IRIS

chapter eight

"Junbi!" Sensei Lawrence stood at the front of the class, crossing his arms before throwing them to his sides, the class imitating him. "Bow." He bowed towards his students, they in turn bowing back. "Fighting positions." Iris got into her fighting position in between Aisha and Hawk, keeping her eyes forward as Sensei Lawrence began to walk through the group.

Iris heard Hawk grunt as Sensei Lawrence kicked his leg, correcting his stance.

"Stabilize your base, Hawk." Sensei Lawrence stood next to the boy, showing him the correct stance. "Keep your balance. Full rotation when you strike." Sensei Lawrence demonstrated a punch, looking to Hawk to show what he learned.

"Yes, Sensei." Hawk threw a punch, Sensei Lawrence nodding in approval. He turned to continue his walk through when a kid flinched.

"Did you just flinch virgin?" When the kid didn't respond Sensei Lawrence continued to walk, stepping aggressively towards another kid behind him who also flinched. "Holy shit, we got a room full of flinchers."

"Yes, Sensei."

"That was not a question!" Iris held back a smile at her and the rest of the class' stupidity. "Raise your hand if you've never been punched in the face." Iris looked around as everyone but Miguel, Aisha and herself raised their hands. "Put your hands down. All your lives, you've been avoiding fights, so you don't break your nose or lose a tooth. This concussion nonsense." Iris shook her head at her Sensei as he made his way towards the front of the class. "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. Ms. Robinson, Ms. Montague line 'em up."

Iris and Aisha looked towards each other, unsure if this was the right thing to do. The two girls said nothing, not wanting to disobey their Sensei.

"Unflinch this group."

"Yes, Sensei" The two girls nodded to their Sensei as he walked away from the group and to his office. "Okay, line up." The group, who was all boys besides the two girls who were leading the class all decided to line up in front of Iris. The two girls once again looked to each other, confused looks on both of their faces.

"Oh, okay. I understand." Aisha laughed to herself as she looked at the long line of boys. "You guys think that because Iris is smaller than me, that her punching you will hurt less. I mean it makes sense, but holy hell are you wrong."

Iris felt her confidence boost, now smirking at the boy in front of her. She lifted her hands up in a fighting stance before throwing a punch.

"Hiyah!" The boy fell to the ground, holding his nose as blood dripped from it. The kid crawled away from the scary girl trying to hold in a cry of pain. "Who's next?" Iris' smirk didn't leave her face as half the boys left her line, her eyes landing on Hawk who just smirked back at her.

"I guess I am." Hawk approached the girl, his hands crossed behind his back as he awaited the punch.

"I'll try not to hurt you too bad." The girl lifted her arms, getting into a fighting stance once again. "Besides, why would I want to mess up this face." Iris winked at the boy before suddenly getting serious. Hawk took a deep breath as the girl brought her arm back.

"Hiyah!" Hawk flew backwards, landing on his back as the whole class grimaced. "Oh shit." Iris stumbled forward and fell besides the boy who held his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Hawk groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "It's just a tooth." Iris bit back a smile as she helped the boy stand up. He dusted himself off and looked over to the girl. "Remind me to never cross you." Iris laughed as she walked back towards the line of boys, getting into her fighting position and throwing another punch.