𝐉𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞 (DISCONTINUED)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 34

Ever since Kreese had came back, Kwon was getting increasingly more violent and aggressive, which was bad considering that he had plenty of those traits already. He was in a bad mood all the time but he was in an even worse mood during training. His charismatic, mocking smiles had turned tense and his sarcastic jokes lacked their usual luster. Alora was very aware of it, almost too aware. The glow of her new life was beginning to fade and she was beginning to see things how they were, not through the blood-colored lenses that they had put on her face. She saw the differences and all of the warnings that she didn't care to heed. The blood, the pain, the hurt, the anger; it didn't satisfy her anymore. She respected the hell out of her dad, she might've even come to love him at certain times, even in his difficulty. He was her family, but not her whole family.

The ride to training that early morning was quiet. Alora had so much to say to her father but the words caught in her throat and her mouth stayed closed. She was going back to the valley and leaving this wretched place behind. Over the last few days, she had carefully constructed a plan to get back to America without alerting anyone who might hinder her plan. Well, all except one. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Kwon, she owed him that at the very least. She was going to leave out in the middle of the night and catch a one-way flight to California, using the card her father gave her. He didn't handle his own money because he didn't care for it and by the time his finance people realized what she had done, she'd be long gone. She would train one last day, say her goodbyes, and then she'd disappear.

The training today was supposed to be nothing different than any of the other training sessions over the past month and a half except for the fact that when she came to the grounds, Joon and the two boys who were always at his back had cuts and bruises that were definitely not there the day before. She tilted her head in slight confusion and joined the lines of students, taking her normal place beside Kwon who she quickly noticed had a new addition to his gi. The best student patch. Everything clicked in an instant as she glanced down at his knuckles that were in the early process of scabbing over.

She heaved a sigh with a disappointed shake of her head. "Kwon, you didn't."

He turned her way and flashed her a proud, evil grin. "Of course I did. He didn't deserve it. Opportunity come," he shrugged. "I take."

"Opportunity," she muttered under her breath. "You beat them up for a patch. A patch, Kwon!" she hissed.

He rolled his eyes, pulling her arm to lead them away from listening ears. "Not a patch. Position, title. I'm the best fighter in this dojang and everybody will know."

"They do know," she tried to reason. "That doesn't mean you have to-"

"That is exactly what it means. Your Kreese, Seupiteupaieo, he did this. What's done is done, you cannot change it," Kwon said, staring down at her with a look that made her wanna punch him. She ground her teeth together and held eye contact with him for a moment.

"Fine." She blew out the breath she was holding and rolled her eyes, shrugging off his hand that was still holding the crook of her elbow. "Whatever. Class is starting, we'll talk later."

So, Sensei Kim and Sensei Kreese stayed the entire training today, from sunup till sundown all of the students worked their bodies, and Alora with more enthusiasm than most because she knew this was her last time doing it. Even though she couldn't wait to get back and be done with this medieval torture chamber, she caught herself feeling oddly melancholy about leaving. She had become used to this place, to the routines, the order, the blood, the pain. It hadn't been that long but she felt like she had been there forever and she was finally escaping to the real world. She didn't doubt that what she was doing was the right choice, she was just a little bit conflicted on how she felt about it all.