Always there | Cheng X Reader | A Karate kid fanfic

Chapter 8: The Maintenance Man III: The Aftermath

Previously...

Qing quickly stepped back, pulling Zhuang away as well, as me, Liang, and Feng jumped leapt upon the maintenance man, hurling any attack we could get in. Straight-faced and silent, Mr. Han deflected each attack with simple yet efficient blows, knocking us back a step with each block. Finally, as Feng went in with both his arms aimed for the sides of Mr. Han's head, the maintenance man grabbed onto the sleeves of Feng's uniform jacket, jerking them far past Feng's hands

Liang raced forward, throwing a kick—dodged—then a punch. The maintenance man reacted quickly, wrapping one of Feng's sleeves around Liang's wrist then around Feng's neck, tying the two boys together. As he did so, I rushed in to help with a downwards chop; when that was dodged, I threw my leg up in a high arc. Like what he had done with Liang, Mr. Han merely wrapped Feng's other sleeve around my small ankle

Slowly, Mr. Han moved backward, forcing Feng and Liang to follow while I hopped unsteadily on one foot; suddenly, Cheng tried another charge. Like a puppeteer, Mr. Han simply tugged sharply on the sleeves, sending my foot out to kick Cheng in the gut, throwing him back down on the cement

Qing and Zhuang just stood at either side of Mr. Han, fists up uncertainly as they looked nervously at the tangled mess that consisted of me, Liang, and Feng, knowing that if they tried attacking, they'd just end up hitting one of us

At that moment, I remembered that I was still in my school uniform. Blushing crimson to the roots of my hair, I let out a high pitched squeak and grabbed my cobalt blue school skirt, awkwardly trying to hold it down between my bare legs since I'd foolishly sent out a high kick for Mr. Han to trap in Feng's jacket

It took a moment for everyone—all boys—to realize what I was doing, but when they did, my friends immediately redirected their gazes, faces blazing in embarrassment for me. Evidently more of a gentleman than a perverted old geezer, Mr. Han immediately released the three of us, shoving us back where we landed with another painful thud

Face still slightly red, Zhuang stepped forward to try to defend us, but stopped when Mr. Han looked at him

"Go home," the maintenance man repeated, a little more forcefully than the last. Then he turned, scooped up Dre, and hobbled away

~First Person P.O.V~

"I can't believe we just got our asses handed to us by a maintenance man," Feng grumbled, trying not to move his battered body too much

Liang groaned, pressing an ice pack against the dark bruise on his swollen forehead "If the team finds out about this, we'll never live it down"

"Forget the team," Qing said miserably from his position lying face down on the floor, an ice pack resting on his beaten back "If the school finds out, no one will take us seriously anymore"

We all sighed in unison. After the fight, we all limped, leaning heavily on each other, to Xiang's house since it was the closest. After quickly summarizing what had happened, Xiang and his grandmother immediately tended to our wounds in the living room with home remedies

"Stop moving, Zhuang," Xiang's grandmother suddenly reprimanded as she tied off the tight bandages around the boy's forehead

"Thank you," Zhuang murmured, resting his head gingerly against the back of the couch. With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes, one of which was swollen and black

Xiang's grandmother smiled and patted his head before gathering the bloody pieces of gauze scattered on the table and standing up with a low grunt. Then she shuffled off towards the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "I'll make you kids something warm to drink"