Swords and Flowers

1-1

"Hey," I called out to the tall, dark haired boy. He was wearing a dark blue button up with some khakis. "Kian Zhou!" I called as I squinted at the figure. I was fairly sure that my voice was lost in all the talking and the beeping sounds that the boxes made.

I watched the directors to make sure that I had the right guy. Sure enough, the one I was watching was the right guy.

His black hair swooshed as his head turned. "On strip eight," replied the boy--Kian.

I nodded, not like he could see it or anything and walked to the strip. It was on the farther side of the gym. I sighed slightly. I noticed the many obstacles in my way. I pulled my shoulders back and stood up straight, moving my long black hair behind me.

I started to make my way down the side of the gym. It didn't help that I was almost against the bleachers to my left. My right was filled with female fencers and their supporters. Getting tired of trying to weave through the crowds, I finally started to push people. I received a few looks, but I didn't care.

When I reached the strip, I noticed two girls were already engaged in a bout. I didn't know the score, but I could tell that this one was close. After a series of attacks, Kian called halt and awarded the girl to the left a point.

"Five, four. Bout," the cute Asian called. Wait, did I just call him cute? Eh, he'll never know that I did.

I quickly made my way over to Kian who was eyeing the girl to his right. I, being completely unaware of what was going on, continued to mind my own business and tell Kian what Coach Mina wanted me to tell him.

Without any warning, my face came in contact with something warm and decently built. There was an arm wrapped around my waist and a palm resting between my shoulder blades.

Thud!

Blaring in my left ear came a booming voice yelling, "A show of unsportsmanship by throwing your mask is intolerable!" So that's what that was. "Black card. I don't care if this is a JV meet. The rules for sportsmanship do not just go away. You could have hurt someone whether or not it was you intention." I felt him move his other arm, presumably to show a black card. "Please take your things and leave."

I turned my head to look at the scene that was playing out, having long since given up on trying to get out of the man's arms. The girl who was carded currently stood with her arms flailing and her mouth moving. I couldn't really hear what she was saying, but I took that as a blessing seen as she was probably yelling every profanity she knew.

Her coach looked even angrier than she did, if that was even possible. The man was balding and wore a navy blue and white accented tracksuit. It only helped to highlight the redness on his face. At one point while he was trying to unhook her from the reel, he told her to be quiet. I really wanted to thank him because almost immediately afterwards, her mouth stopped moving.

I looked up to Kian. He had a defined jaw, but it didn't make his face look scary or anything. His cheeks were soft looking. His eyes were the most threatening part of him. Currently, they were filled with anger. The brown irises were cold and unforgiving as he stared down the girl who was storming out of the gym. Her coach following behind her, yelling in Russian. My eyes followed after the two until I couldn't see them anymore.

"Hey," I turned my attention to the taller Asian. "Are you okay?" his voice soft and filled with concern.

"Yeah," I say quietly, "Thank you." I gave him a small smile as he finally let me go.

He raised one hand and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. I just didn't want to be the reason why you could have gotten hurt." Aww, he's even cuter than I thought. Okay, I need to stop. I just met the guy.

I let out a small laugh. "Even if I did get hurt, I wouldn't blame you for the actions of an overly invested sore loser."

We fell into a silence. Neither of us knew how to continue the conversation, but neither of us tried to move on.

"Right, I was supposed to tell you that you're needed at the bout committee table. I'm also supposed to cover the rest of your table," I noted.

Kian gave me a questioning look. "Did they say why I was needed?"

I shook my head. "Personal reasons I guess." I shrugged.

He nodded once to himself. "Alright." He nodded again as if he was thinking about something. He probably was. "I'll get going then. Thank you for telling me, and I'm sorry you had to witness this." He sent me a comforting smile before taking off.

I turned to the table that had the sheet on top of it and sighed. I have to finish this. I slowly walked to the table and picked up the light brown clipboard. "Four and six up now! Three and two on deck!" I projected as loud as possible.

I watched the two girls get hooked up. The box in front of me stopped its continuous noise once both foils were plugged in. Both girls walked up to the center.

"Test please." They followed the direction, and both took their place at the en garde line. I took a deep breath and said, "Center is here." and gestured to the middle line. "Fencers ready?" I look at each girl for a split second.

"Fence!"

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A/N: this is unedited, so please do not comment about the grammar/spelling mistakes! Thank you!