Taurus (Stray Kids Bang Chan)

Eleven

"Alyssa," Felix called once the bell for the end of morning practice rang. "Are you staying in here until noon or are you coming out? Jungkook and I are planning to prank Mr Tanner today."

The girl thought for a second.

"I'll stay but thanks for the offer."

Felix nodded before heading to the door.

"Make sure to get some rest though," he reminded her before leaving the room and sprinting to meet Jungkook.

Alyssa heaved a sigh before pulling the dagger out of her pocket and practicing once again until she heard the sound of someone entering the room.

Instantly, she turned around to see Chris at the door. He simply motioned for her to continue as he leaned against the nearest wall.

Alyssa inhaled softly before continuing with the practice.

"You're good," Chris finally spoke up after five minutes of silence. Alyssa smiled at his praise. "But you also lack a lot."

Her smile instantly vanished.

"It's hopeless, isn't it?" She sighed.

"No, no, no, it isn't hopeless. Remember I'm here to help you? I guarantee you'll be close to perfect before the arena battle."

Chris pulled out his own dagger and motioned for her to move out of the way so she didn't get hurt.

His moves were swift and graceful. It was obvious he had been practicing it for a long time.

"It's simple really," he told her before approaching her. "Just very fast."

With that, he positioned her hands properly around the dagger and showed her how he did what he had done along with some other tricks and tactics.

Once it struck noon, Alyssa and Chris finally left the practice room to get some lunch. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches were served that day. It wasn't much but was better than most of the meals they got.

"Hey, Chris," Alyssa finally spoke up, making him turn his gaze from the sandwiches to her.

"Yeah?"

"Have you really been here since you were fourteen?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah...how did you know that?"

"Bam once mentioned it to me...Why did you come here so early though? Isn't everyday me supposed to come when they are sixteen."

"Well, yeah but it depends on your background. And in some cases, it can depend on whether you volunteer to go earlier or not. They wouldn't deprive you of coming early if you long to do so."

"So why did you come early?"

Chris sighed

"I did it for my family," he announced  softly as he looked down at the table. "My parents really loved me more than anything in the world. So much so that even when my mother got ill, she still used the money she could've used on a surgery on my school fees. She suffering and we could all see it. I wanted to drop out of school but my mum wouldn't agree to it so I had to do the only thing I could at that point in time. I applied to come here early so I'd be out of school."

"Oh...So, is your mother okay?"

"Yeah. She got the surgery and she's healthy now, same goes for my dad."

"That's good," Alyssa smiled but it soon faded. "Felix and Jungkook also came early, didn't they?"

Chris nodded.

"That's why we became a team, despite being different zodiacs."

"So, what happened to them? Why did they come early?"

"Jungkook's mother was never fond of him so once he turned fifteen, she sent him here. It really sucked for him especially since he arrived a month before the arena battle. As for Felix, he became an orphan when he was twelve and had to live with his aunty, uncle and cousins who physically abused him. He lived with them for a year and a half before finally applying to come here."

"Oh," was all Alyssa could utter. All of them seemed so happy, it surprised her to hear they all had terrible pasts.

"Anyway, if you're done, why don't we go back to practice. I want to show you something."

Alyssa nodded before standing up and walking by his right as he led her to a metal door, which seemed to have been abandoned for a while.

He pulled out the key in his pocket, quickly checking to see if anyone had been following him then putting it in the lock and twisting until the door opened.

"What is this place?" Alyssa asked as Chris gestured for her to go down first.

"A small arena," he replied, closing the door behind them. "Many years ago, this used to be the arena where everyone fought in but now it's just used for practice."

Alyssa briefly looked around the large area before noticing Chris walking to a corner with shelves and picking two old and rusty machetes from the stack.

"Here," he handed one over to her. "Trust one of the tricks I showed you with this."

Alyssa did as she was told but Chris was quick to block her attacks and play the same trick on her.

The girl fell to the ground.

"Seriously, Chris? How could I ever beat you in a fight?" She questioned.

"To get better, you need to challenge yourself. If you continue fighting at your own level, how will you ever improve?" He asked as he held out a hand to help her up.

Alyssa quickly took it before attacking Chris again, this time catching him off guard and pinning him to the ground.

"So like this?" She questioned with with a sly smile.

"Yeah, except maybe harder, you're still too weak," he teased.

Alyssa rolled her eyes playfully as she helped him up.

They continued fighting for a while until Alyssa lost her footing, and fell onto Chris, pushing him to the ground.

They both stayed in the same position for a while with Chris on the ground and Alyssa lying on top of him. Neither of them had comprehended what had happened yet but instead, simply stared at each other.

"S-sorry," Alyssa finally apologised as she pushed herself off Chris and held her hand out for him once she stood up.

Chris took it quickly before smiling at her.

"So, how did I do?" She asked.

"Surprisingly well," he praised.

She smiled.

"Don't worry too much about the arena battle," Chris assured as he put the two machetes back in their places. "I can see you'll do really well."