To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

chapter 20

End of the line...

I stood with my hands behind my back, my shaky fingers tangled behind the curtain of long hair that sat messily on my head.

A crowd of around fifteen kids stood around me, successfully shielding me from that woman's vision. I could only make out a medium sized banner that hung carelessly from the cement-colored ceiling...

'END OF THE LINE'

Apparently everything Jiro said was true. They were leaving today, and right now the final test was taking place. Madam A was in the middle of some sort of speech, but it wasn't very interesting since I knew what would happen already. They had to fight me.

And to say I was excited was an understatement.

"I had originally intended to have our special guest fight a one on one with each of you, but I heard that yesterday she was a very bad girl," Madam A sighed and I tensed.

I tried to make myself even smaller than I actually was, but I gave up when the crowd that was covering me parted through the middle and a smirking Madam A stood in front of me.

"Emi," she whispered in an extremely fake sweet tone. "You broke the arm of one of the best fighters in this group. Care to explain why?"

I remained silent, just as I did when Mama would interrogate me when I did something wrong.

"Speak." She commanded in a strong tone. My lips remained shut.

She rolled her eyes at my lack of answer, setting a hand on her hips while the other caressed her cheekbone.

"Looks like I'll have to talk to Big Madam, just so she could give you one last 'surprise' and see if then you'd cooperate," Madam A hummed.

At the mention of her name the crowd of kids gasped.

I froze, fear struck in the deepest parts of my being. I didn't want Mama's hands anywhere near me.

"But perhaps she might me a little busy giving the other one a surprise of her own," she chuckled.

All the blood drained from my face.

What?

"She was cute, thinking she could talk to Big Madam and get you back. Such a naive little girl. What a waste of looks on someone so stupid-"

"Watch your mouth," I growled, my teeth bared as a drop of cold sweat ran down my back.

As terrified as I was of Mama, I wasn't just going to let that woman speak of Rei like he was trash.

"Got your voice back, darling? Good. Now tell me why you hurt one of my best fighters?" she dropped her lifted hand at her side. Her eyes connected with mine, both glares fighting for dominance.

"If he really was one of the best fighters here he should have easily broken free of my hold," I responded slowly, darkly. 

It seemed like our staring contest lasted for ages when she finally turned her back on me. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"As punishment for hurting a child outside the training grounds, now Emi will have to fight every single one of you at the same time," she sang before turning to face me again.

I chuckled to myself.

Pathetic.

"Is everyone clear?" she called. We chorused a 'yes'.

"Good. Now I want Emi in the middle of the room."

I slowly walked to the exact center, my head down and hair shielding my entire face, the smirk I held remained unseen.