A self-defense lesson

“Neither of you can defend yourselves physically and your battle skills are severely lacking! This is not acceptable. We will fix this immediately!”

You and Samantha are both dragged into one of the back rooms by Master Kim as she orders the rest of the class to assemble.

The students are now lined up along the left and right walls of the room, with Master Kim in her usual position at the head of the class. And right in the middle of it all, you and Samantha stand, bare naked.

“Why do we have to be naked!?” Samantha yells, doing her best to cover up.

You do the same as you express similar concerns. “Yeah, why don’t we get a karate uniform like everyone else?”

“That ‘karate uniform’ is called a gi. It is not earned so easily. When you have demonstrated your strength to me, you may wear one,” she replies calmly.

“OKAY SO WE CAN’T WEAR A GI BUT WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE NAKED? CAN’T WE JUST WEAR OUR NORMAL CLOTHES!?” Samantha screams.

“Silence!” the blonde rebukes. “Such clothing would restrict your movement and make a mockery of martial arts! You are liable to end up in this state of undress anyway should a man wish to have his way with you. Now, introduce yourselves to the class so we can begin sparring!”

Samantha’s ears perk up at the mention of sparring. “Sparring? I’m Samantha. Just try to put your hands on me you filthy pigs, I’ll destroy you!”

You’re not really sure where her confidence comes from. You don’t remember her getting in many fights… You go next. “I-I’m Emilia. Nice to meet you all.” Hopefully your politeness will convince them to take it easy on you. You’re no fighter, after all…

A man steps forward from the right side of the room, and another does the same on Samantha’s side. They both bow and you do the same, reluctantly leaving yourself on display as you keep your arms to the side. Samantha declines to do so, apparently feeling that the tradition isn’t important. You just hope her opponent won’t take offense to that, but if she has the skills to back up her boast from earlier, maybe it won’t matter.

Master Kim yells, “Begin!”