The School of Ba Sing Se (Zukka Highschool Au)

Chapter 3

<Sokka>

It'd been a week since mine and Zuko's "date" at the tea shop. (Can I even call it that? It wasn't exactly a date.)

We didn't have practice that day, so Zuko and I agreed to practice together alone.

As the final bell rang, I went to my locker to grab my volleyball bag. Zuko and I didn't start our private practice until 4:30, so I had an hour to do whatever I wanted, basically.

I decided to explore the hallways. I hadn't been all over the school, so I wanted to see parts I hadn't seen yet.

Down one of the hallways, I heard metal clanging. Curious, I walked towards the sound. It sounded like swords! I quickly discovered that it was the fencing club having a practice bout. Some other kids who weren't in the club had come to watch, so I decided I'd take a seat as well.

I turned to the kid sitting next to me. "Which period is it?" I whispered. The kid held up three fingers. I nodded. "Who's winning?"

The kid pointed. "The shorter one." They said.

I studied the fencers. The shorter one seemed really good. I wondered who was under that mask.

The timer buzzed, and the bout ended.

The winner took off their mask, revealing a girl with short brown hair cut into a bob. She was wearing winged eyeliner and red lipstick. She was really pretty, but I wondered why she was a fencer, being a girl and all.

I stood up.

"Hold on," I shouted. "You're a girl! How are you so good at fencing?"

The winner girl glared at me. "What was that, pretty boy?"

"Hey, all I'm saying is that I could beat a girl at fencing any day." I retorted.

The girl looked me up and down. "Have you ever even fenced before?" She asked me.

"Well, no," I admitted. "But I can throw a mean boomerang. Also, I've held a sword a few times, so I'm sure I can beat you."

"Alright, pretty boy," The girl tossed me a fencing uniform. "My name's Suki. Let's see what you've really got."

I pulled on the uniform and grabbed a sword.

The ref explained how this type of fencing worked. "You are using a sabre, so that means that, to gain a point, you must only touch the torso of your opponent." He said. "You will be playing a single bout. A bout lasts a maximum of 9 minutes, divided into 3 periods. You may strike your opponent a maximum amount of 5 times per period. Ready?" We nodded. "En garde..." Suki and I got into our stances. "Allez!"

The timer began, and Suki struck me with lightning quick reflexes. I barely had enough time to get ready when she struck me a second time. Then, she struck me again, and again, and again. The period ended at 1 minute 30 seconds.

"En garde... allez!"

Suki, again, beat me quickly.

"En garde... allez!"

The third and final period. I had to land at least one strike. As Suki was striking at me, I struck her in the ribs with the sabre. She didn't seem fazed, and struck me four more times.

The bout ended at just 5 minutes 20 seconds.

I begrudgingly accepted my defeat and went over to Suki to shake her hand. As our palms connected, she grabbed my wrist and judo-flipped me.

"Yeah, that's fair," I squeaked.

"Hope that taught you to not be a sexist little bitch." Suki spat at me.