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Hitting Punchy with a dull flump, Rosé immediately withdrew her arm, her knuckles stinging.

"It might hurt," Lisa said next to her. " Punchy's made of tough stuff. I can always get you some protective tape—"

"You don't wear any," Rosé observed.

Lisa gave a chuckle and showed her scabbed knuckles. "I'm desensitised now, been doing this for years, Rosie. You still got some time to get to that level. It's perfectly okay to wear protection—"

"No," Rosé said stubbornly, "I'm fine, I'm okay."

Lisa held up her hands in surrender and stepped back. "Okay, remember the first point of contact has to be the first two knuckles, then follow through with the wrist."

I can do that, Rosé thought as she squared up to the punching bag.

She raised her fists, half-curious about the whole aspect of punching the sack. Wouldn't it get boring doing the same thing over and over?

Would it feel the same way as punching a person?

Unbidden, the question surfaced in her mind and she drew a sharp breath. No, this was different, this had to be different, right?

Fat lot of good would it do to be different, jeered the voice in her head, it's still punching, isn't it? It's still what he did and look where that got him

"Shut up shut up," Rosé muttered as she swung her fist, knuckles thudding and bashing the punching bag violently as she punched in rapid frenzy to silence the voice. Punchy swung crazily from the aggressive force of impact. Rosé's jaw clenched tight as she ignored the pain in her knuckles  while the voice laughed and laughed along with the infuriating snickers taunting her. 

She punched frantically, her fist connecting with fabric repeatedly as she sought to drown out the awful memories.

Maybe you'll end up like him, the voice suggested, how about that? Would you like to follow in his footsteps Roseanne? The rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree you know.

"Shut up!" Rosé gasped as she threw another  wild punch. She miscalculated the timing and her lunge went wide, completely missing the swinging punching bag. She ended up tottering and falling forward, hitting the mat with a jolt. She gasped and heaved in lungfuls of air but the voice in her head had finally fallen silent.

She had all but forgotten Lisa was next to her until the boxer stepped up and wordlessly held out her hand to pull her up. Rosé accepted, biting her lip foolishly as she climbed to her feet. She avoided Lisa's gaze, embarrassed by her aggressive show.

"Lis, I can explain—"

But Lisa held up her hand. "There's nothing to explain," she said softly, "personal issues are personal issues. I would understand if boxing brought out...some of those issues to the surface."

Rosé bowed her head in shame. "I...I can't stand aggression, yet I got caught up in it too, in the heat of the moment..."

"Punching always feels good to relieve stress or anger," Lisa nodded. She still hadn't let go of Rosé's hand. The red-head found herself wishing Lisa didn't let go so soon.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Rosé said quietly. "What if boxing  encourages those violent tendencies? What if it nourishes that urge and impulsion to hit and lash out?"

Lisa shook her head. "On the contrary, boxing helps with that. Like I mentioned, it teaches you to redirect your anger into perfecting the punching technique and working out to rein in your anger. You can't punch properly if you just punch out of anger. Boxing requires a level of concentration which you can't achieve if your mind is clouded with anger."

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