There was a bell, signaling that it was time for lunch break, students trooped out slowly from their various classroom and headed towards the cafeteria. Renjiro was not exempted and he rose from his seat, lyra seemed to waiting for him. It looked like she had gotten over her earlier embarrassment.
They headed towards the cafeteria together, when they got into the cafeteria, they stood in line waiting for their turn, the school had a tradition of not favoring anyone even those with noble background, everyone had to prove themselves and not ride on the coattails of their family.
It eventually got to their turn and they helped themselves to a few scoops of what looked like cooked legumes and some other porridge like food, Renjiro also added a piece of meat on his plate and lyra led him to their regular spot, majority of the students were seated and there was a cacophony of sound in the cafeteria, everyone seemed to be talking at once.
Lyra and Renjiro were the only ones on their table, Renjiro remembered that zephyrus was an outcast, people hardly talked to zephyrus but everyone seemed to relate well with lyra, she was the best student in her year and no one was able to defeat her in combat, so it was a mystery how she still insisted on being friends with him.
They were almost done with their food when a boy who looked quite muscular for their age walked towards their table with a sly smile on his face and with a group of other boys around the same age, from memory Renjiro could remember who he was, he had been making moves at lyra right from the day they started school, he sent notes , flowers and other various methods but lyra was more or less unconcerned by his existence.
His name was Phineas winterbourne but he preferred going by the alias phinny, since he couldn't get her attention, he spent his time making zephyrus's life unbearable and unfortunately for him, his family was also a noble family so there was nothing zephyrus could do even outside the school premises.
"Hello there lyra" phinny said as he made kissy faces at lyra
Lyra looked at him in disgust and gestured to Renjiro to eat quickly so they could leave the cafeteria, Renjiro who seemed to have inherited some of zephyrus fear for Phineas started stuffing food into his mouth quickly so they could leave as soon as possible.
"Ah! Are you trying to run away with your weak boyfriend again? I am really puzzled, do you have a fetish for weaklings or are you just in love with him?" phinny continued to tease and his lackey cheered him on, with a few side comments of their own
Lyra's face heated up In anger and embarrassment, but she restrained herself and did nothing. Renjiro wondered why she had never given Phineas the beating he deserved even though she was stronger than him and could do it easily.
"let's leave" Renjiro said grabbing onto lyra's arm and moving to pull her out of the cafeteria since his was fed up with Phineas and his constant attempts at embarrassing them.
"Hey! Zephyrus what do you think you are doing" one of the lackeys asked
"Yeah! Phinny is trying to have a conversation with lyra and you are interrupting, since it has been a while since you got beaten you seem to have grown some balls" another lackey added
Phineas folded his arms and smiled at lyra, at this point Renjiro seemed to understand why lyra never beat up Phineas and his lackeys even though they seemed to be giving her a hard time, it was because of him or zephyrus to be more precise, since she knew that whatever she did to them would also be done to him and probably worse.
Renjiro began to get angry, when he came to this new world, he thought he would get to live an easy life and also live as a better person but that didn't seem to be the case, he cursed whoever put him in the body of a teenager.
"Can we leave now?" Renjiro asked, at this point the whole cafeteria had gone silent and everyone seemed to be watching intently, waiting to see what Phineas would do now that Renjiro had openly challenged him.
"Were you talking to me?" Phineas asked maintaining aloofness
"Yes, I was" Renjiro said and made an attempt to move past them while pulling lyra
"Where do you think you are going?" Phineas said and blocked renjiro's path
"Teach him a lesson phinny"
"Show him who's boss" the lackeys kept throwing their support behind Phineas
Phineas grin continued to grow larger, he had tried all the methods he knew to win lyra's heart but zephyrus had always been an obstacle in his way, he knew lyra could deal with him but wouldn't do it because of zephyrus.
While Phineas still seemed lost in thought Renjiro pushed him to the side and dragged lyra towards the cafeteria doors, Renjiro felt an arm on his shoulder, before he could react, he felt a heavy force crash into his face and another in his gut, he doubled over and heaved, he almost threw up everything he had eaten.
"That should teach you not to touch me" Phineas said with a large grin on his face
Lyra could not take it anymore, she knew they bullied zephyrus but they never did it to her face, she was about to charge at Phineas when she heard a hoarse chuckle.
"Is that the best you have got, I must say that caught me unaware" Renjiro said and wiped the blood off his nose
"You seem to have gotten better at taking punches, looks like I would have to give you a proper beating for you to understand your place" Phineas retorted
Renjiro knew that the academy didn't interfere in the affairs of students as long as it wasn't life threatening.
"For a continent of pacifists there sure are a lot of violent and problematic people here and they even encourage infighting among students, such a conundrum" Renjiro lampooned.