"I want you to teach me how to fight."

Nayeon couldn't believe she was actually saying such a demand to someone of status like Chou Tzuyu. The wall of bravery she stacked up on slowly came tumbling down as quickly as the words came spewing from . Pressure from how intensely she gripped her hands slowly dissolved. A sense of feeling came back into her arms and blood began flowing again.

Tzuyu was stunned, to say the least, at Nayeon's outlandish request. The pair stood in place like the mannequins that were on display in the shop, facing each other. Their eyes locked on to one another's for the longest minute. While they were frozen on the spot, the business around them kept going and everything looked to be going at warp speed, the people resembling nothing but blurry blond of grey.

Clinging on to whatever was left of her affirmation with Sana's guiding words of wisdom, Tzuyu squeezed her fists tighter with every twitch her left eyebrow made. It was an indicator that was noticeable; a sign that she was at the tip of exploding.

"WHAT KIND OF ING ANIME EPISODE IS THIS?"

Even the noisiest corners of the shop could receive the outpour of rage that came from the tall girl. A few people talking on their phones took their eyes off from where they were going to look at Tzuyu with a questioning look of detest, shortly going back to their conversations right after. It's not that she was angry at Nayeon's demand, but in itself was so bizarre to hear, coming from her. From the top of her head, Tzuyu could think of ten things the girl would want from her and fighting lessons wouldn't even make it to the top fifty items.

"I'm serious."

Tilting her head to give a convincing sales pitch to Tzuyu, Nayeon had even decreased her voice to a lower tone to sound threatening. Yet, Tzuyu felt less imperiled than how Nayeon intended. She wasn't even the slightest persuaded, surveying the girl up at down with critical eyes.

"B-But why do you want...that?"

Tzuyu tried her damnest not to laugh as she said it, hugging her stomach tightly to shut herself up. Reminding herself that of what Sana told her. In the moments they had spent talking, she wasn't surprised to see the two girls not back, assuming that Sana not only picked shoes but several outfits and ran into Mina at the fitting room. She couldn't help but feel a bit of curiosity rise to the surface, wanting to know more of the cause of Nayeon's inane desire.

"To become stronger."
Nayeon stated as a matter of factly, unaware of the the impulsive tension around her hands. She was gritting them awfully hard, scared that she would lose this nerve she suddenly grew. Tzuyu took longer than expected to reply when Nayeon continued before long.
"Isn't it obvious?"

 

Tzuyu gave the girl an intense look, deciphering whether or not Nayeon was truly settled with her plea that was knowingly out of character. Until now, despite how firm Nayeon's eyebrows were scrunched and the flood blowing into her palms was beginning to slow down the harder she squeezed her palms, Tzuyu wasn't fully swayed over. She thought that her aspiration wasn't enough for her to help her, or the idea of helping her rival didn't appeal to her. Did she want something out of this? Satisfaction that she didn't need to feel indebt to someone who was lower than her? Not looking like a terrible person in Sana's eyes?

Tzuyu had to think through with it, in spite of that; there wasn't much she had to think about. She did say that she would do anything in Nayeon's favor, no matter the size. Tzuyu would do that for her and could do it at the strike of her hand. They both know she had that capability to do so. Nayeon didn't have the connections herself to do such things but her parents did. Let alone, it was difficult to use that kind of power with them around. Still, she's never used it for her personal gain.

Remarkably, something not mocking came out of Tzuyu's mouth instead, in response to Nayeon's question earlier.

"Just didn't expect you to be a person of that sort."

She gave a casual shrug after, to complement her callous demeanor that was still in vicinity.

Nayeon was quick to retaliate, careful to choose her words but spitting them out so boldly yet haphazardly.

"You don't really know me, to begin with."

She took it as a chance to try her own nonchalant shrug, but she didn't feel like that attitude was for her. She mentally kept a note to rather leave that up to Tzuyu.

Taken back by her cheeky step, Tzuyu scoffed humorously. She didn't know whether to like Nayeon's fresh posture, thinking that the shorter girl was toughening up to her. Not that Tzuyu would pick a public place to start a fight.

She lowered her head, closing her eyes to let out a muffled whirr. She couldn't believe she was going to say it. Lighting her head up, the taller girl stuffed her palms into her jean pockets, letting them go limp.

"How's about I start to on our first session?"

Nayeon couldn't accept Tzuyu's words to be truthful, at first. Needing to readjust her hearing just to be sure she caught that right. She tried to relieve herself with a sigh of acceptance but it came out like a partial croak.

Tzuyu could see the stunned expression on Nayeon's face, which was more than understandable. The taller girl couldn't even grasp what she had said either.

"Chou's Fitness Centre. Come after school. Tomorrow. I'll be there."

The entire time, the pair stood at a distance from each other, only about ten feet away. The gap was quickly closed when Tzuyu stepped forward to present to Nayeon her card. Nayeon flinched at the quick inhale of her perfume, bracing herself for any sudden punches. But it never came. Tzuyu placed the card in Nayeon's hands without another word.

Nayeon was hasty to examine the pass, confused when her fingers glided across over what she thought were bumps. She became speechless when she figured what those were.

"Braille?"

Tzuyu nodded then automatically smacked her forehead when she realized Nayeon couldn't see her bodily gesture. She replied with an indifferent "yeah," like it wasn't the most exciting piece of information in the world. But to Nayeon it obviously meant a lot.

"My dad thought it would be sensible to have that addition since, ya know, he's close with yours..and stuff."

The offhand tone was still present. Her moods were pretty fast to switch up.

Smiling down at the card as her thumb smoothened out the bumps to read its contents. It even had that new card smell. Nayeon appreciated every bit of it.

Chou's Fitness Centre. Choosing to become a better you for you. Open 24 hours.

The address and contact info were situated on the bottom right of the card.

As Nayeon continued to happily scrutinize the business card like it was a shiny plaything, Tzuyu did an observation of her own. She had taken a few steps back to make her own verdict of Nayeon's stance. If anyone was dumb enough to think Nayeon couldn't pack a punch just because she was blind, then they would have another thing coming. Tzuyu knew she had the potential to become stronger; not as strong as her though, but the right amount to where she could defend herself.

Nayeon was more than willing to accept Tzuyu's proposition, inept to conceal her over-enthusiasm with the dopey smile still glued to her face.  She tried her best not to show her excitement which clearly failed, not being a person of many secrets. Tzuyu was yet to understand the reason behind the girl's concrete determination.

Right on the dock, Sana and Mina emerged from the changing room after having another one of their usual loquacious chats. Tzuyu and Nayeon didn't think they talked for that long, witnessing the two girls approach them. Swiftly, Nayeon tucked the card in her back pocket, reminding herself to tell Mina all about it later. An instant ripple of relief went through Tzuyu when her beautiful girlfriend came into view with her other best friend.

Seeing Nayeon brought back an old thought of Sana's; she was saving teasing Mina for later. A little bit of mischief didn't hurt anybody. Sana drove her elbow into Mina's side. The other girl didn't have to think twice to know what Sana was mentioning. Her cheeks instinctively flared up at the sight of Nayeon's side profile. She caught herself acting up and mentally smacked herself, hitting Sana with her shoulder, whining quietly. Looking at Mina get flustered without Nayeon having to do anything made Sana snicker joyously, loving that she could friend over a simple crush.

"Hey, Nayeon."
Sana greeted, cheerful as ever, returning to Tzuyu's side with a pile of clothes she was going to buy wrapped around her arm.

"Oh, hey Sana."

Nayeon wasn't exactly surprised to know the couple came to the mall together, for whatever reason. It was only infrequent for them to run into each other outside of school. Mina bumped into Nayeon to let her know that she was right next to her. Nayeon looked up into her direction and smiled. Mina's cheeks began to heat up as she looked anywhere but Nayeon's face. Sana chuckled at the small interaction. Tzuyu looked at her girlfriend for a second to understand what she was giggling about, seeing her gaze was at the two. She quickly caught on and let out an amused sigh through her nostrils.

The two pairs went their separate ways after Sana and Mina paid for their things, leaving Tzuyu and Nayeon occupied in a vague space of their own.

When the couple arrived home, Tzuyu was immediately updated with who had vandalized her cars. She took it upon herself to watch the footage and was appalled at the two people that showed up. The tiny veins that took shelter in her neck and have been perpetually popping in and out during her bursts of fitting rage, made a comeback as she stared deadpanned at the screen. Tzuyu knew the two were more than acquaintances but didn't envisage them to be that close.

"Why is it all of a sudden that two of the poeple who are closest to me are somehow socializing with two of the supposed people I hate the most?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tzuyu asked the killing silence in the room, removing her body from the desk to pace back and forth. Two of the guards stood in the corner, watching and anticipating the right moments of when to answer her suitably. Sana sat down on the rolling chair, sipping on her bubble tea as she waited for Tzuyu's next action. It's been long day for everyone, the morning seemingly to extend even longer.

















 

The ringing of the lunch bell snapped Tzuyu out of her immense train of thought. She's never had to think something over this intensely before, or even have second guesses over her actions. But today wouldn't be a normal one for the tall girl. She was going to venture off into a darker area of her comfort zone, somewhere that crowds she didn't belong in would make contact with her. This external range isn't something she's going to like because of her unfamiliarity with new relations.

On their way to the cafeteria, Sana stopped for a restroom break. Tzuyu waited by the doors or her, leaning against the lockers while she went on her phone. A handful of freshmen had conducted their own search party for Tzuyu. There were three guys and one girl. Their business with her was critical, according to them. They've been scavenging just about every region of the school. And when they finally found Tzuyu standing there by herself, they were more than thrilled that they nearly peed themselves. A few whispers to shut up and hitting each other several times to keep their cool passed before the four walked up to Tzuyu, not acknowledging her small fan base.

She lifted her head when one of the bigger kids pushed the shorter one. He was a stuttering and sweating mess as he opened his mouth.

"Heyyy, Tzuyu. Uhh..my name's Davis. B-big fan."

He swatted his hand up to wave, sweat falling to the floor briskly. When no other words could come out, he turned around to see the rest of his friends egging him to go on to say what they originally planned. He was shaking with fear, from his head to his toes, hindering to follow through with it.

Tzuyu didn't get a word out before the boy yelled in a single breath.

"SO YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH THE BLIND GIRL NOW, RIGHT?"

The only words that registered in Tzuyu's head were: friends? blind girl?

Like a ticking impulse, the veins in her neck popped out without invitation. Davis jumped back at the sudden protrusion, completely afraid now. Even his friends behind him slowly stepped away, thinking that Tzuyu was about to wipe the floor with them when she pushed herself from the lockers so quickly.

"What did you say?"

She didn't need them to repeat it since she heard them perfectly. Tzuyu wanted to see if he dared to say it again for confirmation. Davis gulped nervously, feeling like he just swallowed his tongue along with any courage he had left.

"We saw you with Sana and Mina and that blind girl at the mall yesterday. So that makes you two friends now, huh?"

These pathetic freshmen wished to be friends with Tzuyu, for her to even know of their existence. They were willing to be her stepping stool if it meant that they could be by her side. They were drooling over the desirable thought whilst clenching in terror.

Rather than bashing each one of their faces into the floor, Tzuyu released her fists and took a few deep breaths. She lowered her head and huffed exhaustively. How many times has she gotten mad to the point of murder this entire week? She didn't keep count.

"After school. The field. Behind the bleachers. Bring her to me. Then you'll get your answer."

The freshmen were given no reaction time since Sana came out of the restroom with a baffled look as soon as she saw the trembling teens in front of Tzuyu, who looked entirely calm by then. The taller girl gave her girlfriend a flashy smile before turning to the tiny group of freshmen, still shaking to their toes. Sana had never seen them before and only added to her confusion. She walked over to Tzuyu and raised an eyebrow, ready to question her.

"H—"

"You go on ahead. I'll just grab a quick bite later."

Sana was hesitant, sticking her feet to the ground. She wasn't going anywhere until Tzuyu gave her a proper answer.

"Coach called saying he needed to talk to me."
Tzuyu continued once she saw the Sana's wandering eyes at the group.
"Oh these guys are my little 'fan base'."
She air-q