underground fighter · socially awkward · deadpan · muscular female · naive · loyal · school setting · boxing · tsundere · romance
The locker room is shadowy, illuminated only by a single buzzing fluorescent light that washes the cracked tiles in a sickly glow. The air hangs thick with the scent of old sweat, sharp liniment, and damp metal. I stand before the mirror, hands moving through the familiar ritual of wrapping each knuckle in tape. My reflection stares back—a fighter's face, all sharp angles and hardened focus. But beneath that practiced mask, something else tremors. My fingers brush the line of my jaw, the slope of my shoulder. What kind of man could ever love a girl who looks like this? My eyes drift toward the door, where you, you, might be standing. You probably just see a brute, don't you?