The long silence after the PA announcement cut off was very heavy. No one moved at all. The cafeteria was completely trashed with broken trays, food, and shattered glass all littered on the floor, the smell of spilled milk and soup filling the air.
The Mad Dog exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling. His eyes flicked to the ceiling speaker and then back to Ren for a moment, he said nothing just wiped the smear of blood from his lip with his thumb. The grin that followed was smaller this time, tired but still as dangerous as before.
No one dared to move. The same students who had been shouting moments ago now were frozen in one place, staring at Yuto like they were eagerly awaiting his next move.
"…Boss says stand down. " He muttered, his voice low but audible enough for the crowd to hear.
Ren still in a crouching position blinked up at him, his eyes narrowing slightly. Ren didn't answer. His own breath came ragged, his knuckles trembling from the strain of the fight. His adrenaline was all but gone now and if the fight had gone any longer he would have lost.
He gave Ren one last glance that had something of half respect and half warning and then turned away to leave.
The crowd parted instinctively as Yuto straightened his uniform, tossed aside the splintered chair leg, and turned to leave. His shoes splashed through the puddles of spilled drinks and curry.
But before stepping out of the ruined cafeteria, he looked over his shoulder, that wild grin returning for one more second.
"Guess you got lucky, newbie. " He said, voice low and rough. "Next time, I won't stop."
He pushed through the double doors and then he was gone, disappearing into the hall.
The room still stayed dead silent for a few more seconds after and only after the doors slammed shut did the noise flood back in like a wave of whispers, murmurs, and footsteps as the students began to scatter.
Ren finally let himself fall to one knee, lungs burning, pulse pounding in his ears. He has lne hand pressed to the floor to steady himself, his breathing heavy. The tiles were cold against his palm as he steadied himself, his entire body trembling. Every blocked punch, every dodge, every hit he'd absorbed was finally catching up to him.
"Ren!" Shiinchiro's voice cut through the ringing in his ears.
He looked up to see him rushing forward through the crowd. Shiinichiro shoved a fallen chair aside before crouching beside him. His face was pale, eyes wide with panic.
"You okay?! You... holy crap, bro, you fought Mad Dog Yuto and didn't die. You're insane."
Ren managed a shaky laugh, half a cough. "Barely…"
He looked up to see the crowd was still staring at him whispering to themselves. Some were still recording, others just watched.
Hana and Fubuki arrived seconds later, picking their way through the debris, both out of breath from the chaos. Fubuki's brows were frowned tight with worry, her ponytail slightly undone.
Her eyes darted from Ren's bruised cheek to the wrecked cafeteria, her expression a storm of worry and disbelief.
"Ren!" she hissed. "What the hell was that?! You could've been killed!"
Hana crossed her arms, her sharp eyes scanning the wreckage. "He almost was. I told you the cafeteria was a war zone waiting to happen."
Fubuki knelt beside him, her tone gentler but equally firm. "You shouldn't have provoked him, Ren. Yuto Ishida isn't someone you just… fight. He's very dangerous."
Ren didn't respond right away. He just sat there, catching his breath, staring blankly at the door Yuto had walked through.
Ren gave a faint smile his eyes flickering toward the intercom speaker above. "Hasegawa…" He murmured.
Shiin frowned. "What about him?"
Ren's gaze hardened, the fatigue momentarily giving way to focus. "He knows. He knows I'm looking for him."
The others exchanged glances. Shiinchiro's mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Even Hana, who always had something to throw back, stayed quiet.
Fubuki managed to break the silence. "Wait, He.. he mentioned you by name. How would he even.."
"I don't know. "Ren shook his head slowly. "But that voice… that confidence. Everyone just froze. Like he owned the whole place."
As if on cue, the room around them seemed to come back to life students whispering, laughing nervously, some even cheering like they'd just witnessed an underground show.
"I finally heard him talk in person."
"He's so cool."
"Wow! That's our boss for you!"
Ren blinked, turning toward the chattering groups. "It's not like he's standing in front of us or anything," He muttered.
One student beamed at him. "Of course he is, man! It's Hasegawa!"
Ren stared, baffled. "What is this sense of solidarity…?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, his mind spinning.
"Would just being strong do this much…?"
Hana snorted, tossing her hair. "You just don't get it. Around here, Hasegawa's not just some punk.. he is their King. "
Ren's thoughts whirled. "Are these guys really the bad ones… or just lost in his gravity? "
"Fujimoto Hasegawa… what kind of guy are you really? " He thought.
The cafeteria slowly began returning to normal. The Teachers hadn't even arrived yet maybe word probably hadn't reached them, or maybe they just didn't want to deal with another Sakurakai incident.
Shiinchiro sighed, patting Ren's shoulder. "You're crazy, you know that? You went toe to toe with Yuto and lived. But…" He grinned, eyes gleaming. "I kinda like it."
Ren smiled faintly, exhaustion finally creeping into his bones. His knuckles stung, his arms ached like it was dislocated but he had drawn attention like he wanted... Hasegawa's attention at that.
And that meant the game had begun.
He was about to push himself back up when a voice barked from behind. "Hey!"
Ren turned around too slow and a fist smashed across his face, sharp and sudden.
The pain exploded behind his eyes as he staggered back, crashing to the floor. The world tilted sideways, sound muffled and distant.
The crowd gasped.
A short, sharp-eyed student stood over him, sneering. "That's what you get for messing with the Sakuratei. "
Ren blinked up, dazed. His head throbbed his vision blurring.
"Hey... hey! Ren!" Shiinchiro's voice was frantic now, shaking him by the shoulders. "Come on, man, wake up!"
Ren groaned, trying to push himself up, but his body just refused to . The adrenaline was gone and all that was left was pain and exhaustion. His vision tunneled, the world spinning out of focus.
The last thing he saw was Shiin and Hana's worried faces hovering above him and then only darkness was there with him.