Lazar Kiyokazu POV –
The cafeteria didn't get any quieter after Kieran left.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Everyone around us kept talking. Chairs scraped against the floor, voices overlapped from different tables, and somewhere near the kitchen, someone burst into loud laughter at a joke I hadn't heard. For them, nothing had changed. No one had even looked in his direction as he walked out.
At our table, though, quite a lot had changed. Not a single word had been spoken since.
Tavon was still staring at the cafeteria door Kieran had gone through. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, then dropped them back onto the table, and repeated the same motions several times, as if he couldn't find a comfortable way to sit.
"Well... that was unexpected..."
Luiz stayed silent. He kept looking in the same direction for a few more seconds before finally turning his gaze back to the table.
"Do you think he was serious?" Tavon asked, scratching the back of his head.
"About what?"
"About leaving us."
Luiz rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward slightly. "Everyone has their own reasons."
"Yeah, I know. But still..."
Tavon trailed off and looked down at his hands.
I understood what he meant. After everything that had happened to us since we arrived, it felt strange that one of us would simply decide to spend less time with the rest.
Especially Kieran.
He had always seemed like someone who knew what he wanted. Even when we first met, there was something unusual in the way he spoke and carried himself, a kind of determination, even when it wasn't clear what was going through his mind.
I thought back to the training grounds.
The way he had raised his hand before Darius had even finished calling for volunteers. The way he had looked toward Viktor. And what he'd said after their runs.
„I think I just found my first rival."
I hadn't thought much of it at the time. I'd assumed it was just another way of showing his competitive side.
But now...
I lowered my gaze to the empty chair. Was that really all there was to it?
"Hey, guys, it's not like he's gone forever, you know?" Tavon said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Luiz looked at him. "I never said he was."
"Well, you both look like someone just died."
"You're exaggerating, Tavon."
"Am I?"
I looked down at the table, hiding the small smile that crept onto my face.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
Almost...
"Well, there's no point dwelling on it," I said, taking one last look out the window before getting up from my chair. "Let's go wash these dishes, Tavon."
"Do we really have to..."
"I think Elias will actually kick us out if we don't. Are you seriously going to keep messing around after what he told us in the hallway?"
"What's wrong with that? A person doesn't always have to be so serious," he said, looking away. "People like that aren't any fun."
"Come on, get out of that chair already, you lazy bum."
I stepped closer and pulled him by the arm.
Thud!
Something slammed into my back.
The blow was powerful, and the force sent me stumbling forward, straight into Tavon, who was still sitting in his chair.
"Ugh!"
"What's your problem?!" Luiz's voice rang out, louder than usual.
I turned around and saw Kaien standing in the middle of the aisle.
His figure towered over me, his small brown eyes fixed on mine. There was more than anger in them. Something far more unpleasant, something I couldn't quite explain, yet it sent a chill down my spine.
"Are you alright, Lazar?" Luiz asked, helping me back to my feet.
"I'm fine, Luiz."
"Hey, you! You did that on purpose!" Tavon snapped, loud enough to draw the attention of the entire cafeteria. "This time–"
"Nobody asked for the clown's voice. Clown."
"Ooooh! Tell him!"
"Hey, guys, look at this!"
Voices echoed across the room as a growing crowd gathered around our table.
"Who are you calling a clown?!" Tavon shouted, shoving himself out of his chair.
"You. Is there anyone else here who acts like an entire circus?" Kaien replied indifferently.
"What did you just say?!"
"You heard me. Hahaha. Clown."
Tavon took a step toward him, slowly clenching his hands into fists. "If you're so strong, why attack people from behind?! Are you afraid someone might actually beat you if you had to face them?!"
Kaien didn't respond. He simply stared at him, a faint smile spreading across his face.
"What is it? Are you upset that everyone passed you so easily earlier?"
The instant those words left his mouth, Tavon charged.
"Wait, Tavo–"
I didn't even manage to finish his name before the two of them had already clashed in the middle of the aisle.
Kaien shifted aside, dodging Tavon's attack, then caught his arm and yanked him forward. Tavon lost his balance. Before he could recover, Kaien drove a short punch into his stomach, the impact echoing through the room, then shoved him to the floor so hard his chin cracked against the tiles.
It was over in a few moments.
Tavon was on his knees in front of Kaien, fighting to catch his breath, while Kaien looked down at him without even breaking a sweat.
Tavon had lost...
"Tavon!" Luiz rushed toward him, but in the next instant he swung his fist at Kaien, who caught his arm with one hand.
Without hesitation, Luiz pivoted and spun a full 360 degrees, using the momentum to drive his elbow toward Kaien, but Kaien avoided it with a jump backward.
I used the opening to get to Tavon.
"Hey, Tavon, are you alright?" I asked, helping him up from the floor and guiding him back to the table where we'd been sitting.
Behind us, the sound of fists colliding filled the room, mixed with the clatter of chairs as the two moved across the cafeteria.
Luiz was on the offensive. He kept attacking, throwing punches from every angle, but Kaien dodged or blocked each one.
He seemed invincible. Was it really possible that Luiz, of all people, couldn't land a single hit on him?
That thought kept turning over in my mind, but I believed in Luiz, in him and in his abilities. If there was anyone among all the people I'd seen here who could fight anyone, anytime, it was Luiz Takami.
"TO YOUR RIGHT! LUIZ!"
I shouted it at the top of my lungs.
As I watched them fight, I'd noticed the position of Kaien's body. For some reason, I yelled out without knowing why myself. It simply came out of me.
To my surprise, thanks to my warning, Luiz avoided Kaien's vicious uppercut, which came from exactly the direction where I'd noticed something unusual.
After the failed uppercut, the two separated. Breathing heavily, visibly exhausted, they stared at each other without a word.
Unlike Tavon, Luiz had managed to put up a real fight against Kaien. Still, Kaien was the one breathing faster now.
After a few moments of simply standing there, watching each other, both charged straight forward, preparing for a head-on collision.
Before they could close the distance, a tremendous bang tore through the room as the door slammed against the wall, followed by a whistle so piercing that my ears kept ringing long after the sound itself faded.
Something, or someone, had appeared between the two of them.
I couldn't even make out a silhouette. Some force slammed me toward the floor with such strength that I couldn't do a thing about it. My forehead crashed against the white cafeteria floor, followed by the rest of my body.
Sound. Touch. Smell.
Even my vision seemed to shut down, replaced by a force that kept pushing everything downward, so intense it felt like my skull was about to split apart.
The pressure lasted a few more seconds, and then I couldn't feel anything at all.
The pressure was gone, that much I could tell. The force pulling me to the ground no longer existed, but I couldn't move.
„Elias..."
My body was stiff. I couldn't feel my legs. No, I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't hear through the ringing in my ears, and I couldn't move because I couldn't feel my body.
But I could see.
„What's happening?"
I tried to move my hand.
Nothing.
I lay there for a few more moments, motionless on the cold floor. Gradually the ringing faded, and the sounds around me slowly returned to normal.
"What was that?"
"Are you alright?"
Voices reached my ears, one after another.
At last I managed to move my fingers, then my hand. I pressed my palm to the floor and tried to lift my upper body.
"Ugh..."
My head hurt, especially around the forehead.
I looked around. Chairs were scattered across the floor, several tables had been knocked out of position, and the others who'd been watching the fight moments earlier were lying just as I was.
No one spoke. The only sounds in the room were groans coming from every direction.
Tavon stood beside me, while a few steps ahead, near the stairs and the cafeteria doors, Kaien and Luiz lay on the floor. Both looked as though they'd gone through something far worse than an ordinary fight.
And standing between them...
"Enough."
A familiar voice broke the silence, sharp and without hesitation.
Elias stood facing them, one fist slightly raised in the air. His gaze moved from one to the other, and the unease his presence brought was almost unbearable.
"Does anyone want to explain what happened here?"
"He attacked us! He did!" Tavon shouted at once.
"Who?"
"Him." He pointed at Kaien.
"Hm?"
"That's not true, sir. They're the ones who attacked me."
Kaien's voice was quiet and calm, his tone lowered, his eyes widening slightly.
"You're lying!"
"Stop lying! You're the one who attacked Lazar, and then Tavon!" Luiz shouted, his voice echoing through the cafeteria. "You hit Lazar from behind! You started this!"
"That's true," I confirmed, finally joining in. "He hit me from behind."
"That's not true, Sir Elias. The three of them attacked me after I tripped and grabbed Lazar's back so I wouldn't fall. I didn't hit him. They've got it all wrong."
"Stop lying, you damn dog! You–"
"Watch your language, Takami," Elias cut in, giving him a sharp look.
"But–"
"I believe I understand what happened here. You th–"
"BUT HE'S THE ONE WHO DID THIS! HE'S THE ONE LYING!" Luiz shouted, glaring straight at Kaien. His red eyes shone like a wolf's in the dead of night, bright and fierce.
"Can anyone here confirm what actually happened, so we can determine who is lying and who isn't?" Elias asked, adjusting his glasses with one finger.
Everyone whispered among themselves, but no one wanted to say openly what they'd seen.
Then a hand rose into the air in the middle of the room.
It belonged to a guy around my age. I'd seen him at the training grounds earlier. I couldn't recall his name, but his appearance was hard to forget. He had short, messy dark brown hair with closely trimmed sides and a few strands falling over his forehead, sharp features, a darker, tanned complexion, and a completely calm, composed expression. His piercing light-green eyes and solid build stood out most of all.
"Speak," Elias said, granting permission.
"From what I saw, that guy over there started yelling at him, and then he threw a punch straight at him."
He pointed first at Tavon, then at Kaien.
What he said was partially true, but the story was quite different from what had actually happened. Tavon hadn't gone after Kaien for no reason. He'd done it because Kaien provoked him. And because he wanted to protect me.
"That's not true!" I said, defending Tavon.
"I also think Tavon was the one who started it, though I'm not entirely sure," someone else added from the side, raising the tension further.
"Are you all blind?! How could none of you have seen what actually happened?!" Elias snapped. "What were you doing while all of this was going on?"
Silence.
"Sir Elias."
Another hand rose, breaking the quiet.
"Hm? What is it?"
It belonged to the blue-haired guy, Link.
"From what I saw, Kaien did trip, but it didn't look like he accidentally grabbed Lazar. It looked like he actually hit him from behind."
"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?!" Kaien shouted in his usual aggressive tone. His eyes had returned to that sharp, hostile look as he glared at Link, almost exactly the way he'd looked at me. "How could I have hit him if I tripped, you idiot?!"
"If I hear that kind of language one more time, prepare yourselves for a punishment you won't forget."
"I'm sorry, sir. It just slipped out. He's talking nonsense, and I got carried away."
"Look at him, sucking up. Now he's all polite and well-mannered. That piece of trash disgusts me," Tavon whispered beside me, rage in his voice as Kaien humbly lowered his head before Elias. "He'll remember me for this."
"Take it easy, Tavon. We can still get out of this. Link stood up for us, and surely someone else saw what happened. They're just avoiding speaking up."
"But why?!"
"Because of Kaien, obviously. They know they'll have trouble with him if they do."
"Why haven't those assigned to wash the dishes started yet?" Elias demanded. "Are you refusing to follow your superiors' orders?!"
"I apologize on behalf of all three of us, Sir Elias," I began, lowering my head respectfully, just as Kaien had. "I got up from my chair to start the dishes, but before Tavon could even stand, Kaien hit me from behind, and that's how this whole situation began. That's why we haven't started."
"Lazar, Tavon, and our newest troublemaker, Luiz, will remain here as punishment. You will clean the entire room, wipe the floor, and wash all the dishes before the afternoon, when we begin the second training session. I want everything back in its proper place, exactly as it was before you idiots managed to wreck and dirty it. Is that clear?"
"Of course."
"Everyone else, except those three, leave this room. And you, Kaien, will come with me to my office."
"Of course, sir."
Elias headed for the door and left the cafeteria, and everyone else filed out after him.
In the end, only Luiz, Tavon, and I remained, and for some reason, Kaien too. He stood by the stairs, staring at us.
"Useless worms... Hahahaha!" he said loudly, a grin baring his teeth. "You won't be here much longer."
He walked past Luiz, who was barely holding himself back from starting another fight, and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Then he simply walked out of the cafeteria and shut the door behind him.