𝕮𝖆𝖗𝖕𝖊 𝕹𝖔𝖈𝖙𝖚𝖒 - ʀᴏʙʙʏ ᴋᴇᴇɴᴇ

𝟙𝟜

"Listen up, nerds," Sensei Lawrence began to the circle of Eagle Fangs as the door to their training facility swung open. "Today's going to be a world of pain."

Devon stepped through the entrance confidently as the blond man moved to meet her, staring directly through her soul as he shouted at everyone to fall in. Julian caught the new girl's eye and gave her a thumbs up as the group began lining up.

"We have a new member joining us today; this is Devon Lee. She or Lexi will be our female champion for the tournament." The girls exchanged a smile.

"Hi. My pronouns are she/her."

Julian bit back a smile at the small sentence. Even a simple thing as telling a group what pronouns you wanted to be referred by instantly made him feel safer and nonisolated. It made him feel safe, knowing some supported his community.

"The only pronouns we accept in this dojo are sensei and student." Sensei Lawrence spoke, Lexi tilting her head in confusion as she exchanged an amused look with Julian.

"Those are nouns."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, not sounding sorry at all. "I think what I meant to say is... 'Quiet!'" The man screamed the last word.

"That's an imperative." She mumbled.

"Get in line."

Devon moved into line beside the twins as Lawrence began again. "Today's lesson is about cheating. At Eagle Fang Karate, we don't believe in fighting dirty. Cobra Kai doesn't follow the same rules. So we have to be ready for every dirty trick they throw at us."

"Like when Chong Li threw dirt into Van Damme's eyes in Bloodsport," Devon said, the majority in the room looking at her with utter confusion.

"Exactly. It looks like someone did their prep work."

"And I saw the sequels too. Not to mention: Delta Force, Billy Jack, The Octagon, and Lady Dragon. Cynthia Rothrock is a beast."

Looking down the row, Julian raised his eyebrows at Miguel when they made eye contact, the boy nodding back as if to agree that: 'Yeah, this girl is good.'

"Hell yeah, she is."

"I saw Last Dragon," One of the boys spoke up. He always reminded Julian of Goyle from Harry Potter - one of Draco's goons.

"Shut the hell up, Penis Breath!!" The boy nodded and bowed his head with a sigh. "Everyone, get ready because today I'm going to put you through the wringer. Except for you, Diaz, you're up here with me."

Visibly confused, the Hispanic bow furrowed his brow. "What?"

"The tournament's right around the corner; can't afford you getting hurt. Besides, this will get a little dangerous. You can be co-sensei with me today. Sound good?"

Seeing Miguel, the idea obviously did not sound good to him, but he stayed quiet as Lawrence squared his shoulders, getting ready to yell as Julian mentally prepared himself for the next few hours of utter torture.

"Let's begin!"

***

The second the twins trailed into the house, they simultaneously collapsed on the couch. They'd done single-armed fighting (Julian had a few bruises forming from a few well-placed kicks from Lexi), gotten sand thrown in their face/eyes, and about a hundred other possible lawsuits waiting to happen.

Devon and Lexi got the chance to go around and kick the boys right in their privates, where it hurts the most. It wasn't difficult to act as if it hurt (Lexi kicked at him especially hard), but clutching at his nonexistent balls like a maniac while falling to the floor theatrically cast him a few confused looks - although most of the others were concerned with nurturing their own pain. There was definitely going to be a bruise there tomorrow.