Chapter 6: The Lion and the Prey

【Phoenix Gakuen’s】 courtyard was a squared section of earth, surrounded by school buildings from the south, east, and west. The horse ring-shaped building was flooded with students who had left their seats during class to witness the uproar between two (plus Mana) of the school’s top 10.

「Sorry, No. 9, but I’ve got no choice!」

The blond-haired delinquent shouted across the courtyard, causing a girl with neatly trimmed brown hair to shudder in fear.

Naturally, this girl (whose hazelnut eyes were hidden by her glasses) was none other than Hitomi Shiori. The “No. 9” of the school who was often referred to as the 〚Tactician〛.

「Isayama-kun(1)! Stop this, right now!」

Mana yelled at Masaru, the anxiety swirling around in her stomach urging her to vomit up its contents.

Luckily, thanks to having her lunch interrupted, said contents were practically non-existent.

Though if you said that to her right now, it was doubtful that those words would be considered as “good consolation”.

「Look, just stay out of this Mana-san(2)!」

Masaru’s voice boomed throughout the silent enclosure.

And, as if triggered by his statement, Mana’s arm was mercilessly twisted behind her, restricting her movement.

「Why you-?!」

Mana struggled before glimpsing a sharp, silver object being held to her neck.

It didn’t take her long to understand what said object was. Especially when its sharp surface was pushed against her snowy skin.

「I hope you understand that I’m under orders.」

A midget with a distinctive buzz cut snickered as he placed more strength into the hand, straining Mana’s arm.

「Sorry, No.6, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.」

A greasy-haired boy with a wooden bat slung on his shoulder walked along the side of the courtyard, stopping at a distance right in between Masaru and Shiori before commenting thusly.

「I guess I’ll be the ref.」

To clear up any confusion, a referee must act as a third party in a duel so as to ensure that everything is fair, or so the school regulations state.

Needless to say, it would seem that for this peculiar duel between the teenagers of blond and brown, the greasy-haired boy had volunteered to act as the neutral party.

However--

(But the ref is a lackey of one of the contestants! How is this fair!?)

Indeed. Just as Mana had suspected, having one of Masaru’s followers acting as the referee absolutely smelled of foul play.

That said, not one person was able to reject as the greasy-haired boy raised his bat.

「Alright, you guys ready?」

At this signal, none of the spectators dared to utter a word.

All eyes fell onto the duel that was about to occur.

The blond-haired delinquent spread his knees, left leg forward and right foot back. He raised his clenched fists close to his face, causing his knuckles to seemingly brush against his fuzzy beard.

And while his stance remarkably resembled that of a boxer, what caught everyone’s attention was not his fighting style, but the pieces of sparkling silver placed on the 〚Lion’s〛 hands.

(Silver knuckles!?)

Mana sharply inhaled, nausea settling in her stomach as her gaze shifting towards Shiori.

Unlike Masaru’s instinctive shift into his boxing stance, Shiori awkwardly tried to adapt her own posture.

Nervously taking her glasses off, the timid girl placed them into a pink, hand-knitted knapsack hung on the back of her waist. She then brought out a pocket book from the same bag entitled [Palm Striking Techniques].

She held the book open between her left hand’s fingers before bringing it close to her face. Her right hand was held in front of her with all fingers open, displaying her soft, delicate palm.

She then poised her body, lowering her centre of gravity. Her eyes were carefully analysing both the situation and the book before her very eyes.

She was trying to formulate a plan.

Although enraged, Masaru was a wielder of violence.

He shouldn’t be able to exercise proper judgement towards unusual combat styles.

That’s why she chose palm-strikes.

The particular style she was reading concentrated on hit-and-run tactics, maximising the user’s agility in cohesion with open-palm jabs to upset the balance of the opponent.

(So……how should I go about doing this?)

Shiori tried to remain calm as she coldly began to sequence her movements.

First, she would sprint up to Masaru’s left flank.

-which would be a feint as she ducks the incoming blow, pushing the extended arm upwards with a palm uppercut.

Knocking his balance, she would then strike Masaru’s body, sending him crashing into the wall.

Combat still daunted Shiori, but she wasn’t going to back away now.

(If I don’t do this, Junichi-kun will-!)

「Set!」

Having her thoughts interrupted by a loud yell, Shiori shook her head, ridding herself of unnecessary concerns.

Both sides braced themselves for the signal that would break the standoff.

All that were present, including the teachers that also joined the audience, held their breath as the painful silence was broken with one word.

「Fight!」

Shiori immediately lunged forward as she began her frontal assault against the 〚Lion〛.

As Shiori approached Masaru’s left side, he shifted his weight onto his front leg before drawing his right arm backwards.

His arm then slung forward, Shiori’s body (in accordance to the 〚Lion’s〛 punch) swiftly ducking out of range.

(As predicted.)

Shiori gleefully thought to herself as she passed the first phase of her plan.

However-

「Watch out!」

A high-pitched voice shrieked as an abrupt, unknown force jerked Shiori’s body into the air.

And then-

*slam*

「Ku-!?」

---all of a sudden, Shiori’s stomach suddenly collapsed into itself, the rugged fist jabbed in her abdomen causing her diaphragm to expel all of its air in an abrupt spurt.

Due to the impact, the fragile body was flung across the courtyard, making tracks as it rolled around in the dirt.

(W-what happened?)

Shiori weakly looked over to the other side of the yard.

The figure of the blond-haired lion slowly strolled over towards the girl desperately trying to lift her trembling body.

And in one of his hands, several long, thin brown strings could be seen trailing along the ground.

(My….hair?)

「Shiori!? Isayama-kun! Stop this nonsense right now!」

Shiori vomited a red substance out of her mouth, causing Mana to plead with Masaru as her eyes swelled with tears.

Yet, the Lion’s prowl was not halted by the girl’s frantic begging.

Stopping directly in front of the girl sprawled out on the ground, Masaru coldly grabbed her by the hair, once again raising her trembling frame into the air.

It was then that the carnage truly began.

The delinquent mercilessly unleashed a flurry of punches, aiming at the arms, legs, chest, and stomach of the feeble, brown-haired girl.

Do you know the reason why delinquents would punch you in the stomach instead of the face?

It’s because they don’t want the injuries they cause to be visible.

However, the 〚Lion’s〛 assault contradicted this very principle that’s second nature to delinquents.

Sure, Masaru didn’t aim for Shiori’s face.

But the wounds he inflicted caused cuts, bruises, and blood to pour out of the places he targeted.

This was no longer a duel.

This was torture.

As Shiori was relentlessly beaten around like a punching bag, the students couldn't tear their eyes away from the bloody sight.

It was that terrifying.

And, by the time Masaru ceased his assault, blood had been splattered in a 2-metre radius which surrounded the battered body of one Hitomi Shiori.

「-shit!」

Masaru muttered before walking off.

The 〚Lion〛 was done.

Whether he was satisfied by relieving his stress, or pissed that he had to cause this much damage, no-one could say for certain.

The courtyard just remained silent.

Until-

「-wai-ack-ack」

「!?」

The 〚Lion〛 turned around to see Shiori, standing while choking on her own blood.

「I said, wait.」

「-the hell?!」

Masaru's surprise was understandable.

Shiori's bloody, war-torn, trembling body was standing after taking who knows how many hits.

The No. 9 of the school, who should be extremely weak and frail, managed to get up on her own feet after absorbing countless blows.

But this was her limit.

Shiori knew that her body would soon collapse on itself.

Yet, why did she stand up?

She did not quite know herself.

Yet, the act of her standing up seemed to piss off a certain, blond-haired delinquent.

(Fuck it!)

The 〚Lion〛 cursed in his mind at the Shiori's act of defiance.

(She was just like that bastard!)

Masaru's face contorted in rage.

He walked towards the quivering girl.

He raised his right fist once again.

But this time, he'll make sure she won't stand up again.

This time, he was aiming for her face.

He pulled his fist back.

And then he swung it forward.

However-

「-!?」

Masaru's face widened in surprise.

A certain face had moved into the path of his fist.

(Mana-san!?)

At some point, Mana had overpowered Sadao (the knife-wielding midget) and ran to protect Shiori.

This was obviously not what he wanted.

However, he couldn't stop his fist now.

「F-fuck!」

He managed to curse as he closed his eyes.

A dull thud resounded across the courtyard.