Chapter 25: For Her


    -ke-


    "Again."


    Hit.


    "Again."


    Hit.


    "Last one."


    A huge crash echoed the training room as I finished boxing practice with Xavier. I let out a breath and


    finally got to rx my stance, taking off the gloves on my hands. I was finally getting used to the regime


    that Xavier had created for me. My breath was more stable at the end and my stamina had built up a lot


    now.


    "Want some water?" Xavier offered, going into the mini-fridge.


    I nodded and thanked him once I caught the bottle he threw at me.


    I had been spending a lot more time here training ever since the incident with Dominic urred. I was


    determined to be able to protect her better but not only that, if we were to have a family in the future


    then I''d want to protect them as well. Although, at the moment, I don''t think Dominic wants to go


    through that anymore.


    "You have to stop fighting with anger." Xavier suddenly says, leaning against his desk. I looked back at


    him a little confused which made him carry on exining. "I know you''ve been through rough patches


    hadn''t realised I made it so obvious.Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    I tried looking back at Xavier''s expression to see him looking at me with understanding but he was as


    stern as always. "Fighting angry will distract you and blind you from being able to read people''s


    movements properly."


    "You speak as if it''s from experience," I say and he scoffs.


    "There''s nothing for me to be angry about, I''m one of the most feared fighters in history!" I rolled my


    eyes at his pride but his eyes then stopped gleaming and he looked away with a straight face for a


    moment. "But," he continues, "The only time I did let my anger out on the ring was when Dominic was


    defeated."


    His face held a look of annoyance now and even I felt tense. "That prick. Theck of respect he had


    and the way he treated Dominic was infuriating. I gave him a good punch to the face but he was


    looking for a fight." I watched him hold his fist, possibly trying to calm down.


    "Why don''t you give him one? It''s not like he''s not around."


    "Because I can''t look at his face without boiling with rage and if we were to fight, I''d be more focused


    on trying to smash his head in rather than looking at what he''s going to hit me with." He suddenly


    started walking up to me and then put a hand on my shoulder, grip hard enough to threaten to break it.


    "That''s why you''re going to do it instead."


    My eyes widened at his words. "What?" I asked, almost breathless.


    "I''ve watched the guy fight for years now and taught you in confidence that you can be the one to fuck


    him up."


    For some reason when he said that, I felt motivated. I could feel my blood pumping around that little bit


    faster. I was excited.


    "So, Beast, are you in?"


    His eyes were gleaming again, a smirk stered on his face and I couldn''t help but reflect that.


    "I''m in."


    We fist-bumped each other and he walked towards his desk again, taking out a clip-bored and sliding it


    against the table for me to see. I walked towards it and looked at a list of names, all of which were


    street fighters.


    "Then it''s time to sign up for a fight."


    ---


    -Dominic-


    I''ve been away from home for a while. The face-offs were in a month and that''s usually the busiest time


    for us so I''ve been all around the state at each of my locations making sure everything was going as


    nned and we were still striving. It had been difficult for a while but we were starting to boom again,


    meaning that I could rest assured for a little while longer.


    When I did get back home and to Xavier''s branch though, I stood by the entrance in surprise. This


    branch was usually the slowest in terms of business at night, mostly because of the King, so seeing a


    whole line to the entrance was quite surprising.


    The only reason I was here was that I knew ke had been spending more time here recently and so I


    wanted to go home with him tonight. Plus, I needed to check on updates with Xavier, now more than


    ever.


    I walked towards the back entrance, the guard ncing at me and letting me inside without hesitance


    and inside it seemed more packed than it was outside and for the first time in a long time, the room was


    filled with noise.


    My ears perked in excitement at the cheers that would be enough to deafen you. My heart starts


    racing. As I walk around a grin settles on my face, seeing so many fighters and spectators, here again,


    brought me back to my past and the days I loved so much.


    "BEAST! BEAST! BEAST! BEAST!"


    People chanted repeatedly, and although this wasn''t a street fighter name I knew, something about it


    felt familiar. It was then when I finally turned to the ring and saw him.


    His stance was strong and determined, fists colliding with his opponents face, breaking their jaw but he


    doesn''t stop. Instead, he wastes no time in swinging around and kicking his foot against the guy''s rib,


    giving him no time to recover or hit him back.


    "ke,"


    His name softly left my lips. He had left me in awe.


    I then suddenly felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. I knew who it was already, "Impressive, isn''t it?"


    Xavier asked and I nodded positively, unable to rip my eyes away from the fight in front of me. "I wasn''t


    sure about him at first, but Demon, I think I''ve learnt to trust in your judgement. ke is a really good


    guy, but also," He leaned in close to my ear and finished, "A really good fighter."


    When he said that I turned to face him but he pulled away from me and started walking towards the


    ring where ke had made his finishing blow. It made my attention focus on him again as well as


    Xavier''s voice announcing,


    "AND THE WINNER IS THE BEAST!"


    ke put a fist in the air in celebration, taking in the cheers of the crowd and as his eyes scanned


    around, they finally met my own and I was struck. His grin faltered for a moment but then I raised my


    own arm to match his own, grinning from ear to ear myself through the tears that threatened to fall.


    When he saw this, his happy expression was ced back onto his face and he continued to celebrate.


    I walked towards Xavier''s office/training room after that, still able to hear the cheering going on outside


    but that didn''t bother me. Not long passed when Xavier and ke both walked into the room as well,


    both of themughing and happy. It pulled the strings of my heart a bit because it reminded me exactly


    of how Xavier and I would end our night of fighting, how we''de in exhausted but all the more


    proud. I missed it.


    When ke saw me he ran towards me for a hug which I indulged in with open arms. As much as I


    missed it, this was ke''s moment now and I couldn''t be any prouder for him. "You''re going to get


    blood on me, let go," Iughed when he wouldn''t stop.


    "I don''t care," he says, and I could feel his smirk against my skin. He thenes in for a strong kiss, an


    electric feeling surging within me when he does until I begin to taste something warm and metallic in


    my mouth.


    I pull away from him, chuckling but pretend to be in disgust, "Now I''ve got your blood in my mouth!" I


    exim but the taste was one I was all too familiar with. It shes in my head, the number of times I''ve


    had holes in my cheeks, bleeding gums, ripped lips.


    ke spins me around and holds me from behind whilst saying, "And you love it." To which I roll my


    eyes but don''tin and instead hold a smile.


    I expect Xavier to make a sarcasticment towards us like he usually does, tell us to ''calm down'' or


    ''save it for when we get our own room'' but he doesn''t and when I look at him, he''s holding a smile of


    his own, warmth in his expression.


    "What''s his training schedule?" I ask and Xavier takes out a sheet of paper, passing it to me.


    "You might recognise it," he says as I read over it to see it was pretty simr to mine a long time ago


    but it wasn''t as intense. Plus ke didn''t have to be educated in between the training so I assumed it


    would be a bit easier. Regardless, looking at it, it made sense as to how ke was able to be so


    strong in such a short amount of time.


    From behind me, I feel ke let out a sigh before saying, "I''m going to enter the face-offs, D," I look up


    at him, unsure for a moment but decided that it wasn''t my ce to take something like this away from


    him. I know the feeling of wanting to fight, to win, topete. I nodded positively at him with a small


    smile. "That means I''ll be going against King," he continues.


    The name made me freeze. I start to remember how I was beaten, sliced at, how my identity was


    ripped from me. For a second I feared for ke. I didn''t want to see him go through the same thing I


    did. I didn''t want him to be in pain like I was or want to give all this up after just finding it.


    But when I looked into his eyes, I saw dedication. It was as if he was begging me to let him do


    this...and I couldn''t say no. "Okay," I say which makes him grin down at me, giving my cheek a kiss


    before pulling away from me.


    I looked back down at his schedule in my hands and couldn''t help but furrow my eyebrows, especially


    after learning that ke will bepeting. "There''s something missing isn''t there?" Xavier seemed to


    notice my expression so I sighed and exined.


    "You''ve put a heavy focus on boxing which is usually the right way to go, but against King, I''d


    rmend kick-boxing to be your priority. The techniques he uses are centred around the krav maga


    martial arts which emphasise the use of your arms. It was developed for the Israel Defense Forces and


    Israeli security forces so it was no wonder it caught me off guard. Aside from kickboxing, taekwondo


    would be your best bet."


    As I say this I look up to find Xavier giving me a half proud half mischievous look. I raised an eyebrow


    at him which prompted him to say what he was thinking. "Then you better start training him."


    "What?"


    He walks closer to until his face was close to mine. He must have realised by now that intimidating me


    with height was going to work but by closing in on distance, especially with how close he was now, I


    started to tense and he could see that. "You''re the only one who has experience fighting King and I


    know you''ve been analysing every second of you guys'' fight because you regret letting such a sick fuck


    get the best of you like that." I sucked in a breath, knowing he was right.


    For days and weeks after our fight, I used recordings to go over our movements, to look into his


    techniques, to figure out how he was fighting, how I could have avoided it, how I could have won.


    Despite that though, it just emphasised how much I didn''t.


    "Train ke to be the fighter you couldn''t be that night."


    I looked back at ke, he was watching us intently. I didn''t know how much of this they had nned or


    for how long but he seemed just as shocked about me training him as I was. Yet, I knew that only I


    could have ke win the fight in a months time.


    With that decision, I nod back at Xavier,


    "Let''s do it."