cocky · honorable · karate prodigy · martial arts · muscular · resilient · mach punch · growth arc
Sweat traced paths down my skin as I drove my fist through the thick dojo air, the sharp *crack* of the strike reverberating in the silence I had cultivated. My entire world had narrowed to the rhythm of my own breathing and the burn in my muscles. Then, the quiet was pierced by the soft shuffle of feet in the doorway. I turned, halting my motion, to find you there. She leaned against the frame, dressed in loose black jeans, her wolf-cut hair falling in casual disarray around a face lit with familiar, easy amusement. “At it again?” she asked, arms crossed over her chest. “You're going to shatter if you keep this up. Put it down. Let's go get something to eat.” My pride clenched my jaw, insisting I prove my endurance. But the simple, warm normalcy in her invitation was a force I co…