Saitou stood in-between his brothers with his arms crossed. The smirk on his face gave a detailed explanation that he had something planned. His brother's expression followed the same pattern, but with an added snicker as the three blocked the door.
"Don't worry about teaching it to him kid," Saitou's expression remained. "Because he's about to learn it first-hand." He told them as Rakaia gritted his teeth, balling his fist up immediately after his eyes fell on the three brothers.
"It's…it's…it"s Saitou!" Noah jumped a bit, quickly hiding behind Rakaia as Rakaia stood his ground.
"Heh, heh, in the flesh…" Saitou's cocky grin began to spread across his face.
Rakaia didn't seem fazed by the three brothers, nor the fact that they locked the door behind them. "What do you want Saitou?" Rakaia glared at him. "We still have four days until our match, and you know we can't touch other until then." Rakaia reminded him as Saitou just snickered at Rakaia's statement.
"I just wanted to see what my favorite punching bag is up to," Saitou responded to him. "And don't worry, I know the rules; I'm the one that made sure they have put in place myself, just to prevent…Any unfortunate…accidents." Saitou finished his statement as both brothers began to slowly circle around both Rakaia and now, the shivering Noah.
Rakaia's eyes quickly darted from one end to the other as both Kaitou and Maitou stopped on either side of them. "Besides runt," Saitou spoke up again. "I didn't come here to fight you," Saitou stated, gaining Rakaia's attention with his words.
"You didn't come to fight?" Rakaia gave him a perplexed looked, confused by his words as his right eyebrow rose a bit. "Then what did you come here for?" Rakaia asked him, still confused by his statement.
Saitou couldn't help but let out another laugh as he brought his gaze back to Rakaia. "You got so many questions don't you runt?" Saitou responded to him as he lifted his hand up, pointing to Rakaia. "I didn't say I wasn't here to fight, I said I wasn't here to fight you." Saitou finished.
Rakaia still glared at him for a second. "But then…"
Rakaia's eyes shot up in shock as he realized what Saitou was talking about Saitou slowly drifted his finger that was pointing at Rakaia, down to Noah, who still shivered with fear." I came here to fight…Him." Saitou's smirk expanded as Rakaia slowly turned his head around to see Noah nearly about to piss on himself Saitou slowly turned his hand around, gesturing with his hand for Noah to come to him. "Come here kid, let's have some fun," Saitou told him, as Noah's feet remained solidly planted on the ground, hiding behind Rakaia, not moving one inch.
"Oh, you don't want to fight?" Saitou taunted him. "After all that time you took to pull up some info on me and you don't want to test it out first hand." Saitou chided him.
"I...I…I'm not a fighter, I…." Noah tried to speak but found that his words were stuck in his throat from the sheer terror that he was feeling on the inside of his stomach. His heart rate quickened, and he began to sweat a bit; his head darting left and right, desperately trying to find a way out of the situation but finding that there was none.
"Nonsense," Saitou smiled at him. "It's just going to be a little friendly match; I promise you won't get hurt." Saitou falsely assured him.
"N…N…N…No, I think I'm just going to stay over…." Noah tripped over his words.
Rakaia stuck his hand in front of Noah, glaring daggers directly at Saitou. "If you really want to fight so bad, then we can say screw the match and do it right now," Rakaia told him, trying his best to stand up for his friend.
"Oh no runt, you're the main course," Saitou told him. "I want the whole school sees me wipe the floor with you when I bash your face into the ground." He licked his lips as he eyed Noah hiding behind Rakaia.
"He's simply just going to be the appetizer and to show you, what you're going to be in for when you step into the ring with me." Saitou pointed to himself as he emphasized his point.
"I'm not letting you hurt him Saitou, either you take me on now, or you wait until it's time to fight in the ring, but I'm not going to let you lay a hand on Noah." Rakaia stood firm with his words, but Saitou continued to snicker at him as he let the tip of his tongue slip out of his mouth.
"Oh, is that right?" Saitou crouched down a bit, getting ready to charge in at Rakaia. "Tell me, runt, how are you going to stop me?" With that, Saitou charged in toward Rakaia, but Rakaia made sure to have his body to protect Noah from any damage he would take.
Saitou moved in, quickly contorting his body in a few ways to catch Rakaia completely off guard as he appeared to bring his body up to perform a simple front kick, which Rakaia was ready to catch and deflect, but at the last second Saitou's movements changed. Rakaia's eyes shot up in shock as he went to catch Saitou's foot, but it wasn't there. Instead, Saitou quickly brought his foot back and one fluid motion, performing a roundhouse kick, stopping his foot just before it touched Rakaia's neck.
Rakaia's mind couldn't grasp what he saw. "What…What….What the hell did he just do?" He spoke mentally as Saitou remained in his stance with one foot close to Rakaia's neck and the other planted solidly on the ground. "Ho…How! There's no way someone's body can move like that." Rakaia gritted his teeth as he was about to back away with Noah right behind him.
"Oh, you can't get away." Saitou slithered his way up to Rakaia once more, but this time Rakaia wasn't about to let Saitou get the best of him. Rakaia tried to outmaneuver Saitou and catch another attempted blow. Saitou quickly held his hand out flat, palm down with his fingers closed as he jabbed at Rakaia, quickly stopping his hand mere inches in front of his face, before pulling it back. Rakaia was once again stunned.
"What's wrong runt?" Saitou asked him. "You're not scared of a little snake bite are you?" He continued to snicker as Rakaia couldn't do anything but literally stare in shock at how outclassed he was against Saitou. All this time, Saitou has been using Rakaia's typical street fight style against him, something Rakaia knew very well, but now; the snake style, was something completely foreign to Rakaia. Saitou slithered back to his previous point and just stared at Rakaia's shocked expression before he turned his look to his brothers. "Bring the second runt to me," Saitou instructed them as both Kaitou and Maitou nodded their heads and quickly made their way over to Noah, who was quickly lifted up off the ground from behind Rakaia and carried over to Saitou.
"Hey, wait! What are you doing? Rakaia help! Rakaia! Rakaia!" Noah shouted as loud as he could, but Rakaia was still in shock at Saitou's fighting skills that he hadn't come back into the real world yet. "Rakaia! Snap out of it! Rakaia!" Noah continued to scream his name, hoping his friend would help him before it was too late.
"You really should be worrying a bit more about yourself," Saitou told him, lowering his face closer to his. "Because you know, you are going up against…"Saitou leaned his head closer to Noah's ear. "A snake." Noah's eyes quickly shot up in pain as Saitou buried his knee into Noah's gut, causing Noah to lose his breath in the process.
Rakaia upon seeing this quickly snapped out of his trance. "Noah…Noah!" Rakaia charged forward as he saw Noah's body double over.
Reaching out his hand, Rakaia screamed his name again. "Noah!" Trying to reach for his friend.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kaitou yelled out as caught Rakaia in the side of the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "The principal said that Saitou couldn't touch you, she didn't say anything about us." They both bashed their fist into their palms as Rakaia quickly got back up, ignoring the two brothers standing in his way. "Noah, hold on! I'm coming!" Rakaia shouted as Noah remained on his knees, clutching his stomach.
Saitou didn't even respond as he looked down at the pain-filled underclassmen that knelt before him. "Come on…what's the matter? This is a fighting school...So get up and fight!" Saitou shouted down at him as he quickly kicked Noah in the face, knocking him to his side, and causing him to cover up.
Rakaia couldn't believe what he was seeing. He gritted his teeth and kept trying to rush past the two Viper Brothers, but they continued to get in his way, pushing him back and keeping him away from the one-sided beat down that Saitou was giving Noah.
"Get up! Get up! Get up!" A sick expression appeared on Saitou's face as he continued to stomp on the defenseless teen. "What's the matter? Scared of a little bite!" He picked up Noah by the shirt and delivered a hard punch to his face, knocking him back down once again.
"Noah!" Rakaia hollered as Noah's body hit the ground. He glared at the two brothers that stood in front of him as Saitou walked over to the grounded Noah, standing over him with his sick expression spreading wider by the second, sticking his tongue out a bit more as he looked up at Rakaia, a satisfying smirk on his face as he saw what he wanted to see, the desperation and horror in his opponent's eyes.
-Meanwhile back in class-
The class had resumed, and Cana was sitting behind Rakaia's desk, looking at the empty seat. The instructor had already begun, and Rakaia had not returned. "Skipping class again huh?" She thought to herself as she stared at the blackboard with boredom in her eyes. "I shouldn't really be surprised." She mentally spoke again as she tilted her head to the side, catching Luna in her eyesight, watching her a bit as she listened intently to what the instructor had to say.
In her line of vision, she spotted Noah's seat. "Huh? Noah's not here either? That's weird, he never skips out on a lesson." Cana wondered a bit before she turned her head back to Rakaia's desk, still missing a body.
She sighed a bit. "Rakaia's probably holding him up by making him watch him train or something." She lowered her gaze a bit, trying to keep herself from falling asleep as she listened to her boring instructor speaks about something she had no interest in. " So you're going to bring the smartest kid in class down to Rakaia?" Cana sighed once again. "Now that's low." She stared back at the blackboard trying to keep up with everybody else.
-Principles Office-
Mariko sat at her desk. Her eyes focused on the paperwork that was laid out before her. She eyed the paper intently, determined to write something, but for some reason, nothing came to mind. Her eyes continued to scan the same document before she laid it back down on the stack of papers that sat idly on her desk. "Ugh, this is annoying; I hate paperwork." She said to no one in particular.
She leaned back in her chair, kicking her feet up; resting them on the stack of papers that sat in front of her. "Not only do I have to make sure the match for the end of the week is set up, but I also have to deal with…." Mariko rubbed her temple a bit as she leaned her head back a bit more. "This job is really starting to work on my beautiful features." She whined as she used her fingers to continue to rub the corner of her forehead.
She let out an audible whine of frustration. "Why do they have to dump all the work on me?" She groaned. "Aren't the teachers and facility supposed to do this sort of thing, why do I have to do…." Mariko's eyes blinked for a moment as the sound of her phone went off, notifying her that she had a message. "Huh? A text message? Who would…?" Mariko picked up her phone, quickly using her thumb to swipe across the screen to allow the message to come up, only for it to read. "You know, they don't pay you to slack off." Mariko read the message out loud, sitting in her seat and staring at her phone with a brief pause.
Seconds later Mariko burst up from her chair in false anger, "How the hell do you know what I am doing? Why are you even texting me? Aren't you supposed to be doing your own job?" She yelled at her phone as her face gave off a childish appearance as she began to use her fingers to embark on a texting war against the person that decided to fire the first shot. "I'll show you, how dare you sit there and…." Mariko's door burst open, revealing a tired generic student, who appeared out of breath.
"Imuran Senpai! Imuran Senpai!" The student appeared out of breath, not realizing that she caught Mariko goofing off in her office. Mariko, stunned by the sudden appearance quickly hid her phone in her lap as she quickly situated herself to appear that she was hard at work.
"Wha…What is it? And why did you just barge into my office? Haven't you ever heard of knocking? Why are so many of my students rude and inconsidera…."
"Imuran Senpai! Saitou and his brothers are after Rakaia!" She cut her off, causing her eyes to shoot up.
"What!" Mariko's response was noted. "How do you know this?" Her eyes grew serious as she eyed the female student that told her this bit of information.
"I saw Rakaia and Noah in the training room while I was heading back to class and Saitou and his brothers went in and closed the door behind them." She told her in pure fright.
Mariko gritted her teeth with the sudden information as she quickly lifted herself up from her seat, both of her palms slamming on top of the desk as her face clearly displayed her frustration. "Damn it, you two just couldn't wait for a few more days, could you? Just wait till I get my hands on the two of you, I promise I'm going to!!!" When Mariko stood up, her phone slid off her lap, falling onto the floor in front of one of her students.
"Um, Imuran Senpai?" The student called her name with a confused expression on her face. "Were you in your office, playing on your phone the entire time?" She asked her as they both shared a silent moment with one another.
"Is that really the issue right now…" Mariko looked at her one of her students with a plain expression on her face. "BECAUSE WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH! YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT MY PHONE!" She screamed as she quickly got out from around her desk and rushed passed her student. "I need to stop this and now!" She quickly bolted out of her office, heading towards the training room where Rakaia and Noah had their backs against the wall.
-Back in the training room-
Rakaia was being held back against the wall with both Maitou and Kaitou, restraining both of his arms. He desperately tried to fight back against the two, but they made sure Rakaia was forced to watch as Noah took a beating from Saitou.
"Aww come on." Saitou taunted him. "Is that all you got?" He asked his unwilling opponent as he barely managed to stand up. "All that information you had on me and this is the best you can do," Saitou spoke as he delivered a hard punch to the stomach of Noah, who coughed up spit as Saitou left his hand buried in Noah's midsection. "They say a fighter should have brains and brawns, but it looks like you are lacking in the brawns department, huh runt?" Saitou taunted him a bit more as he began to lift Noah up a bit with his fist. "Here, let's see if we can toughen you up!" He pushed Noah off of his fist and used his other hand to connect with the side of Noah's jaw, sending the non-fighter, sprawling to the ground.
"Noah!" Rakaia struggled against the remaining brother's grip. "Saitou stop it! He's not fighting back! Leave him alone!" Rakaia gritted his teeth as he tried with everything he had to get away from Saitou's siblings, but there was nothing he could do with two guys constantly wrestling around with him, making Rakaia use his strength to try and gain some lead way towards Noah, but it was all in vain.
Saitou just turned to Rakaia, giving him a sick smirk in response. "What's the matter, runt? Can't help your little friend here?" Rakaia was growling immensely now as he tried once again, to break free from the two opposing brothers; but to no avail. Saitou made his way over to Noah, stomping down hard on his back, causing him to scream in pain. "Better hurry up and rescue the little guy, or who knows what might happen." Saitou kept his eyes locked on Rakaia, who continued to struggle.
"Saitou! I'm going to….Saitou!" Rakaia screamed
"Why don't you pipe down!"? Kaitou shouted at him as both he and his brother forced Rakaia into the ground face first. Maitou grabbed the back of his head, lifting it a bit so that Rakaia could watch.
"Saitou…" Rakaia tiredly spoke. "Leave him alone, it's me you want. Leave Noah out of this, if you want to…If you want to fight, then just fight me, Screw the match; if you want to fight so bad then call off your garden snakes and fight me one on one." Rakaia didn't mix words as he exhaustedly glared at his future opponent. "Unless you're scared that I'm going to pound you into the ground and knock that stupid smirk off your face." Rakaia retaliated with a taunt of his own.
"Do you really think you can beat me, runt?" Saitou removed his foot from Noah's back and walked over to Rakaia's prone body, which was held down by Saitou's two younger brothers. What do you think you can possibly do against me, especially in your position?" Saitou talked down to him.
"Trust me; I can do a lot if your stupid side strings weren't holding me down right now." Rakaia let out a tired snicker. "I'd be kicking your ass all over this room if you came to fight me by yourself." Rakaia didn't want to admit it, but struggling against both of Saitou's brothers tired him out. He didn't have the stamina, nor the strength to beat Saitou in a one-on-one fight, at least not at the moment, but he wasn't about to let Saitou know that.
His eyes slightly glanced over at Noah's motionless body as he turned his attention back to the snake that stood above him. "It's sad you know, you really had to stoop so low as to attack my friend, when you could have just come and fought me and got it over with." Rakaia continued to add, hopefully buying time for a plan that he had not yet come up with.
"Sad? You couldn't do anything to stop me, and you're calling me sad." Saitou let off a laugh of his own as he knelt down in front of Rakaia. "Oh, that's rich, ok runt I'll bite," Saitou added. "I'll play your little game, you think if my boys let you up; that you would actually stand a chance in one on one fight against me?" Saitou asked him, as Rakaia couldn't help but give Saitou a worn-out smirk as he quickly tried to regain his breath.
"You ask too many questions, you already know the answer to," Rakaia responded. "You know you wouldn't a last long against me, that's why you attacked Noah instead of me." Rakaia continued to press his luck. "You know the truth already Saitou, you don't want to fight me one on one because you would lose, no…not just that…Because you're afraid." Rakaia finished his statement, which caused Saitou to slightly grit his teeth and send a glare his way.
"Why you little…You really think?" Saitou couldn't contain himself any longer as he let out a laugh of pure enjoyment. "You really think that me," He pointed to himself. "The leader of the Viper Brothers is scared of some half-ass fighter like you." He pointed towards Rakaia as the three of them joined together their laughter mixed with each other. "Oh, now that's really funny; but ok, boys lift him up; I want to see him eat his words when I knock them down his throat." Saitou clenched both of his fists as he looked down at Rakaia. "Let's see if the little runt can stomach it." Saitou smirk widened
"You heard him, get up!" Maitou stated.
"Yea, no one stands up to our brother and gets away with it," Kaitou added as they both lifted Rakaia up to his feet, with Maitou holding his hands behind his back and Kaitou making sure that Rakaia doesn't make any sudden moves.
Saitou walked up to the defenseless Rakaia, not worried about Rakaia's earlier statements, but intending on brutality harm the underclassmen. "Any last words before I knock your face in runt?" Saitou cracked his knuckles as he got within range of Rakaia's.
"Yea two…" Rakaia smirked at Saitou, throwing him off a bit. "SCREW OFF!" Rakaia kicked both his legs up, pushing both of his feet against Saitou's face, knocking him back as Rakaia used the force he picked up to press Maitou against some gym equipment, causing him to trip and release Rakaia from his grip.
"Hey!" Kaitou shouted as he charged toward Rakaia, but Rakaia quickly dodged Kaitou's punch and returned with one of his own, pushing his fist in the side of his face as he ran over towards Noah's prone body, kneeling down to check on and guard him at the same time as he balled his fist and readied himself for the fight of his life.
-Meanwhile -
Mariko ran as fast as she could, trying her best to reach Rakaia's classroom without wasting any more time. "I can't believe this is happening." Mariko thought to herself as she rounded a nearby corner. "After I just specifically told those two that physical contact was forbidden before the match." She gritted her teeth as she came to a sliding halt, stopping in front of Rakaia's class, and quickly sliding open the door.
Everyone stopped what they were doing as Mariko ignored everyone who was in their seats and quickly scanned the classroom. Frustration was visible on her face as she found two empty seats. Putting two and two together, Mariko cursed mentally. "Damn…They're not here, then that means what's going on is true." Her mind raced as the students and instructor continued to look at her.
"Um, Ms. Imuran can I help you with…." The instructor didn't have time to finish as Mariko quickly whirled around, running off towards the training room. The students looked at each other with confusion. Their eyes locked on one another as gossip and mumbles were heard from them.
"Ok class settle down." The instructor spoke up, trying to keep his class's attention focused on him. The students drowned out their instructor's plea as they began to converse amongst themselves.
"What do you think it's going on?" A male student asked. "I don't know but I bet it's something bad." A female student answered him. "Do you think it's an unsanctioned fight?" Another female stupid spoke up.
"I don't know, but Imuran Senpai looked really mad, something's got to be up." A tall plain male student joined in.
"Hey guys, did you know noticed that Rakaia hasn't been back yet?" A female student asked as everyone turned towards Rakaia's desk, seeing an empty seat. "Hey, Noah isn't back either." Another female student chipped in. "Do you think they're involved?" She added as another male student stepped up.
"Whatever it is, it sure had Imuran Senpai worried." He told them as the students continued to talk about the possibilities of what could be going on. "Hey, what are we sitting around here for; let's go see what's going on?" A heavyset student spoke as the class shouted together as the instructor constantly tried to calm his students down, even going as far as standing in front of the doorway.
"I don't think it's wise for…" The students were not hearing it as they completely bulldozed over their instructor, trampling him in the process as they all proceeded to follow Mariko.
Throughout the commotion, Luna and Cana eyed each other for a brief moment. Nodding their heads in agreement, they both stood up and quickly followed the students, but not without accidentally trampling their instructor along the way.
As the students cleared the classroom, their instructor lay there. Footprints along his body and face with his glasses a bit disoriented. "Ugh," He groaned. "I hate my job." He finished as he coughed a bit.
-Back to the training room-
Rakaia remained knelt down beside Noah, who appeared to be unconscious. "Noah, hey Noah! Come on man answer me!" Rakaia shook Noah furiously, but he received no response. "…Noah…." Rakaia gritted his teeth as he directed his glare back towards Saitou, who quickly recovered with both his brothers.
"That was a nice little trick runt; I guess little punks like you can pull off a few surprises," Saitou smirked at him. "But you know that's as far as you go right?" Saitou assured him as he cracked his knuckles again. "This time, I'm going to make sure when I beat you down you stay down." He declared as Rakaia looked down at Noah for a moment and then back at the three Viper Brothers as he slowly stood up, stepping in front of Noah. His hands raised, his fist balled, determination resonating in his eyes as he stood his ground, ready for a fight.
"Just say when…." He delivered his trademark catchphrase, ready to fight against the odds. His mind wouldn't admit it, but his body showed fatigue. He was breathing a bit heavy, still trying to catch his breath from struggling with both the younger Viper brothers and managing to use some of his energy to break free from them to get to Noah.
Saitou took note of this. "Just say when huh? You sure about that runt?" He chided him. "You think you're going to be able to beat all three of us like that? Are you stupid or something? Or you just like getting stomped into the dirt by me?" Saitou continued on with his taunts, as Rakaia didn't utter another word.
This was unlike the other fights that Rakaia has been in and he knew it. This wasn't just some squabble in the back alley that he was used to. He turned his head back a bit, glancing at Noah's unconscious form. He grimaced at the sight as he turned back around to face his opponents. "I'm sorry Noah," Rakaia apologized mentally.
"You tried to warn me about how dangerous this guy was and I wouldn't listen." Rakaia gritted his teeth, even more, bearing the truth about the situation at hand. "I had I just taken him a bit more seriously, you wouldn't have gotten hurt …" His eyes narrowed at Saitou specifically as he watched as his sick smile reappeared on his face.
"Dammit, how did I let things get this bad?" Rakaia cursed himself as he watched the three brothers begin slowly surround him.
Saitou continued to smirk at him. "Ready for your beat-down runt?" He stuck his tongue out a bit, mimicking a snake.
"I want you to scream real loud for us ok? Don't worry; it's only going to hurt a lot." Kaitou stated.
"And we're going to drag it out nice and slow." Maitou finished up as the three continued to circle around Rakaia, who tried his best to keep his eyes on all three of them, but they quickly threw him off as they charged forward.
Rakaia couldn't make heads or tails of who to strike first. He knew if he went after one, then the other would surely take pride in putting him on the defensive, so what was he to do? There was no option open for him. He knew it; there was nothing he could do. He was done for.
"This is what you getting for stepping up to me!" Saitou threw his punch, aiming it at Rakaia's face. Rakaia on the receiving end of the punch quickly shut his eyes, waiting for the blow to land.
"This is it…" Rakaia thought to himself. "Sorry Noah, Sorry I got you mixed in with all this." Another mental apology escaped his mind as he continued to wait for the blow to come, but to his surprise it never did. Rakaia slowly opened his eyes, blinking a bit in shock as Mariko was standing directly in front of him with Saitou's fist in the palm of her hand.
She glared angrily at him as she held his fist. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear when I said no physical contact." She growled at him.
Saitou lightly hissed at her in return. "You…" He forcibly pulled back his arm; retrieving his hand from her grasp as he locked eyes with her, backed up by half the underclassmen that were stationed in the academy.
Rakaia looked a bit relieved that Mariko had shown up when she did. "You sure took your sweet time getting here." He dropped to his knees, mentally and physically exhausted as he tried to catch his breath.
"Kaia!" Cana and Luna burst through the crowd, with Cana kneeling beside Rakaia, checking on him as Luna stood in front of them and beside Mariko, glaring at the Viper Brothers.
"Well now isn't this a treat. Our great principal swoops in to save one of her precious students. How generous of you." Saitou kept his eyes on Mariko for a moment before they lightly shifted to Luna. "And look who she brought with her, the former XMA fighter herself; the washed-up queen who forfeited the biggest match of her career." He snickered as Luna narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why don't you come say that to my face you lil…." Mariko stuck her arm out in front of Luna, signaling for her to stop; which she conceited too.
"You went too far this time Saitou," Mariko told him as she crossed her arms. "You went far beyond my restrictions and even brought an innocent student into this." She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she continued to speak. "I can't let this slide." She reopened her eyes. The seriousness that radiated in her voice was something to respect. Her students stood there quietly as she spoke to the juveniles in front of her. "I hereby have no choice but to not only turn you into the proper authorities and let them deal with your savage behavior but to permanently expel you from the Academy; therefore, canceling your match with Rakaia at the end of the week." She finished as Rakaia's head quickly snapped up, his eyes widening in shock as Mariko's words set in quickly.
Saitou couldn't help but laugh at her response. "Really? Is that all?" He told her. "So, I won't get to fight the little runt, I've already proven who was the better fighter between us. There's nothing else to…
"Wait!" Rakaia shouted, grabbing Mariko by the hand, catching everyone's attention.
"Kaia…" Cana called his name as he slowly picked himself up, still breathing a bit heavy as Mariko turned towards him.
"Mariko…. Listen….Don't."
"I can't let this slide Rakaia." Mariko cut him off as she turned her head back towards the brawlers in question. "He and his brothers have not only violated the rules of this academy but have made a mockery of me and everything this school stands for. I will not let someone like him continue to walk freely within these school walls, disrespecting our name, by pulling disgraceful stunts like this." She growled at him.
Everyone knew Mariko meant every word that slipped from her mouth. "Saitou, knowing that someone like you walks into my school, puts my students at risk. I've tried to be patient with you, but you refused to abide by the rules that I've set and the rules of the academy. You are no longer welcome…."
"Mariko stop!" Rakaia shouted, catching her attention again.
"Rakaia, I told you I can't let it…." She tried to counter him again, but Rakaia was persistent.
"Look, I don't care what you do to him, but don't cancel the match." Rakaia pleaded as Mariko stopped her statement, looking at the boy that slowly regaining control of his breathing.
"Wha…What?" She could only utter one word as Rakaia locked eyes with her.
"If you want to expel him fine, but don't cancel the match," Rakaia told her again.
"Rakaia," Mariko looked down at him. "You can't expect me to…."
"I know it's against the rules, but I can't let him get away with what he did to Noah. No," Rakaia turned his attention back towards Saitou. "I won't let him get away with it. " He glared at him as Saitou stood there with his arms crossed with his two brothers standing behind him. "I want you one-on-one and I'm going to make you pay for hurting Noah. I don't care what happens to you after that, I just want to make you pay for hurting my friend." Rakaia told him as Saitou could only smirk at the kid that stood in front of him. He saw the fire in Rakaia's eyes as he spoke, the resolve in his voice caused a light chuckle to escape Saitou's lips.
"Ha, is that so runt?" Saitou retaliated.
"Trust me; I'm going to beat you…No matter what Saitou." Rakaia shot back as Saitou gave off another slight snicker, turning his back towards the group with his brothers and leaving them to stand there and watch him leave.
"You better bring it all to the ring runt, or you're just going to wind up like your friend there." He slightly glanced back at Rakaia. "Taking a trip to the hospital." He finished as he walked out of the gym with his brothers.
The students remained as Mariko quickly reached over and grabbed a walkie-talkie device. "I have an emergency in the training room, send a medical team stat." She shot with emergence. She turned her look to Rakaia as she saw that his eyes were fixated on Noah. "Rakaia, I hope you know that this is the only time I'm doing this for you." She told him. "I hope you know what you're doing." She ended as she rushed over to Noah to check on him as the medical team quickly rushed through the crowd of students, quickly placing Noah on the stretcher, and carrying him off.
Rakaia remained in the training room along with Luna and Cana as they watched the entire thing unfold. "Poor Noah," Cana was the first to speak. "I can't believe that jerk beat on someone like him." She balled her fist up in anger. "Ugh, that guy is really starting to get on my nerves." She growled as Luna made her way towards Rakaia as he looked down at the ground with a sullen expression.
"This is what it's like to fight with someone who goes by their own rules." She bluntly told him. "You underestimated your opponent and your friend paid for it." She closed her eyes as she crossed her arms.
"I know," Rakaia responded sadly still trying to piece together everything. "I just. I just…I tried to…"
"You only have yourself to blame for what happened, maybe next time you won't be so careless." She spat as Rakaia's eyes widen at the realization that she was indeed right. Word for word, it cut Rakaia like a knife. Saitou showed him who he really was, the techniques he used to throw him off; the extent he was willing to go when he attacked Noah.
Rakaia's fist clenched tightly as his body began to shake with frustration.
"Um, Luna; don't think you're being a bit hard on him?" Cana lightly intervened.
"This is something that needs to be said," Luna countered as she lightly glanced over at the young female fighter. Rakaia was returned to Luna's field of vision as she noticed his body trembling with anger and frustration.
"Anger won't make things better; it's just going to get you hurt. "She chose her words carefully. "If that's how you plan to fight Saitou when your match comes up, then you've already lost." She turned her back towards him, getting ready to walk off; but she was stopped as Rakaia grabbed her wrist with his.
"Wait…" Rakaia called out to her, catching not only her but Cana's attention as well. "I need….I need… I need you to train me." Rakaia revealed his eyes to her to show her that he was more than serious about his request, leaving her looking stunned as her eyes shot up a bit at the request that he had made.