|Weak Hero| Family Chaos

Battle at the Pool Hall

"Hah!" Ashur dodged Fox's punch and sent a a punch of his own.

"Your punch has gotten stronger, but it's still not your maximum strength," Fossa Keum, nicknamed Fox, said as he continued to coach Ashur in improving his form and strength.

"I know I can get stronger," Ashur nodded. "My friends all scored higher than me at a punching game. I want to at least catch up to them so I'm not in last place anymore," 'They all looked at me after I punched like they didn't believe the number was supposed to be my score. I'm happy that they think I should've scored higher, but that really was my strength at that time. I'm working on getting stronger to score higher,'

"That's enough for now," Fox said, running a hand through his wavy, purple hair. "Let's take a break and then work on more exercises,"

"Okay," Ashur nodded.

Fox watched as Ashur breathed heavily and laid down on the cool floor. 'The way he fights is different than when he's actually up against someone hostile. I've seen him fight before. When he fights an actual battle, he's like an entirely different person. He doesn't stop and would probably kill his opponents unless someone who isn't an enemy steps in. It's a good thing people do stop him. I'd hate for him to become a murderer like me,'

'His fighting style actually reminds me a bit of my little brother,' Fox thought, comparing Ashur to Wolf. 'Wolf mercilessly beats his opponents. But Wolf doesn't really dodge and can take multiple hits. Ashur, while fighting, dodges most, if not all, of the attacks headed his way. But at least Wolf knows when to stop so he doesn't end up actually killing his victims. When Ashur fights, he does it to protect himself and people he cares about, so he doesn't stop until the threat is gone. The personality change isn't good half, bad half; it's innocent smol bean and fierce protector,'

"Hey Fox," Ashur asked, chugging some water. "You have a little brother too, right? How come I've never met him?"

"He and I don't get along as well as you and Donald," Fox answered. "He's always out drinking despite being underage,"

"But Fox, you used to drink while you were underage," Ashur reminded. "But you do care about him, right? Because family is supposed to care about each other,"

"Ashur, you should know very well that blood does not automatically equate to caring about each other," Fox pointed out. "Your parents were supposed to love and care for you and Donald, but instead they hurt you guys,"

"But you do care about him, right?"

"Hey, stop changing the topic," Fox said. "If you're done resting, let's get back to training,"

XXX

"Really, Ben? You're trying to dip on us?" Alex asked after Class Eight had just finished PE. "I've been telling you all day about a dinner wager pool tournament. Loser buys at Shark Snack Bar. It's been a while since everyone's been in on it,"

"I've got no time for a dinner wager," Ben claimed. "There's a feast of stewed ribs waiting for me at home. F-E-A-S-T. I'm not about to go through labor, to eat your peasant food,"

"Is it because you're very bad at pool?" Ashur asked.

"You're worse than me," Ben pointed out. "You didn't even know how to play pool and tried to use the cue stick as a golf club,"

"That was my first time playing!" Ashur huffed. "I didn't know how to play pool. My brother and his boyfriend never taught me,"

"Forget about Ben!" Alex declared. "We'll get a few more in on it and have a feast of our own!"