Problems At The Dojo (1)

Auralia quickly answered the call wondering who was calling from the dojo's telephone. Her students knew that the number was only for emergencies and no one else had access to the phone.

Calm down Auralia. Don't think of the worst yet. Just answer the call calmly. Auralia thought before placing the phone to her ear. 

"Hello."

"Coach…Please you need to come quickly." A worried voice sounded on the other side of the phone. "It's Emily."

Auralia felt a chill go down her spine. "Jamie calm down and tell me what's going on."

"Sorry." There was a brief paused. "Emily's dad…He's been drinking again and…is looking for Emily to pay the tab…like last time."

Auralia accidentally crushed her ice-cream in her fist as she felt herself seeing red upon hearing the situation. She had thought that Emily's father would have cleaned up his act after last time…

But for him to be causing such trouble again. He obviously hadn't learnt the first time.

"Okay. The doors are locked and everyone's safe?" Auralia asked after taking a deep breath to calm herself. "No one's hurt?"

"That's right. Everyone's in the dojo right now." Jamie answered before taking another pause.

"What is it?"

"He…Um there are some goons too." Jamie winced. 

"That motherf-" Auralia stopped herself realizing her student was still on the phone. Sighing she said, "Jamie get everyone to my office and lock the door. Don't come out until I've called you guys okay?"

"Alright coach, will do."

Auralia hung up the phone and quickly used a napkin to clean the mess she had made destroying her ice-cream. She then headed over to where Alexander was finishing his ice-cream a few meters away.

She needed to end the date and hurry over to her dojo before the goons tried to break in. She didn't want to think about what they would do to her students if they got a hold of them.

It wasn't that she didn't believe her students could protect themselves, but if the goons were carrying weapons, her students could get seriously injured. And being injured so close to the tournament…

She didn't want to finish the thought.

"Hey…Something came up and I need to go." Auralia said as she got to Alexander. "Is it okay if I leave now?"

"Is everything okay? I can drive you if you need to go somewhere." Alexander asked, standing up.

He had a look of worry on his face, making Auralia wonder what she looked like to have him seem so worried.

"It's fine." Auralia murmured. "There was just an incident…And I think it'll be better for me to take a taxi."

Auralia didn't want to have Alexander's car on her list of worries. Who knew what would happen if the goons saw it.

"Let me come with you at least…" Alexander said. "Just until I know you're safely home. I'll stay in the taxi while you deal with whatever it is you need to do."

***

Auralia glared into the taxi window as it sped towards her dojo, not wanting to look at Alexander's face. The man had been so stubborn about coming with her, and with time being of the essence, she had no choice but to agree to him coming along.

She was still wondering how she was going to explain the whole dojo thing. It would be easy to say she was just an instructor there. It could help her explain off any fighting she did in future plus if Alexander did a thorough background check on her…

It wouldn't look like she was hiding something. The hard part of course was how she was going to explain this to Maria Ezra. 

She wasn't telling her son the whole truth but…

Arghh! Now's not the time Auralia. Your students are in danger. You need to focus and deal with the other stuff later.

Auralia shook her head to make the thoughts disappear and looked out the window. She recognized the familiar streets, seeing the dojo building up ahead.

She spotted Emily's father immediately, his balding head and usual unkempt self, banging against her dojo's front door. Around him were a few goons in suits, two carrying bats.

That's going to be a problem. One hit from those on the glass window and all hell will break loose. Auralia thought to herself as she tried to come up with a way to take them out first.

"You can stop here sir." Auralia called out to the driver.

She needed Alexander and the driver a safe distance away in case things got out of hand. Thankfully, the driver understood and pulled the taxi to a stop.

Auralia turned to look at Alexander, undoing her seat belt. "You stay here. No matter what happens, understand?"

"No buts." Auralia exclaimed as she opened the car door. "You got to come because you promised you'd stay in the taxi. Are you going to go back on your word?"

Alexander was silent for a moment before sighing, "No."

"Good. Now stay put and look after my purse will you." Auralia said before getting out the car.

She then quickly walked towards the dojo, trying to seem calm. She couldn't show them how much the situation was affecting her. Auralia took deep breaths, tensing her body up to prepare for a fight.

When she was a meter away, the group finally noticed her. One of the goons smiled, immediately recognizing her as she recognized him. 

It had been a long time since she had seen the black haired man with a familiar scar across the right side of his face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Pink Dragon." The man smirked as he looked her up and down. "Haven't seen you since high school. How was that fancy college? Couldn't be too good seeing that you're still in this dump."

"Looks like someone has been missing the taste of my fists seeing the way they're yapping." Auralia glared back. "Shall I remind you, Michael?"

"You're the same as ever. It seems like much hasn't changed since high school." Michael paused for a second. "Well, maybe your body has matured."

Auralia smiled, trying to keep the comment from getting to her. She couldn't strike first else the twisted b*stard would have her charged with assault. 

"The same goes for you Michael." Auralia muttered back. "I see you're still trying to play gangster. Although you look more like an errand boy."

A vein twitched on Michael's forehead as he took a step closer to Auralia. "I'll show you that I'm not playing."

He turned to the other goons. "Hand me that bat!"