Chap 7. - Thunder

A loud noise echoed in the room.

Reflected and pushed away by every wall, the sound floated aimlessly inside Tsuki's head.

Hit after hit, the echo never faded. After one was finally dying, another came harder and took its place. Banging on the walls of her mind. Transforming her brain waves into tsunamis of sound battling their way out of her silent thoughts.

"Open the door, you bitch!" a thunder came without a lightning. "They can't do whatever they want!"

Another thunder struck the door, shaking her flesh and making her heart hurt as it helplessly tried to escape her chest.

"You do as I say!"

The thunder ran around in circles, looking for somewhere to land, but it only found silence. No ground. Just empty voids awaiting the storm to pass, reflecting the sound back to him.

Eyes wide open, Tsuki trembled when a lightning bolt sliced the sky in half, sending a glimpse of icy light into the bedroom. Heart beating in her ears, she turned the other way and covered her head with the white blanket.

She waited.

The thunder came.

**

It was past noon. A phone ringing woke Tsuki abruptly.

An alarm. She couldn't wake up without them. Missing the time to work had happened a few times when she first started at the club.

Tsuki grabbed the keys, a huge bag, and left the apartment into a clear day with only some clouds in the sky.

Parked in front of the five-story apartment building was a black Kawasaki W800, customized. She dropped her bag there, cleaned the wet seat with her long-sleeve black shirt, put on the helmet, and went away, accelerating the bike.

Foot on the ground.

She had stopped in front of a big gym with two floors. She took the bag and entered through the automatic door, pulling her trucker cap down to cover her face.

"Goth brat is here!" a loud male voice shouted across the boxing rings lined up in a large room.

There were two rings on one side, and the rest of the space was occupied by boys, girls, men, and women of all kinds kicking and punching. It was all so noisy with encouragement lines, curses, or screams of frustration.

A big, muscular guy with a huge smile on his round face came towards Tsuki with open arms.

"Cookie!" he squeezed her tiny figure between his muscles and lifted her up. "Mondays and Wednesdays are my favorite days."

Tsuki looked like a little kid while being held by that giant man. He sounded so warm and kind, nothing like his trucker appearance. During all the time he hugged her with the single purpose of teasing her, she was quiet as a stick.

"Thank you for letting me live, stupid muscle mountain," she barked after he put her down.

"Don't talk to your Garry like that, or I'll knock you out."

He grabbed her one more time and rubbed her head, hat and all, messing up her hair and making her fight back by pushing away his concrete chest pointlessly. Treating her like a kid was his way to get under her skin. It worked perfectly every time. In a second, she was kicking his sides and punching his abdomen.

"You huge pain in the ass, Garry."

"Just warming up a little."

Watching over her with a silent laugh, Garry waited for her to put the cap back on and take the bag while admiring her long face. She was so small and funny to tease; he couldn't resist.

"Fuck off," she said while going to the lockers at the end of the large gym.

While taking the shirt off and shoving it inside a red locker, her mind was at ease. Punching bags with all her strength was better than therapy. The adrenaline of using all your power to hit something was exciting. No need to think—just simple physical force.

In a black tight sports bra and old boxing shorts down to her knees with the white lines looking gray, she jumped up and down, shaking her arms and legs before grabbing the gloves and leaving the locker room.

"Warm-up done, so let's throw some punches."

Garry was in the ring with Tsuki in front of him. In his hands, curved punches, he banged them together.

Tsuki hit.

Right punch. She heard thunder far away. Another punch with the left. A lightning bolt dazzled her. The right punch was her strongest; she put all her strength into it. A steel bar hitting a skull. She started punching faster. One hit after another. Left. Right. Right. Right. Right! Elena's face crying flashed before her eyes.

"Hey! Tsuki, what's up, man?"

She looked up at Garry. He was cornered in the ring with a strange look in his eyes.

"I know I'm big, but be careful," he laughed awkwardly.

"I got carried away."

"Something on your mind?"

"Let's restart," she dodged the question as if she had never even heard it.

Back to the center, Tsuki began hitting again, this time more focused and listening to Garry's commands. No words were exchanged after. It was simple training, circled by a somber vibe coming from Tsuki.

"Um, before you go..." Garry started. He didn't know if it was the best time to talk to her about it. Tsuki always looked like she was in a bad mood.

"There's a fight in two weeks. Simple, decent money..."

Facing the other way, she was taking her gloves off and drying the sweat from her face with a towel. Drank some water. All before looking at Garry.

"Text me the details. I'm in," and she left the ring.

Alone, watching that weird quiet girl leave, Garry couldn't believe he had known her for five years and still they never talked about anything other than kickboxing. Of course, he talked about his life and problems; she even answered and showed interest but never about her. The only way he found to know what was going on with Tsuki was through fighting. During all those years, he deciphered when she was happy, worried, or angry, all from the way she punched.

Exhausted from the training, Tsuki was sitting on her bike, feeling her biceps hurt as she stretched her arm to reach the handlebar. Maybe she had overdone it. She woke up feeling agitated; it happened when she had to do something under pressure.

"Need a hand?" a female voice said while touching Tsuki's arm right where it hurt.

"That's the opposite of what I want now."

Hands still on the handlebar, Tsuki looked back at a girl with long black braided hair wearing gym tight clothes and a sports bra, allowing a view of her generously blessed chest.

Without any other words, the girl hopped on behind Tsuki, who didn't move, just dropped her head and sighed profoundly. The girl's long fingers found their way easily under Tsuki's clothes and into her abs, sliding up and down before hugging her until the space between them was nonexistent.

Back at Tsuki's place in a time span that seemed like a minute, she parked the bike in the same spot as always and went on ahead to open the door. Every move was followed by the girl's dark green eyes.

She was young. No one believed her age; the girl's attitude just didn't match her 18 years. Tsuki never cared much for age limits; personality was the main thing that piqued her interest, but she never hooked up with underaged girls. This thing between them was recent. In the gym, the girl was always around and trying to flirt, but due to her age, Tsuki told her straight she should 'cut that shit off before she called her parents,' and it worked until she turned 18.

Agni wasn't the type of person who gives up after receiving a "No." She waited for the right time to catch Tsuki off guard.

A few months after her birthday, she came by the club with some friends, ordered a drink, talked about the music and Tsuki's fights, all very casual, until she dropped one line by the end of the night.

"I'll be leaving this place with you today, and anything other than 'yes' is rejected."

She had so much confidence that Tsuki froze in place, trapped in a green lagoon Agni had as eyes. The girl piqued her curiosity. Since that day, Tsuki never said no to her again.

As they both passed through the door—first Tsuki, leaving Agni to close it—the girl locked it and went straight to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. On her way, she left a trail of clothes from the living room to the bathroom door, where she stopped; stuck her arm out. At the end of it was her bra on the tip of her finger.

"Don't make me wait."

With a shake of her head, Tsuki started undressing. She hadn't showered properly at the gym, just washed the sweat away, and she probably wouldn't do it now either.

From the bathroom door, a vision of a beautiful woman being bathed by the falling water enchanted Tsuki. No matter how trashy and gray that small bathroom looked, she made everything burn with fire. Her black skin opposing the transparent water dancing with her curves. A true mirage in that desert house.

"What are you doing stuck there?"

The water drops felt cold as Tsuki entered the shower. Agni grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her head down, making the white figure fall to her knees.

"I told you not to make me wait," Agni looked into her eyes before putting one leg over Tsuki's shoulder, hiding her face between soft skin that rubbed on her ear and made everything around sound distant.

Instantly, all became hot again.