little bird // r.keene

xvi. knuckles.

"Junbi!" Jonny yelled, "bow." Everyone did as they were instructed. Wren kept her vision straight in the mirrors in front of them. "Fighting positions." He moved to stand between Hawk and Wren and began to walk down the rows of kids.

Lawrence kicked his leg, causing Hawk to let out a grunt, Wren's eyes flickered at the noise, watching them in the mirror but kept her mouth shut.

"Stabilize your base, Hawk. Keep your balance. Full rotation when you strike." And he threw a punch forward, demonstrating.

"Yes, Sensei. Hai!" Hawk copied. He turned to look at her and examined her stance. It was sturdy and reliable, she had her legs planted and her fists held close to her face in tight fists. Similar to how everyone else was standing in the room but Johnny had been around karate long enough to tell when someone had used this stance before.

He looked at how she kept her eyes trained in front at the mirror, only occasionally flickering to the boy beside her.

He had noticed them in class together, it had been a week since Hawk's transformation and both had formed an attachment to the other. As one got hurt, the other reacted. If one was getting a pointer from him, the other was listening. They were learning and getting stronger- together.

"Are you trained in Karate, Evans?" Johnny said in a normal voice.

"No, sensei!" She called back, keeping her eyes trained forward, her elbows locked in and her fists tight.

"But you know how to take a hit." It wasn't a question, for some reason her mind flickered back to Robby.

She hadn't seen him since that night and he hadn't shown up at the shop either which slightly disappointed her but she was trying, and failing, to let the thought go. She had to accept he wasn't coming back and the city was too big to go looking for him, he had to come to her and that chance was getting smaller and smaller by the day.

Johnny knew the answer. He turned away from her and addressed the whole class.

"Raise your hand if you've never been punched in the face." A large portion of the class raised their hands, including Hawk. "Put your hands down." They did as they were told.

"All your lives, you've been avoiding fights so you don't break your nose or lose a tooth. This concussion nonsense." Now one of those, Wren knew she had definitely had in the past. "So there is only one solution, and that is before you leave this dojo, each and every one of you is going to take a punch, very hard to the face."

Wren's first instinct was to laugh, apart from her, Hawk, Miguel, and a few others, the room was full of kids ranging from 10-14 who had probably never even been poked before and looked like they'd shatter if you stared at them hard enough. She looked from Hawk to Miguel then back to Lawrence.

"Evans." He said, she nodded, "Line 'em up. Unflinch this group." That was all she needed to know he was serious.

"Yes, sensei."

Wren took a step forward and turned to face the younger boy who had been standing to her right.

"Ready." That also wasn't a question but the boy nodded, Johnny, had nicknamed him 'Virgin'.

Her fist collided with his jaw and the boy dropped to the mat, his hand clutching where her fist had made contact. She didn't ask if he was okay because it was a stupid question, his friends helped him up and another stepped forward. She did it again.

Miguel had gone into Lawrence's office at the same time Hawk had stepped forward to receive his punch. Wren had been rubbing her knuckle, it was stained a slight pink which would without a doubt bruise.

"Try not to think any less of me." She said as Hawk readied himself.

"Not possible." He smirked and Wren rolled her eyes at him. She had grown fond of his new found confidence. After he had kissed her in training the two had continued to be friends, Miguel had noticed their relationship was yet to develop into something more and made note of it to ask Hawk about it later.

Life had kept going on after she had kissed him and life kept going after he had kissed her. They knew they would always be friends. But everyone could see the way they looked at each other. But just because he didn't always start conversations with her, didn't mean he wasn't dying to speak to her.

Hawk gave her a short nod and Wren raised her fist, hitting him. Hawk spilled onto the mat, she had hit him harder than she had mean to. "Are you okay?" She asked and he pushed himself onto his elbows.

"I'm okay." He said breathlessly, not convincing her at all, "It's just a tooth."

Wren stepped forward and offered him a hand up which Hawk gladly accepted. He had been the last one in the line so every one dispersed into their own chatter, whilst Miguel spoke to Lawrence in his office.

"Are you doing anything after training today?" He asked, causing her to raise an eye brow.

"Well, I was going to go home and ice my hand." She said, examining her knuckles, now slightly purple.

"Shit- that looks bad." Hawk said, leaning down to get a closer look, he then looked back at her. "Are you okay?" He added and Wren nodded.

"I'm fine, what did you have in mind for after training?" She asked with a familiar smile, one that Hawk could never get tired off, it wasn't possible in his mind.