"I am going to die," I exclaim and lie down.

"Me too," August agrees with me.

"It has only been five minutes," Ace deadpans.

"But the workout is so hard," I groan.

"You came up with it," Ace shakes his head in disbelief.

"I KNOW,"

"It was your idea to do this routine to fasten your reflex. So, you can both attack and defend, which is a brilliant idea," Asher comes in, carrying two water bottles.

"If I knew it was going to be this hard, I wouldn't have suggested it," I mumble, taking the bottle from Asher.

"Defending a feint with a feint is a brilliant idea. Imagine, the whole arena will be shouting your name if you win," Ace exclaims.

"AHEM. I am right here," August intervenes. Ace pays him no heed and continues encouraging me. It really would be great if I could defeat him. But I must defeat August first.

"Tell me why we are doing this again? He is basically my opponent in the ring. Yet here I am training and sharing my strategy with him," I say, pointing at August, and he shrugs, smiling evilly at me.

"It is good practice for both of you. Let us see who is the strong one when you both don't have any tricks up your sleeve," Asher responds.

"It would be impressive if I did win like that," I smile.

"Ok. Enough chit chats. Back to training,"

"Ugh," August and I both groan and get up.

"Remember, when he lifts his right hand to hit you, assuming it is a feint attack, there are three options,

1) He can use his left hand to punch your right side instead.

2) He can use either of his legs or his left hand to hit your stomach or,

3) He can use his legs to make you go off-balance by hitting your knee or swiping you off your feet,"

"Whenever you see an attack coming, always tighten up your stomach. Even if you are not fast enough to stop the attack, that will reduce the impact," Asher finishes.

"When he uses his left hand instead, the options are the same with the opposite hand. Now, if he punches your stomach, act like you are in pain and using your legs, swipe his feet and make him fall," Asher finishes.

"Asher will feint an attack, then implement one of the three options. It is your job to accurately read his body movement and try to evade the attack," Ace instructs.

"It is so hard. Asher is so fast. We are not able to see his attacks," I groan.

"That is why we are training," August comments. I glare at him.

"I will be training you individually. Alex, go with Ace," I nod, and Ace and I head to the other side of the gym so we can practice freely.

"There are times where he does not fake an attack. I will train you to be aware of both feint attacks and the actual one, while Asher will only be concentrating on the feint attacks," Ace instructs. I nod and jump a little to loosen the muscles.

"Bring it,"

Ace lifts his left leg to roundhouse kick me. I use my right hand to block it while simultaneously taking a step backwards, so if it is a feint attack, his actual attack won't land on me. He realizes this and stops.

"Good," He nods in amusement.

Before I could react, he lifts his left leg again to kick. I use my right hand to block, and before I take a step backwards, he bends his right knee and gives it a little push, suspending himself in the air. He then twists his body 180 degrees and kicks me sharply on my right temple with his right leg.

I fly to my left and hit the ground with a loud thud. I sit up and hold my head.

"I regret calling you not strong enough. That was one amazing kick," I groan.

"It's his speciality," Asher informs with a proud smile. He takes a seat in front of me and checks my head. I wince when he touches my right temple. It is definitely going to leave a bruise.

"Go easy on her, Ace. This is only her first training session," Asher says.

"The Don is not going to go easy on her," He shrugs with an innocent smile. I stand up and don't feel any dizziness. Great, I can still train.

"Let's go," I command and Ace nods.

"Please. I can't fight August after this. My body is so sore. Ace's attacks landed on me 17 times. I only evaded three. I am pretty much dead," I exclaim, panting.

"You guys need a lot of practice," Asher says, pitying our poor state. I look at August, and he is pretty much dead too. Asher is way stronger than Ace. Poor boy, I wonder if he can wake up tomorrow.

"Come here after lunch. Finish all your schoolwork before that. You will be practising till evening. You won't have any strength in your body after that," Asher informs.

We do some cool-down exercises and leave the gym, biding the brother's goodnight. I lie down in the back seat, and Ace drives me home.

"See you tomorrow," I wave Ace goodbye and go inside.

"I am home," I announce.

"In the kitchen,"

I remove my shoes and head toward the kitchen. My dad is sitting at the counter talking to mom while she cooks.

"Mhmm, I smell cheese,"

"Yeah, we are making your favourite. Macaroni and cheese with sausages," Mom grins.

"How was training?" Dad questions.

"I regret calling Ace weak," I whine.

"Honey, just because he does not participate in tournaments does not make him weak," My dad laughs.

"I know," Yes, my parents know about it, and they are really supportive too. Only one rule, stay alive. I know, they are amazing.

"Your head," Mom exclaims when she sees my already forming bruise.

"It's alright, I will ice it," Dad hands me an ice pack.

"He did this amazing...." That is how I spent the rest of the night, eating my favourite food and telling them about my day.

"Here, ice again before you go to sleep," Mom says, handing me an ice pack. I gladly accept and wish them goodnight before heading to my room.

I take a long shower and plop down on my bed, fresh and clean. I ice the bruise while reading my new mafia romance book.

After some time, I switch off the light and lie down.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

_______________________

Are the fight scenes and training actually understandable? It is all in my head and I do my best to put it into words. Each and every move they make plays clearly IN my head, but I can't put it into words. Sorry about that you guys. Vote and leave a comment. Jesus loves you.

Love 😍

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