"Today, Alex is training with me," Asher announces. I nod. What will Ace and August do? Both Asher and I look at Ace, and he's already shaking his head.

"No way, I will not train him," Ace refuses.

"Who said anything about training?" Asher smirks. All three of us look at him, confused.

"YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT HIM?" August yells.

I don't know how it came to this, but Asher asked them to get inside the ring and stared blankly at them. I got it as soon as he asked them to enter the ring. But it took a good few minutes for those dumbheads to comprehend. Let me tell you, it was very hard not to laugh when all three stared blankly at each other.

Ace also looks at Asher, shocked. His lips curl upwards in a smirk once he fully comprehends what Asher wants them to do. He can finally land some hits on August. Ace has been waiting for this. Things are about to get interesting.

"Can I watch?" I ask eagerly. Asher looks at me, deciding if it is a good idea and finally nods. I jump up and down in excitement. Ace and August do warm-up exercises to loosen their muscles while glaring at each other.

"Have they fought each other before?" I question Asher.

"No. Not inside the ring, at least. They did fight each other for training. But not inside the ring," Oh, so this is going to be their first match inside the ring. I am getting pumped up. I want to see if August can evade Ace's special move. I wonder who is going to win.

"Before you fight, let's go over some rules. First off, no seriously hurting each other. I know you hate each other for reasons I don't know, so no attacks that could seriously harm the other person. Second, don't say things to agitate the other person," Asher concludes.

"Ok, and START,"

Ace and August circle each other, patiently waiting for a great chance to make the first move. In some cases making the first move can help you get the upper hand in a match. Despite Asher's warnings, August says something to Ace. Ace looks at me, clearly confused and taking this as a chance; August strikes first.

August punches his chin, and Ace staggers back in pain, but he quickly recovers and lifts his left leg in a roundhouse kick. August uses his right hand to block him, and in the blink of an eye, Ace lifts himself, twists his body and kicks August with his right leg. His special move.

"What the heck was that?" August questions, clearly surprised while holding his temple. Ace smirks but wastes no time in attacking again. He steps forward and lifts his leg to perform the roundhouse kick. August brings his hands up to block, but before Ace's leg makes contact, Ace uses his left hand and punches his stomach.

The feint attack.

August moves back, holding his stomach. I am pretty sure he forgot to tighten up his stomach, or else he would not be in this much pain. But if August did tighten his stomach and attacked, he would have the upper hand since Ace's leg was still in the air. Ace is crazy strong. When does he get the time to train?

"I have to ask you this, are you 'The Don'?" August questions.

"When you fought him, I was cheering you on, stupid," Ace states, laughing. August laughs along with him, and I smile, looking at them. It's just like old times.

"August, you need more training. I expected this outcome anyway since you just started training to evade the feint attacks," Asher shrugs.

"Continue fighting," He orders, "and Alex, come on, we need to train," I nod and follow him. I follow him to another room and see the wooden object karate kids use to train.

"Yes, it is called Mu ren Zhuang or the wooden dummy. It is to improve your reflexes. In most dummies, the arm doesn't spin, but it does in this one," Asher informs.

I move one of the arms, and two hit me from the other side. I wobble back in surprise. This will be hard, but I am up for the challenge.

"Start by slowly hitting one of the arms and try to evade the others that attack you. This is to train your arm to block the other person's attack, even if the first one is a feint. You must be able to depict where he will attack next and make your hands move in time," I nod in understanding.

"Train with this for one hour and then with me," I nod, and he leaves. I tape my hands and remove my tank top, leaving me in my sports bra. I do some light warm-up exercises.

"Alright, big dummy. It's just you and me now. Let's start," I stand in front of it and lightly hit one hand on the right, and I see two more coming to attack me on the left. I blocked it with my right hand, but I did it a bit too fast because the one I hit ended up hitting me in the head.

"Oww," I groan in pain.

"That's it, you are so going down," I train for the next hour, taking frequent breaks. I can block and attack at a slow pace, but if the speed increases, I get hit. It will take time, but I am going to master it. I have to train harder to win.

"Shall we?" Asher questions, coming inside the room.

"Are they still fighting?"

"No, they are surprisingly having a civil conversation. Later Ace has agreed to train August," Asher answers, smiling.

"What?" I ask in disbelief. What are they talking about? Is Ace talking to him without shouting or using his fists? He also agreed to train him? Now that is a surprise.

"I am familiar with most of your opponent's attacks since I know him personally. The feint attack he uses the most is 'The gravity'," Asher starts explaining, and I clear my head and focus only on him. I can ask Ace later.

"He will start by bending his knee, making it seem like he is aiming for the stomach. So when the defender uses his palms to stop the attack, he extends his leg so that his leg is now in between the other person's leg. Then he swipes, either to the left or the right, hard enough to make the person fall. Once the opponent is down, it's all over. He will give you one hard blow to the head, making you unconscious. Game over," Asher finishes.

"He also does it so fast, you won't have time to defend yourself," Asher explains.

"Ooh, I just got goosebumps," I shudder.

"Is there any way to avoid it?"

'Once you are down on the floor, ignoring the pain, you can roll over as soon as you can and stand up. But that is nearly impossible because you fall to the side with so much force. You hit your head pretty hard, rendering you unable to do anything,"

"So the only option is to practise against the move and defend yourself," I summarise.

"Pretty much,"

"Let's start," Asher and I practise for two hours, and I lie down as soon as we are done.

"This is too much hard work," I whine.

"It will be all worth it in the end," Asher beams, offering his hand. I take it and get up.

Asher and I come out of the room and see August pretty beat up. Looks like August also infiltrated some damage on Ace since both of them have ice packs on their body. They are both taking and laughing. I make my way toward them, and they both stop laughing.

"You hated him until this morning. What changed?" I question Ace.

"Stuff," Ace answers vaguely. I scrunch my face in confusion.

'Don't tell me since you punched him a few times, you are fine now," I ask in annoyance.

"Who is the one who wanted to forgive and forget? You pulled a prank and even left his favourite chocolate to compensate," Ace yells, standing up.

"Still, this seems too surreal. I thought you hated him so much for what he did to me," I yell back. I don't know why I am mad. Is it because I am not the one laughing and talking with August? Am I jealous? Or...

"I am right here," August intervenes.

"You stay out of this," Ace and I both command.

"Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous? Yes, I did say I want to forgive. But it still irritates me that you forgave him that easily,"

"It is my wish if I forgive him or not. You have no say in this," Ace shouts. I'd be lying if I said his words didn't hurt me.

"I am leaving," Ace states and walks out.

What happened during that hour?

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What do you think happened? Let me know what you think will happen next. Vote and leave a comment. Jesus loves you.

Love😍

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