Steel and Mana

Chapter 401 – Brawl

"Where's the money, Lebowski?"

"I think you got the wrong person... my name is Leon. I know both start with an L and have an E and O in them... but come on! Ugh!"

"You have a big mouth, Lebowski!"

"If you keep kicking me in the stomach, I may faint..." I grunted, lying on the floor of the school's bathroom, already in pretty bad shape.

"Get it ready by next week, shithead!" With a final kick, the four of my tormentors finally left, and I had time to lie there on the small tiles, enjoying their cold, soothing my muscles.

"Geez your a wuss..." Echoed a young, thin voice, one that I quickly recognized.

"Ren-senpai...? That's cruel to say. Plus, what are you doing here? This is the men's bathroom."

"I know." She replied, opening the stall next to me as she was sitting there. Was that a cigarette between her fingers? Nah... at a closer look, it was just a cigarette-shaped lollipop. "I came here to wait for LeiLei, but he is being late. Lucky for you, because otherwise, you wouldn't be able to play the injured prince game and rush to your Sasha for healing kisses. He would have for sure stepped in and beat those fuckers."

" But not you? You sat there watching them beat me up? That's cruel..." I answered, pushing myself into a sitting position.

"Duh. I know you have the strength to break their kneecaps; you just refuse to do so. If it was me, I would have bashed their heads against the sink until one of them broke."

"It would have been probably their heads which gave out first."

"Good. So? Wussy Leon, when will you fight back?"

"Dunno. It's just a nuisance, anyway. I am not too bothered by this. It would bring the teachers' attention to us."

"Let me change my previous assessment. You are not a wuss but a weirdo, Leon."

"Senpai!" Shouted a new voice as Merlin rushed into the bathroom, looking deathly pale as he began helping me up, "Are you okay?! I saw them leave, I knew theeeeeh?! What are you doing here? This is the men's bathroom!"

"I was here to peep at guys pissing." Ren answered nonchalantly, which was followed by another laugh as the second stall opened, and Yuri stuck her head out.

"Nah, that would be me!"

"When did this bathroom become coeducated?" Merling grumbled, but another shout echoed in the bathroom before I could answer.

"Boss!"

"What is it, Oleg?" I grunted, already back on my feet, fixing my clothes.

"Those bastards are heading towards Lady Sasha's classroom!"

"Oh?" Ren grinned, slapping my back, "Now that is a fierce look I can respect. Come on! I'm going to come with ya on this!"

It didn't take long to arrive at the classroom, where the four jackasses were at her table beginning to harass her. I heard Luna's voice outshout them, not standing for the insults, while Sasha's placid expression was colder than a blizzard. Until she saw my bruised face... then it turned into scorching heat and rage in an instant.

"Seesh, she loves you a lot~ Good girl!" Ren giggled while I was already walking forward, grabbing the shoulder of the bastard who was calling me the wrong name.

"Yo, salt sniffer, here's your money!"

By the time my words ended, my fist had already cracked his jawline, sending him to the ground. When his friends were about to jump me, Oleg, the biggest guy in school, rushed forward like a rhino. He grabbed one of them by the waist, lifted him into the air like some dummy, and slammed him into a desk, smashing it into pieces.

"Nyahahaha! This is awesome!" Ren laughed, watching as Merlin, even though he was smaller than any of our opponents, jumped on the other guy, kicking, biting, and clawing like a wild cat. Meanwhile, Yuri was already wrestling with the last one, choking him out.

"More are coming!" Shouted Sasha who instead of stopping us, was looking out the window, seeing the rushing figures, heading towards us.

"Including teachers. But they will arrive last, as usual!" Luna added before turning back and kicking the one who was struggling with Merlin.

"Fun!" Ren clapped as steps were heard coming from the corridor. Turning towards it, I saw Ren roundhouse-kick one of the guys who was a step away from the entrance to the classroom. She was barely reaching his chest, but her ankle landed squarely in his face while her skirt flipped, revealing her panties with the face of a panda on it. Huh... Of course, as our luck would have it, it was not just one dude but a bunch of them.

"A fight?! Again?! Geez, I am late once, and you stir up trouble?!"

Ah... that voice. I recognized it. It belonged to Leinor, Ren's boyfriend. It was then followed by other shouts. I knew them just as well as they were all members of Ren's gang. Yep. She was the leader of the local delinquents and my senpai. She has been trying to recruit me for a while now and probably just managed to do that after today.

"Take this!" I heard another shout, followed by a sharp scream.

"IT'S COOOOOOLD!"

That was probably Lia-senpai smashing a bag of ice over someone's head. If I recall, she was part of a different delinquent group at first. They called themselves Misfits or something. But, by the time I got to this school, they were in alliance with Ren's gang, and if I heard it right, Lia was some kind of 'disciple' of Ren.

"This is getting out of hand..." Sasha whispered, hugging me after the guys in the classroom were all knocked out cold.

"It is... but hey... you are smiling."

"No, I'm not!" She pouted, trying to cover it without success.

"She is." Luna nodded, betraying her best friend, while Yuri picked up one of the chairs and looked towards the door. By the grunts and shouts, a brawl was still going on in the corridors, and it wouldn't end anytime soon.

"Whatcha sayin'?" She giggled, looking at us, "Are we going to join?"

"Well..." I shrugged, looking at Oleg and Merlin, who were ready to rush out the moment I nodded my head. "It's not like we can back out now, can we? Let's go!"

Soon enough, we were among the other two groups, beating down the bastards who were trying to control the school we were living in. Even if we were going to be expelled after this, at least I could say I left with good friends and allies supporting us through fire and flames.