The cold, winter sun shone down on Aletheia University. Students trudged along the cobblestones to their classes. The glint from the holiday season still fresh but fading. Along the path to the library, the quartet walked together.

"Where you off to, Cadogan?" Marco smiled 

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he quipped back 

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Can't you two play nice for once?" 

"Look who's talking Miss Delta. Ya can barely talk to Ash without givin' her one of your bloody nicknames"

"Hey! I do that out of love, you guys just argue over literally everything" 

"But we're at least entertaining, your nicknames are a bit lacking. I mean....lamppole, really?" 

"Excuse me?!"

"Eh, thanks Mahabadi! You finally got Fiorello and I to agree on somethin' for once" 

The two laughed as Ashley smirked ever so slightly and Miranda huffed. 

"But! I expect to see you all on the mats later. I promised to teach this drewgi some basic wrestling techniques, just to prove that it would beat his silly little boxing" 

"I'll be there, just make sure you don't get pissy when I beat you sparring after" 

"Keep that arrogance, I can't wait. Miranda ya gotta come see me wreck this clown. It'll be even better than your power slap heard 'round the campus" 

She shrugged "Sure, I'll show up to see you idiots beat on each other. Could make for some good content" 

"You comin', Ash?" Marco asked "You gotta see me beat up on this...'drewgi' over here" 

"I'll come. I'm intrigued as to how much technique Yosef knows. He might be a good sparring partner" 

He raised his hands "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I think you'd destroy me after what you've been through" 

"Alright,in all seriousness, I hope all of you have a great start to the semester. Hopefully this one is less eventful" Yosef said, handing all of them $10. 

"What's this for?" Miranda asked 

"Cadogan tradition. At the start of somethin' new, like a new year or Rosh Hashanah. We give each member of the family ten dollars as a sign of good will. So take it as you please" 

"Thanks, man" Marco said, almost confused at the generosity

"That's....so sweet" Miranda said, softening. 

"Thank you, Yosef" Ashley said, immediately pocketing it "This will pay for my first lunch" 

The group all laughed and departed to go to class. 

***

The gym smelled of sweaty socks mixed with cheap deodorant. The black paint  was chipped on the wall. The windows caused the freshly washed mats to gleam. Yosef came out dressed in a blue rash guard with the Aletheia owl on it and tight pants, followed by Marco wearing a red dragon rashguard with tight shorts. The ladies sat in the bleachers watching. 

Miranda whistled mockingly "Lookin' good in those special outfits boys, almost makes me forget about the smell in here" 

"I'm gonna have to convince my dad to give some kinda grant to the wrestling program here, because....yikes" 

"We don't need your charity. The ruggedness of it all helps us toughen up." 

Ashley was steady, observing. 

"Damn. Are you good, Ash? Enjoying the....show?" Miranda crooned, gesturing to the guys "You gotta admit the outfits are chef's kiss" 

"They're practical for grappling, loose clothing would put them at a disadvantage." she replied 

"You're impossible" 

On the mats, the two shook hands. Marco went in with a closed fist, but Yosef ducked under and used a single leg to takedown, pulling him to the mat. 

"Solid core stability with that single leg" Ashley muttered

"I dunno what that is, but Marco falling was funny" 

He squeezed his way out of the grip.

"I let ya out, I wanna beat ya some more" 

"Sure you did" 

Marco feinted, causing Yosef to commit and then nailed him with an uppercut. He stumbled back as Marco then landed a solid three-punch combo. 

"That hurt...a little too much" he grunted, lunging forward and scooping him up and then slamming him on the mat with a THUD!

Marco groaned "Not bad." 

He sat on top of Marco and put him into a headlock. 

"Tap. You're done." 

He reluctantly tapped and Yosef let go, almost tossing him to the side. He got up and raised his hands as Miranda sarcastically clapped.

"Yippie! You're officially a caveman" she said, sardonically

Ashley looked on "Well done" 

The two came down the bleachers as Marco dragged himself up. 

"Alright, I'll admit, you're a lot better than I expected. Next time, we gotta run it back in a boxing ring though" he said, holding out his hand. 

Yosef took it "Sure. I'll step into your world next time" 

"Weren't you gonna show me some tips though" 

He smirked "Yeah, it was all hands on! Hopefully ya learned something from the beating ya got!" 

Marco laughed "Nice one" 

"Ash, what'd ya think?" 

"I thought your form was good. Though your single leg could have had more leverage when you planted Marco the first time. But I suppose that was to not hurt him as much" 

"Right you are, lass" 

"Hey!" 

"How would you have done it, Ash?" 

Ashley went forward about to take down Yosef.

"Whoa! Let's relax there!" he said, backing up "I dunno if I can keep up quite yet. Plus, it's not like you need the sparring or training" 

She nodded "Fair enough, but  Miranda might, her physical capabilities are...lacking" 

"Hey!" 

"But she makes up for it in social power" 

"That's what I thought" she huffed, before looking at Yosef "You know what,just to prove all of you haters wrong. Let's see what I can do,  I bet I could keep up with Cadogan" 

Marco choked on a laugh, Yosef rubbed his neck and looked down, and Ashley looked at her with a bit of concern

"Are you sure?" Ashley asked

"Positive" 

"Look, I don't wanna do anything with Miranda" 

"Oh! so you're scared you're gonna lose to a five foot two sorority girl, huh?" 

"She got you there!" Marco teased

"Fine! Just get changed first. I don't want ya complaining that I damaged your designer clothes"

***

Miranda came into the gym wearing a black sports bra with blue Delta Delta Delta leggings. 

"It still smells like garbage in here" 

Ashley and Marco sat in the bleachers. 

"You think this is gonna go well?" he asked 

"She asked me for martial arts lessons once, I figured Yosef would be a bit of a better teacher than me at this point, since she's a total novice" 

Yosef stood looking at her "Alright, you wanna move slowly at first and try to pressure me out of bounds and try to go for a leg if you can" 

Miranda immediately sprinted at Yosef, who then stepped aside and grabbed her in a single trip take down, gently placing her on the mat. 

"See, that was impulsive." he said 

"Ew! Get me off the mat, it's gross. I feel all the boy sweat on it" 

He pulled her up "Alright, lass. Just shoot for my leg and try to get leverage" 

She obliged and grabbed his leg. "Good! Now lift it up and trip my right leg." 

She awkwardly put her leg behind Yosef and pushed, causing him to fall down onto the mat

"There ya go! Practice that a couple of times and you'll have it down" 

She smiled "That was fun! Can't wait to sneak up on you and slam you now" 

He replied with a smirk "Let's not get ahead of ourselves" 

Ashley walked over "Not bad for a first try. Congratulations, but it should look more like this" 

She walked over to Yosef "Wait. Wait!" he screamed as she judo threw him onto the mat. 

"That's more advanced technique, but you want to do it fast like I just did. It gives the enemy less time to react" 

Miranda laughed "You're insane, but I have to admit, that was extremely satisfying. You okay down there?" 

He groaned, picking himself up "I'm good, just need a second. Wasn't expecting a Judo throw" 

"Awwwww, did the big bad wrestler get hurt by little ol' Ash?" she teased

He laughed "Little ol' Ash? She's taller than me!" 

"Plus she's a machine. I saw her at the Hollow Shell" Marco chimed in 

"The what?" 

"Long story" 

Ashley chuckled "I am....quite proficient with combat" 

"Alright, what do we say to a quick Chit Chat or Capy run?" Marco suggested 

"Yes!" she replied, a bit too instantly "I'm extremely hungry" 

Marco and her ran off 

Yosef jogged with a bit of a limp and shouted "I'll catch up with ya there. Just text the location!" 

Miranda came up behind him "That was actually a lot of fun, well, besides my hair now smelling like the boys' locker room." 

"Glad I could be of assistance for once" 

"Yeah, you are pretty useless usually" Miranda said, clearly teasing as she pushed him

"I'm aware" he replied, deadpan. 

Her smile faded into concern "You know I was joking, right?"

"Yeah, like how you joke about everything else, right?" he said, a sardonic smirk on his face

"No! Look, I'm sorry, I just....I know we aren't the best of friends and I give you a lot of crap, but you really helped me with everything with Ash and how I see myself. I'm still working on internalizing what you said about how I'm more than Tri Delta and social media. I did appreciate it."

Yosef cracked a bit of a smile "I'm glad" 

She pushed him again "Chin up! Or else I'll take you down again. And maybe ice your lower back" 

He laughed "Deal. I'll meet you with the rest at dinner, alright?" 

She nodded as she walked out of the gym. He stood there taking in the gym. 

"It's been a good semester" he muttered to himself.