh thanks?", Asta looked back at Yami who just shrugged, "No thank you, that was incredible I MEAN SIMPLY AN AMAZING FIGHT", Conrad shook his hand a few more times before letting go, Princia just smiled and watched the them talk, "Dude I just stopped, like a big hype train isn't that a little bit like....oof", Asta questioned more confused than when he started, "Not at all, this is a business based on ability and you just proved that yours are top notch", he just nodded his head before walking past him, "Hold on", Conrad stopped him one more time, "The main card is going to be soon, and I would like for you to stay and do a post event press conference", Conrad smiled, "Do I have to share the stage again?" "No, it's just you the media and that's about it" "Sure then", Asta shrugged. A night of hype and some interest in possible future opponents Patri had won by tko, Fana won on decision, Rhya won by decision, and Junior won by second round KO definitely the most impressive of the bunch. The time for the las press conference had arrived.

In the media room

Asta sat down at the table seeing a sea of people, "So I guess I just answer a few questions huh?", he laughed while looking at the people, "Asta right here" "Yeah" "You have had a crazy day huh?" "I would say" "So now that you've taken out the number 17th ranked fighter where would you be looking to fight next?", Asta held the mic and thought about it for a couple of seconds before answering, "I mean someone in the top 15 would make the most sense, yeah? If I can get a top 10 or even a top 5 that would be great, but I know how this works and I have to earn something like that more" "Thank you" "No problem", Asta looked around again trying to pick out another person to answer their question, "Staria right here", a guy in the middle of the room raised his hand, "Go on" "I mean first of all amazing fight, I heard you're winning fight of the night more than likely, what does that mean for you, y'know as a debut?" "Uhh yeah I mean it feels pretty damn good hehe, but I don't want to stop here I want to get fight of the night, performance of the night all that, I want to stack those achievements and hopefully someday Y'know that gets me a way to sign with glory, diamond ring, hell maybe I'll go to Clover Cage Fighting or to the UFC", Asta smiled and nodded his head, "Thank you for your time" "Sure", he scanned the room again before settling on a girl to the right front, "You" "Thank you, At yesterday's press conference you said you would like to face Rhya for the triumph MMA belt, you have plans to transition any time soon?" "I mean......yeah I want to transition when I get that kickboxing one so I for the time being he doesn't have to worry, but if his stand up stays the same he's gonna have a real hard time when we meet" "Ok", the press member got up and left getting his question answer. Asta looked around again, "Asta right to your left", another media member raised their hand, "Yeah?" "I don't know if you know this, but Noelle Silva the daughter of acclaimed kick boxer Acier Silva, actually shouted you out on Instagram care to comment on that?", Asta chuckled, "I didn't to be honest, I mean I talked to her last night and she really didn't mention anything like that, but I did say I'd shout her out as like a joke" "Would you care to expand on that?" "There isn't really much to expand on it was mostly just a joke, y'know cause of the pigtails? That's pretty much it though", he shrugged, "Thank you" "No problem" "Over here", a familiar voice sounded from the back, "Hey uh the person at the back could you come to the front please", he asked her, "Of course", the room watched as this lady slowly became more visible and to Asta's surprise it was a woman he had seen before, dark blue hair and bright blue eyes, "Lily right?", he asked with a confused smile, "Yeah yeah that was sort of my reaction when I saw you here too", she laughed, "Damn yeah uh go ahead" "So as you know I've known about you for a while now, and considering your record in the underground would you care to share how this compared?" "Ummm yeah this was way different, didn't let them cheat, more people watching, and obviously uh national television is way different than just like 50 people in a warehouse" "Thank you and I was also wondering if you would like to share your record?" "Sure umm I think I'm like 76 and 11 in the underground", the answer caused the many jaws to drop in surprise, "Also I remember that you said your mom hated it how did you get to this anyway and what does she think about it now", Asta laughed and nodded, "Dude she HATED it but I kept doing it cause I loved it, y'know? I mean as of right now she can't be too mad at it, cause of how it turned out", Lily nodded before asking another question, "Would you mind if I asked another question I know they said only like five" "Sure I can make room for one more" "I did an interview with you about a year ago and in it you said and I quote "I'll lose my mind doing this, y'know till I can get my mom in a castle, my girlfriend a ring for every finger, and when my grandkids grandkids get everything they could dream of, then I'll y'know be happy that I lost my mind" and when I asked "What if this doesn't work out?" "Then I'll die fighting, a crazy old man huh", considering where you are now just a year after can you tell me what this means to you now?", Asta could feel some tears begin to form in his eyes before he sniffed and wiped them away, "Yeah y'know I-I have put every single negative thing that I've ever felt into this losing people, break ups, or just feeling like sh*t, and for a long time I was wondering if it could or would pay off...ever and I really have to thank Clover Kingdom Academy for taking a chance on a trouble maker, idiot, short, all that so I'm really thankful for that, but as it is right now I'm great I have a clear path to do all that, sure some of it changed I am no longer in a relationship, uh just yeah I think I owe the opportunity to CKA and my mom, she gave up a lot to take care of me and my brother and I don't know if there is anything I could do to pay her back, but I'll do all that I can to do it" "Thank you and I hope to interview you someday when you've gone to glory or diamond ring, or just wherever you end up" "Thanks", Asta chuckled before getting up to leave

Lichita chuckled, but it was clear there were some tears beginning to form, "Hey hey look its fine mom, he's all good now and he just had an amazing debut, "No I know", Lichita shook her head, "OH momma", Vanessa hugged her from the back and smiled, "No I'm good I promise", she smiled, "Ok", Liebe left it and turned back to the tv to watch

"Seems like he did appreciate the shout out huh?", Solid laughed. But when he turned to look at her, Noelle clinched her fists and thought pretty hard about the question,"Your mom didn't like you fighting in the underground, what does she think about it now?", and while it was a good question, Asta's answer was far more prevalent in her mind,"Dude, she HATED it, but I loved it, y'know? I mean she can't be too mad now ", how could he do that? Just ignore his mom and her wishes, then again, he ignores the wishes of teachers, so I guess that's not too outlandish, "Your friend said he wasn't int a relationship anymore? So, like can I get his number", Noelle rolled her eyes once more, "Why do you want it so much?" "I don't leave the house nearly as often as Solid or Nozel, and I need something to do, plus I haven't been in a relationship since like junior year", her sister answered, "You're like 19 stop" "How old is your friend?" "He's.......I don't know actually", she tapped her chin with her index finger.

"Clover Kingdom Academy? He goes to same school as Kiato? Friends with Noelle? How come I haven't heard of any of this?", Rebecca felt her stomach turn into knots, it was weird, it hurt, it had changed in such a short amount of time that it was hard to grasp Four years just like that she thought before she sat back down- No even shorter than that, Kiato and her had begun seeing each other sometime in February,"I love you", Asta hoisted her into the air by her waist and nuzzled his face into her neck,"I love you too", but it felt wrong, not because she didn't but because at that point her and Kiato had been seeing each other for some time, the relationship ended a long time before their conversation a few months ago,"My girlfriend a ring for every finger and my grandkids grandkids could get all that they dream of", she placed her hands over her face, "I gave you up", the thought hurt, she traded a boy that truly loved her for some hick play boy,"Asta do you have a plan if this doesn't work out?" "No, but I promise it will" "See what I mean you don't have a plan for anything and no offense this dream might not go anywhere", that night was hard for her, but probably harder on Asta, "You ok?", Erika asked, "No.....no I am not."

"You ready to head back to the Hotel?", Yami asked as Asta walked down a set of stairs, "Please", Asta sighed since while he would never admit it, he was fully tired out by the day, "Nice everyone's back there, but you and I are going to pick up some pizza from around here", Yami pointed back with his thumb, "YES."

Later that night

Asta once again found himself on the balcony of the hotel room looking at the lights one more time before he would have to go back home, "What are you doing up so late?", he turned around to see his coach with a cigarette in his mouth, "Just enjoying the view before we leave tomorrow", Asta turned back to watch a bustling city, cars, lights, all of it, "Guess it's a good one", Yami joined him after he lit his smoke, "Did some good work while we've been here huh?", Yami chuckled, "Yeah", Asta followed in his laugh, "Hey Yami?" he looked over to his coach, "Yeah?" "Can I ask you something?" "Sure" "Did you ever think I'd get to something like this?", he asked, "mmm", Yami nodded, "I guess if you're talking about the first day we met", Asta braced for the answer, "I'd say no", Asta smiled getting his coaches attention, "What?" "Nothing....I just know what's coming next", Yami laughed knowing that he was right, "But you kept going, working harder than anyone I had ever met, and you made yourself that way. And I think that's way more valuable than being born with natural ability", Asta looked out at the lights again, "Thanks", Asta smiled, closing the fight days at least for now.

On the next episode of "You Clinched my heart"

Asta walked into the hall seeing many people staring at him, "HEY ASTA", Fragil ran up to him holding something, "Oh hey uh-" "Fragil" "Yeah sorry I'm not good with names" "It's fine I was just strutting around and y'know saw you coming so I knew I had to come talk to you before some others got to you, but before that I was gonna clarify that I watched the fight and saw some clips of you at the press conference which were pretty funny, side note congratulations on your win, enough about that though I was sending out some last minute invitations for my party took more time than I thought it would I mean there's just so many people-" "Uh huh look I have to go to the principal's office really soon so" "Sorry right", she stopped herself and handed him a piece of paper, "Just wanted you to know you're invited and you can bring some friends, see ya", Fragil waved. Asta just stared at the paper

AND

"What?", Charmy raised one of her brows sarcastically, "I just wanted to surprise my boyfriend is that so bad?", Noelle shrugged, "Sure, but now hear me out you could just tell him you're going and you two can go together", Charmy answered, "Whatever I'm sure he'll appreciate it", Noelle rolled her eyes as she approached her locker, "What the?", she moved her mouth to side seeing that a girl with a very long ponytail was talking to Asta