food,” Claud insisted.
“ Yeah, and I feel like having Mexican,” another boy said with a laugh.
Eren’s guts clenched. Both of her hands started to glow as she thought about blowing the cocky look off the boy’s face. Claud slugged the second boy in the chest none too gently.
“ Shut up,” he told him through gritted teeth. “No trouble here,” he reiterated as his gaze returned to Eren and he took a step back.
After a few reluctant glares passed between them, the others stepped back with him. Claud blew Eren a kiss that made her shiver in a bad way. Curling her lip back in disgust, she flipped him off.
Claud licked his lips and grinned. “Any time, baby.”
“ Not in any lifetime. You aren’t worthy of touching a hair on my cousin’s head,” Fane snapped.
The group of boys laughed as she and Fane backed away until they rounded a bend in the hall.
“ Well played,” Fane whispered as they went through the gym doors.
Eren gave him a weak smile, her stomach too ill to risk a response. Shaken, but determined not to let it ruin her night, she followed Fane back to their seats.
The corner judges were getting into position for the first match as she and Fane sat down. Once the shaking stopped, Eren was able to concentrate on the matches. Kids thirteen and under were first. While Eren couldn’t really pick up any moves or tips from them, it did give her a chance to see how the Irish matches worked.
By the time the high school girls’ matches began, Eren had a good enough grasp on it to concentrate on the fighting. It wasn’t quite full-contact, but she was a bit shocked to see that it was bare knuckle boxing. But then, it wasn’t really like channelers could break their knuckles as long as they used their power to strengthen them. The match was a point based system. Points were rewarded for each scored hit that the judges caught and agreed upon. A judge stood in each corner and another was mobile around the ring.
When Caitlin came out for her first match, Eren and Fane started cheering. At first Eren was surprised when she discovered that healer channelers also competed in the tournament. It wasn’t exactly something she imagined healers doing. But then Fane explained to her that every member of a Society had to be prepared to fight to defend the Society. The tradition dated back to the time of persecution and was still honored by the tournament he said. To keep things fair, warrior channelers weren’t allowed to use their power against healer channelers.
Most of Caitlin’s curly blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun, revealing her fierce countenance.
“ Wow, she looks great,” Fane murmured.
“ I wish she could hear that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her blush,” Eren said.
Fane laughed and looked quickly away. “Oh I have.”
Eren bumped her shoulder into his and would have made him give a detailed explanation, but the match started and her attention was drawn to the ring. Their banter eased the tension from Eren’s shoulders and stopped her power from humming below the surface of her skin. Sitting here, joking with him, she could almost forget about Luke’s creepy friends. Almost.
In the ring below, Caitlin dodged, weaved, and struck out so fast that her movements were hard to follow. Her feet were as fast as her fists and her opponent could barely keep up. Some of the punches looked like they could break the bones of a normal human despite being light contact for a channeler. They couldn’t use their power as a weapon like warrior channelers did but the fight was still impressive.
The girl was no match for Caitlin. It was over by the end of the second minute-long round. In the high school matches one could knock their opponent out (which was crazy hard to do to a channeler) or they could follow the two methods that also applied to the younger kids, score ten points, or score the most points after five rounds. Ten points had sounded easy when Fane explained it, but then
“ Yeah, and I feel like having Mexican,” another boy said with a laugh.
Eren’s guts clenched. Both of her hands started to glow as she thought about blowing the cocky look off the boy’s face. Claud slugged the second boy in the chest none too gently.
“ Shut up,” he told him through gritted teeth. “No trouble here,” he reiterated as his gaze returned to Eren and he took a step back.
After a few reluctant glares passed between them, the others stepped back with him. Claud blew Eren a kiss that made her shiver in a bad way. Curling her lip back in disgust, she flipped him off.
Claud licked his lips and grinned. “Any time, baby.”
“ Not in any lifetime. You aren’t worthy of touching a hair on my cousin’s head,” Fane snapped.
The group of boys laughed as she and Fane backed away until they rounded a bend in the hall.
“ Well played,” Fane whispered as they went through the gym doors.
Eren gave him a weak smile, her stomach too ill to risk a response. Shaken, but determined not to let it ruin her night, she followed Fane back to their seats.
The corner judges were getting into position for the first match as she and Fane sat down. Once the shaking stopped, Eren was able to concentrate on the matches. Kids thirteen and under were first. While Eren couldn’t really pick up any moves or tips from them, it did give her a chance to see how the Irish matches worked.
By the time the high school girls’ matches began, Eren had a good enough grasp on it to concentrate on the fighting. It wasn’t quite full-contact, but she was a bit shocked to see that it was bare knuckle boxing. But then, it wasn’t really like channelers could break their knuckles as long as they used their power to strengthen them. The match was a point based system. Points were rewarded for each scored hit that the judges caught and agreed upon. A judge stood in each corner and another was mobile around the ring.
When Caitlin came out for her first match, Eren and Fane started cheering. At first Eren was surprised when she discovered that healer channelers also competed in the tournament. It wasn’t exactly something she imagined healers doing. But then Fane explained to her that every member of a Society had to be prepared to fight to defend the Society. The tradition dated back to the time of persecution and was still honored by the tournament he said. To keep things fair, warrior channelers weren’t allowed to use their power against healer channelers.
Most of Caitlin’s curly blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun, revealing her fierce countenance.
“ Wow, she looks great,” Fane murmured.
“ I wish she could hear that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her blush,” Eren said.
Fane laughed and looked quickly away. “Oh I have.”
Eren bumped her shoulder into his and would have made him give a detailed explanation, but the match started and her attention was drawn to the ring. Their banter eased the tension from Eren’s shoulders and stopped her power from humming below the surface of her skin. Sitting here, joking with him, she could almost forget about Luke’s creepy friends. Almost.
In the ring below, Caitlin dodged, weaved, and struck out so fast that her movements were hard to follow. Her feet were as fast as her fists and her opponent could barely keep up. Some of the punches looked like they could break the bones of a normal human despite being light contact for a channeler. They couldn’t use their power as a weapon like warrior channelers did but the fight was still impressive.
The girl was no match for Caitlin. It was over by the end of the second minute-long round. In the high school matches one could knock their opponent out (which was crazy hard to do to a channeler) or they could follow the two methods that also applied to the younger kids, score ten points, or score the most points after five rounds. Ten points had sounded easy when Fane explained it, but then
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