POV: Aria Akari
Several minutes passed since Rai went to retrieve his wallet as the three of us found a booth located away from the majority of students, however, I felt anxious as I noticed Rai's attention was elsewhere along the way here.
"There's no need to worry, Aria. I can assure you that your boyfriend is coming back." Sarah teased casually amidst scrolling on her phone as I felt my face slightly burn from embarrassment.
"Sarah!" I yelled quietly as Sarah chortled while Everett's eyes brimmed with curiosity.
"Wait, you and Rai are dating now?!" Everett asked with a bread roll stuffed in his mouth as the misunderstanding Sarah created nearly made me lose my composure.
"Nooo! Sarah was just teasing!" I replied with a sigh of defeat as Everett continued to engulf the basket of bread rolls.
"I'm just concerned if Rai ran into any trouble as Atticus placed a target on Rai's back a few weeks ago." I voiced.
"Knowing Rai, I'm sure he can handle himself when it comes to Atticus, but if you're so worried about him, why don't you just call him?" Sarah suggested.
Tempted, I scrolled through my contacts to find his number, however, several conflicting thoughts arose within my mind as I made the ultimate decision not to call him.
"No, I'll just wait." I replied as Everett began choking on a bread roll, prompting me to hand him his cup of water as he immediately chugged the water while Sarah laughed hysterically at his carelessness.
I'm sure Rai's fine.
POV: Rai Shinsei
Although this plan to stop me is impressive…
It's bound to fail when you have five incompetent beings who don't have the capabilities to carry it out as they've already made their second mistake.
Disrupting their tempo, I rushed towards Jordan and Jacob, surprising the two of them with my sudden advancement, but instead of questioning my unusual actions, they took upon themselves to continue rushing towards me as the two of them tried to execute a combo attack, however, with a dexterous counter, I destroyed their combo attack within seconds as my adroit display of hand-to-hand combat left the two of them baffled.
Instead of forcing me into the open, where I would be unable to reveal my true abilities, the five of you are arrogant enough to corner me inside an empty alleyway as you all believe that my defeat is certain, but unfortunately for you all…
"Are you serious right now?!" Jacob questioned rhetorically as Jordan clicked his tongue in vexation and made a careless mistake by lunging towards me, allowing me to use his own momentum to flip him upside down as I spun around, pivoting on my toes as I then smashed my foot into his abdomen with a spinning back kick, sending him crashing into Jacob as the two of them tumbled backwards, entangled with one another as April's torrent of water approached rapidly.
Your plan is utterly useless if the five of you are far weaker than I am.
"You idiots! Get out of the way!" April shouted anxiously as I leapt onto one of the sidewalls and used it to kick myself off, backflipping onto a nearby dumpster as I avoided April's torrent of water and watched it wash away Jordan and Jacob into the open, but as their situation began to spiral out of control, I used their state of panic to my advantage as I grabbed two bags of trash and repositioned myself within the middle of the alleyway.
Ignoring April, who was much further behind than the two approaching me from above, I noticed Seth charging up a ball energy within his hand, prompting me to hurl the bags of trash towards him as he destroyed both of the oncoming bags with a beam of energy, but as the remains of the trash blocked out his vision of me, I used his blindspot to my advantage as I sprinted towards him and leapt onto the sidewall he resided on, scaling it in the midst as upon approaching him, I didn't give him a second to think as I hovered my fingers over his torso and landed a one-inch punch into his solar plexus, sending him tumbling backwards until he fell into a separate alleyway as he lost consciousness in the midst.
"You bastard!" Andy yelled as he jumped towards me, but as he approached me, I noticed his body was enveloped with a sticky-like substance, prompting me to evade his grasp as I leaped down from the sidewall and positioned myself accordingly.
I don't have much time left until Jordan and Jacob return.
Within fifteen seconds, I need to defeat both of them and escape.
As I scoured the area for anything useful, I noticed a shabby umbrella resting alongside a nearby trash can, rousing a smile from me as a wave of deja vu suddenly struck me.
I am forever grateful to you, Nyx.
Picking up the unopened umbrella, I began spinning it around my finger until Andy approached me as he tried to smash his fist into my face, but with a swift side step, I weaved his punch and tried to knock him out by smashing the umbrella into his head, however, Andy blocked the umbrella with his forearm as I noticed it was stuck to his skin.
"You're finished!" Andy yelled triumphantly as he tried to strike my jaw with a right hook, but to his dismay, I released my grasp of the umbrella and weaved his lousy hook as I then smashed my fist into his chin with a sharp uppercut, knocking him unconscious as I noticed a blast of water approaching me, prompting me to grab the umbrella from Andy's arm as I opened it and used it to block April's oncoming attack.
With the air being frigid, the impact of her attack created a misty cloud as I used it to hide my presence, causing an unnerving sensation to arise within April as she scoured the area frantically in order to find me, but using my umbrella as bait, I hurled it towards her as a distraction and in the moment she directed her attention towards it, I appeared within her blindspot and knocked her unconscious with a knifehand strike to the back of her neck.
With four of them unconscious, I used this opportunity to escape as I scaled the wall and jumped on top of the ramen shop with the intention of traversing the rooftops until I gained enough distance away from them, but as I leapt towards the rooftop in front of the ramen shop, I noticed a familiar face within my peripheral view as it was none other than Atticus, who bore a malevolent grin as he was already within the air with his Aspect active.
Atticus?!
Are you telling me that he anticipated me escaping?!
Not to mention, he hid his Aspectual Force so I wouldn't be able to sense him!
Unable to adjust my trajectory, Atticus intercepted me within the air, grabbing my face with the palm of his hand as he slammed the back of my head into the ground below, creating a small-sized crater as his chaotic entrance frightened many students.
"You've surpassed my expectations once again." Atticus remarked as he crouched over me, pinning me to the earth with his grasp over my mouth as the initial crowd of students began to gather around once again.
"You're ranked 200th within the academy and yet, you're telling me that not only were you able to escape from three low-rankers and three mid-rankers unscathed, but you were also able to land a few attacks on me during our scuffle in which should be impossible considering that I'm Atticus Fuchai, the successor of Lake Fuchai and a member of the Elite Ten."
"The difference between our strength should be night and day and yet, I find that hard to believe as not only is there not an ounce of fear within your eyes, but the fact that you're still conscious from my attack proves that statement to be false, so tell me, Rai Shinsei…"
"What is it that you're hiding?" Atticus questioned with a perturbing grin as his grasp tightened around my mouth, burying my head further into the earth as I struggled to find a solution to the unpredictable situation unfolding before me.
This is bad.
Not only is Atticus a member of the Elite Ten, but he's also a noble.
I already suspected it, but I don't know what to do as of now.
In order to escape from his grasp, I need to exert a tremendous amount of force, but in doing so, the fact that I am a false ranker will be revealed to the public and even if I wanted to escape, I absolutely cannot afford to gain anymore attention from any more nobles.
Damn it!
"So we decided to remain silent. Very well then."
"I'llmake this a memorable experience for you." Atticus affirmed with a malicious grin that stretched ear-to-ear as he pulled his fist back with the sole intention of mangling my face once again.
Am I really out of options-
"That's enough." A soft, cold tone uttered as Atticus's fist stopped a centimeter away from my face, but amidst his sudden hesitation, I noticed his forehead beading with cold sweat as his once violent demeanor was nowhere to be found.
"What are you doing here?" Atticus questioned, but despite his outward appearance being calm and collected, his composure was in shambles as his grasp weakened around my mouth while his palms sweated and the being that frightened him to his very core was none other than Selene, whose presence alone silenced the crowd around as her cold amethyst eyes remained solely on Atticus.
Selene?