Rhian's feet dragged along the ground as he slid back from Nia's shoulder strike. His arms were sore, his breathing sharp, but his eyes stayed locked on her.
She didn't slow down.
The moment he steadied himself, she was already there, closing the distance like it was nothing.
Her fist came fast.
Rhian didn't have time to dodge cleanly, so he twisted his body, letting the blow catch his side instead of dead center. The impact rattled through his ribs, but he used the momentum.
His feet kicked the ground, and he pushed back in, his body leaning forward low like a hunter going for a vital spot.
His fist swung wide.
It caught her across the stomach, hard.
Enough force to stagger a normal person.
But Nia grinned wider.
"Better."
Without hesitation, she grabbed him.
Her arms wrapped around his body like steel bands, locking him in place. It wasn't a fancy hold. It was raw, crushing strength. Rhian felt like his spine was being compressed.
Her grip didn't feel like a person's.
It felt like a machine clamping down on him.
'If I try to outpower her here, I'm dead.'
He didn't waste time struggling in a straight line.
His hand shot down, grabbing the edge of her waistband. With a sharp pull and push of his body, he shifted their balance awkwardly. Not enough to throw her fully, but enough to loosen that perfect grip for a second.
That second was all he needed.
He forced his knee up sharply into her thigh, an ugly move, but effective.
Nia's grip loosened slightly.
Rhian pushed out of her arms, rolling along the ground to get distance.
But the moment he turned, a fist was already chasing him.
It caught his shoulder, spinning him sideways like a ragdoll.
His back crashed into the wall hard.
Dust kicked up.
Pain flared down his spine, but his body, stronger now, refused to crumble.
Rhian spat to the side, shaking the pain off his neck.
He exploded forward, sprinting straight at her.
His fist came swinging like a hammer, aiming right for her guard.
Nia blocked it, but Rhian didn't care.
He used the block like a foothold, twisting his weight and slamming his foot down against hers, locking her in place for just a blink.
Then his other fist crashed straight into her ribs again, harder than before.
He could feel it, his strength wasn't on her level, but if he put everything into his hits, if he got creative, he could force her to feel it.
Nia's eyes sharpened.
For the first time, she stepped back on her own.
Like she had just found a new game.
"Good," she said with a low grin. "That's more like it."
Rhian didn't smile back.
She stepped in again.
Rhian met her head-on.
This fight wasn't clean.
This wasn't about perfect moves or technique.
It was about grit.
About finding cracks in someone stronger than you.
And Rhian at the moment was all about crack.
Rhian's feet moved on their own, slipping past Nia's fist that cut through the air right where his head had been.
His body ached everywhere, his arms were numb from blocking, and his ribs throbbed from every hit he couldn't avoid, but none of it mattered.
He pushed in again, swinging with everything he had.
Their fight had stopped feeling like a sparring match a long time ago. Whatever, Mr. Callor said in the beginning felt like distant background noise now.
They weren't classmates trading light punches anymore. This was a real fight.
And Rhian, somewhere deep down, realized something strange about himself.
He liked it.
There was a rush in this.
The sharp pain in his arms, the way his heart hammered in his chest, the narrow escapes, the brief moments where his fist landed right where he wanted, it felt real.
It felt raw. He didn't need to think about anything else here. No worries, no overthinking, just action.
His lip curled slightly.
He was smiling.
Even Nia noticed.
Her grin stretched wider as she caught his fist mid-swing, her grip closing around his wrist like an iron clamp.
She pulled him forward, their faces only inches apart, Rhian could smell her pleasant scent.
"You're smiling," she said like it amused her.
Rhian responded the only way he could think of.
He drove his forehead straight into hers.
The impact rang out, not pretty, not technical, but enough to loosen her grip.
He ducked low, sweeping his leg toward hers, but she jumped back light on her feet despite her build.
Her hand shot forward again like a hammer, catching his ribs, pushing him sideways.
His body slammed against the floor, air rushing out of his lungs, but he gritted his teeth and rolled back to his feet without hesitation.
Every step forward felt heavier, but his body refused to stay down.
His instincts guided him, sharper than ever. His vision adjusted. Even with her speed and power, he could read the small tells, the slight movement of her shoulder before she threw a punch, the shift in her legs before she charged.
Predator Instinct.
Ragnarok Physique.
All of it was working together, not exactly like a pro, but enough to keep him alive against someone like her.
Rhian rushed in again.
His fist swung for her ribs.
She blocked.
But this time, he let her.
Because the moment she committed to the block, he turned, using the weight of their clash to drive his elbow up toward her chin.
She tilted back, avoiding the worst of it, but he caught her jaw enough to make her head snap lightly.
She came back laughing under her breath.
"You fight dirty, i was avoiding hitting your face."
Rhian didn't deny it.
He wasn't pretty.
And as they kept trading blows, moving across the floor, locking up, breaking apart, crashing into walls, and forcing each other back over and over, both of them realized something without saying it.
Neither of them wanted to stop.
"STOPP!!"