He knew that fighter would trash talk in pre-fight conferences to disturb their opponent's mind, but here there was no meeting beforehand, so the beginner fighters would do it seconds before the fight.
The fight soon started, and Leo observed his opponent. He didn't need to wait for long as his opponent shot towards him. Her specialization seemed to be speed. She tried to overwhelm him with quick kicks not unsimilar to Shunlei's attacks, but it was missing that accuracy.
She would still have an edge over Shunlei as the kicks were snappier and therefore carried that extra oomph. They heatedly engaged for the next 5 rounds with Leo mainly being on the defensive side.
It was only in the 6th round that Leo completely picked his opponent apart. To be honest, compared to the other fights Leo won, this one was the cruelest.
It was clear that he had already figured out how to defeat his opponent. He blocked her kicks and punches before they gained any momentum, when he didn't block his distance was perfect to let the attacks miss completely.
Most spectators were fighters themselves, so they felt that this fight was crueler than any other they had witnessed in this tournament. He had completely dismantled her technique and prevented his opponent from gaining any momentum.
He showed his opponent that all her techniques were child's play in his eyes and that she might as well stand still. Being completely hopeless in combat was probably the worst feeling a fighter that trained for several years could have.
It was one thing for a fighter to make a mistake and get punished for it but to be at your best and still lose this miserable was heartbreaking. After Leo knocked the girl out with a well-placed hook, he exited the ring to be greeted by booing except for his family. Well, his father booed him as well but after being hit by Ally, he switched sides quick.
He was surprised to say the least, after all he won the fight fair and square. The fact that Leo had done the same with two fights the day before seemed to be irrelevant as his opponent was a cute girl now. They would have applauded him for his skill the day before if they had witnessed the fights.
Now most of the attention was given the first fights and therefore attracted more attention than it would have normally. Additionally, his fight had been one of the longer fights and the other fights had trickled out beforehand, so he was one of the few still fighting, combining it with a boy bullying a girl it was almost inevitable for Leo to arouse the spectator's anger.
And once the mob started it would only get worse with time. Fortunately, it was limited to the youngsters and the non-fighters in the crowd. Leo just shrugged it off and went to his seating. On the way there he received a bunch of glares as if he had killed their puppy even Lenny looked at him weirdly.
However, stranger was his question that he whispered after Leo sat down. "Do you like her?"
"Dafuq-" He was promptly slapped over the head.
"Language young man" His mother had that smile on her face that said that she would whoop his ass if Leo cursed again.
"*Cough* I mean, what are you talking about?" Leo said as he turned his attention back to Lenny, who studied Leo's face.
"Haven't you fallen- I mean, don't you think she was pretty?" While he whispered to Leo, Shunlei, who was closest to the two, leaned in with interest. She was only interested in Leo's opponent as she was their age. She wanted to know how she would have fared against her.
"Pretty weak, yeah." Leo casually responded as he brought out a snack to eat.
"Eh? T-that's not what I am talking about! I mean, how did you feel about her?" As Lenny finished, Shunlei couldn't help but butt in.
"Yeah, how strong do you think she will be in the future? Is she currently stronger than I am? You think she would fight me if I asked?" Shunlei fired off some questions.
"Hmm. She was skilled, fast, and strong but she lacked experience and variety. She couldn't really adapt to my counters at the end. Her kicks were fierce, but she didn't have your accuracy, so she would only kick against my guard or miss easily if I dodged. If we compare the two of you, I will say you would win against her.
Her attacks may be heavier, but your skills are more tailored towards combat itself. It's probably because you always spar against us and to actually hit us you needed to change the direction of the kicks, making them more accurate."
Shunlei felt happy to be praised like that. She kind of regretted not joining the boy's division. Although, they won their fights rather easy, their opponents still looked tougher than hers. She also was uncomfortable making the other girls cry.
It couldn't be helped as Shunlei was a battle maniac and wasn't afraid of pain. She was perfectly capable of taking a few kicks if it meant to deliver a heavy blow towards her opponent. The same couldn't be said for most of the girls in the tournament.
In this age division their strength had already grown quite a bit. These fights weren't the same as a fight between small children in Leo's age. Now they could seriously hurt each other and most needed a period of adapting. The same could be said for the boys but like Leo himself, most had already brawled in elementary school or kindergarten.
"That's it?" Lenny asked frowning. Leo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow before realizing something.
"Don't worry about me! If you like her go for it, I will support you!" He gave Lenny a thumbs up before wishing luck to Shunlei who had to go warm up for her fight.
"-mess up?" Lenny muttered something. "Did something happen?" Leo asked as he studied Lenny. He had been a bit weird for the last few weeks, since the announcement of the tournament to be exact.
Lenny then stood up and walked off the tribune. Leo only watched his back before shrugging away any concern. He then went around on the tribune towards the ring where Shunlei was meant to fight. He sat down next to Shunlei's family at the bottom of the tribune to closely watch her fight with a snack in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Unbeknownst to him as soon as he sat down, somebody approached him from the top of the tribune. "Woo-hoo!" Leo hollered and whistled as he saw Shunlei enter the ring.
Her family had been as enthusiastic as Leo, so it easily caught her attention and she waved in response before focusing back on the upcoming fight.
It didn't take long before the fight began. He was so focused on the fight that he didn't notice that someone was standing right next to him staring at him.
The person then looked at Shunlei's fight and seemed to be surprised at the skill that was shown. The first round was quickly over and after a short break they continued with the next. "Leonidas Thompson. You are lucky that I underestimated you this time but don't think that-"
"Woo-hoo! Nice block! Use your head movement!" Leo shouted and was quickly followed by Shunlei's family.
"Hey! Do you think you are funny?!" A female noise nagged him from the side. "Do a backflip next!"
"Stop ignoring me!!" Someone stomped the ground next to Leo. He turned to the girl who had a scowl on her face. A pretty girl with open long silver hair. Leo tilted his head as he tried to remember her.
Her scowl changed into disbelief as she stared at the boy, who had just thrashed her. "Don't- Have you forgotten me already?!" She forced out of her mouth. It sounded a lot frailer than she intended to but internally she was seething. Yes, it was pure anger and the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes formed because she was that furious.
"Huh, duh. I know you. We m-met at that t-time." Leo stumbled over his words.
"Then what's my name?!" After seeing Leo being awkwardly silent while trying to avoid eye contact, she took her hair and made a bun like the one she had during their fight just a few minutes ago.
"Oh, right! H-hey, how is been? Long time no see!"
"We fought like 15 minutes ago!" The silver haired anime girl shouted.
"Ohhh. Of course, I remember my opponent!" Obviously, he remembered her. It was Lenny's love interest after all. He couldn't mess it up for his boy.
"My name is Laura Everlast and I declare you my rival!" She shouted while pointing at Leo.
"Eh? Why me? And calm down, will you? The people are already staring." Leo said while holding up his hands to calm her down and it worked like a charm.
"I SHOUT WHEN AND WHERE I WANT!" The more she talked with the boy the more frustrated she became.
"Alright! Geez. Can't you pick somebody else to be your rival?"
"No, it has to be you! You defeated me after all!" She was still heaving from her shout. Leo gave her a weird look.
"What's up with this anime scenario? What rival? It was just a fight! Did you expect to win every fight ever? Are you making everyone you lose against a rival??"
"…no." She whispered. "I- I have already decided! A-and frankly you get no say in this!" It was obvious to Leo that she was throwing logic completely out of the window and the glare that Shunlei's brother gave him didn't help to improve his mood.
'Why me?? Did I humiliate you that much?' Leo internally sighed as he just accepted reality. 'At least, I didn't make a proposal to marry her in the future. I really don't need that kind of drama in my life…'
"Alright, you have conveyed your message. Off you go, I am still watching a match." Leo said as he turned his attention back to the ring.
"So, you accept?"
Leo's head snapped back to her. "Accept what?! Do I have a say in this or not?? If not, then just go be stupid elsewhere!"
After shouting at her, her eyes became teary, and she ran away. He finally could return his attention to the fight… and it was finished.
"Great…" Leo muttered. "Do you know why your g- the girl you fought ran away crying?" A voice suddenly sounded out that he knew belonged to Lenny.
"Dunno." He lazily responded. Lenny frowned at that. "-ck. I fucked up." Lenny muttered.
"What did you fuck up?" Leo said as the two went back to their bags.
"Oh. I-I just wasted so much money on that vending machine in the hallway to get a snack, but it seemed to have broken and now I don't know how to tell my mom that I lost it…"
Leo gave him a weird look. "What did you throw inside a hundred-dollar bill?"
"No. 10 dollars, I think." Lenny seemed unsure.
"Sucks to be you, I guess." Leo said as he sat down beside his bag. He searched his bag for a Twix and gave it to Lenny.
"…Thanks." Lenny looked at the Twix in his hands with a slight smile on his face. Leo couldn't quite place that look but he felt that Lenny was having an important moment.
Lenny looked at Leo with a solemn face. "Leonidas, you can count on me, no matter what!" Leo was surprised to say the least. Was that how a heartfelt confession felt like? Leo thought to himself.
"It is just a Twix bro. And Lenny, I don't know how to say this but…" Leo took a breath and placed a hand on Lenny's shoulder before he continued seriously. "…I am into girls."
What followed was silence as Leo's words had yet to register in Lenny's mind and when it did, he pushed Leo away while rolling his eyes.
The smile on his face, however, gave his mood away. "I know. I will do my damnedest to be greatest wingman, especially after today."
"I already told you I didn't like her!" He exclaimed but it didn't seem to convince Lenny as he just casually nodded and responded with "Sure".