Muscle Memory

All Valley (13)

"Junbi!" Johnny shouts and all the students' arms go from being crossed over their chests to their sides. "Bow." Johnny and Anastasia bow to their students as they bow back. "Fighting positions." The students quickly drop into their fighting positions as Johnny and Anastasia begin to walk around inspecting them.

Anastasia glances up from where she was gently correcting on boy's stance to see Johnny kick Hawk's leg forwards a bit, "Stabilize your base, Hawk." He drops into his own fighting position for example, "Keep your balance." Johnny slowly punches the air in front of him, keeping his fist there, "Full rotation when you strike."

"Yes, Sensei. Hai!" Hawk punches the air in front of him experimentally.

Anastasia shakes her head, blushing a bit when she realized she'd stopped mid explanation and had been watching Johnny instead.

Johnny turns a bit, and 'Virgin,' as everyone had taken to calling the boy that was small and had made Johnny feel like a virgin on his first day, flinched. Johnny pauses, "Did you just flinch, Virgin?"

He walks a little behind Virgin and lunges a bit at the guy behind him, who flinches violently. Johnny's eyes widen as he looks around, "Holy shit. We got a room full of flinchers."

"Yes, Sensei!" The class agrees.

"That was not a question!" He shouts. "Raise your hand if you've never been punched in the face."

Everyone except himself, Anastasia, Miguel, and Aisha raise their hands.

"Put your hands down," Johnny instructs as he begins to walk to the front of the class, Anastasia slowly walking around the perimeter of the room to join him. "All your lives, you've been avoiding fights, so you don't break your nose, or lose a tooth. This concussion nonsense. So, there's only one solution, and that is before you leave this dojo, each and every one of you is gonna take a punch, very hard, to the face." He turns to Anastasia as she comes to stand on his right, "Sensei McMaster, line 'em up." Johnny glances at the class, "Unflinch this group."

Anastasia looks a bit hesitant, but murmurs, "Yes, Sensei Lawrence." She watches nervously as he walks into his office before moving over to stand in front of Virgin, cracking her knuckles loudly. The brunette drops into her fighting stance, an apologetic expression on her face, "Sorry."

Virgin just sighs, and Anastasia quickly and precisely jabs him in the nose.

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"$450 for nunchucks," Johnny scoffs, flipping through a magazine as he takes a sip of his beer. "What a rip."

"Next!" he can hear Anastasia instruct from the main room.

He turns the page, and perks up when he sees that it's an advertisement for this years' All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship.

"Ai!" Anastasia shouts in the next room before another boy grunts. "Ai!" and another grunt.

Miguel walks nervously into the office, "Hey, Sensei, I need to ask you something."

"First aid's under the counter," Johnny tells him, gesturing with the magazine. "We got a bleeder?"

Miguel shakes his head, "No." Then, there's a grunt. "Well, yeah, we do. There's a lot of blood, but this is about something else."

"Come on! Next!" Anastasia demands in the main room.

"What is it?" Johnny questions.

"Well, there's this girl at school..."

"Is she hot?"