Megumi sighs in annoyance. His hand still lingers on your shoulder, but now that he's convinced you aren't about to tackle Mai to the ground, his death grip on you relaxes. "Why should I have to discuss my taste in women with someone I just met?"
"That's right! This guy seems sour, but his standards are pretty high!" There's a hint of humour in Nobara's voice, and somehow, it makes your anger dissipate the smallest bit.
The tense set to your shoulders relaxes. You find yourself biting back a smile.
Megumi's jaw tightens. "You, shut up. Don't complicate things any further."
"Kyoto third-year, Todou Aoi. Introduction's over. Now we're friends, right? Answer me already. I don't care if it's a guy." Todou says, lowly, dangerously. "A guy's inclination reflects everything about him. Guys with boring tastes in women are boring themselves. I loathe boring guys."
He's definitely a pervert.
"The exchange is my turf, where my excited soul can run wild. If someone bores me at my last exchange, who knows what will happen to them. This is my brand of kindness: I'll leave you half dead today." Megumi's eyes flicker over first to Nobara, and then to you. Is he weighing your chances in a fight? You try to impart some amount of confidence to him with your eyes, but you don't think that he gets the message. Todou's next question carries a heavy intensity. "Answer me, Fushiguro. What's your type of woman?"
Nobara stares at Megumi openly, in unabashed curiosity. You sigh. Things are getting out of hand. You can't help but wish that your absence will go unnoticed so that your seniors will show up and smooth this whole thing over.
Megumi's eyes seem very far away when he answers. "I don't really have a type or anything. As long as that person has a moral compass that isn't easily swayed, I don't wish for anything else."
Beside you, Mai and Nobara both make sounds of approval. In contrast, Toudou's expression falls.
"As expected." Todou says. His bloodlust hangs in the air like a fog. You can tell he wants to tear Megumi apart, to beat your friend up until he's bloody. "You're boring, Fushiguro."
His words are the beginning of an avalanche of movement. Megumi shoves you out of the way unceremoniously, and you fall to the ground on hands and knees, just as Todou springs forwards. You hear a loud crack, and you twist your head to see Megumi hit the pavement.
"Fushiguro!" Nobara yells, already darting after him.
"Nobara, back him up!" You yell, rolling onto your stomach and standing up. Your palms and knees sting with scrapes from hitting gravel. "I'll take care of her and come find you! Don't die until then!"
"Take care of her?" Mai asks, her face a mask of cruel satisfaction. Cold metal pokes into your hip; you look down to see a gun buried into the thin cotton of your shirt. "For a first-year, you sure are confident."
"That's because I know I can win." You say, even as your heart pounds a heavy, wicked tempo in your ears. Calm, calm, calm. Even as you're about to break one of Ieiri's most fundamental rules: healers never engage in combat. "You're pretty weak, aren't you?"
And then Mai erupts.
Her expression twists into one of cold fury. Mai's arm tightens around your neck. "Respect your seniors, brat."
In response, anger festers in the pit of your stomach. "Then take back what you said about Yuji, asshole."
The first bullet sinks into the soft flesh of your hip. It stings, but not as bad as you thought it would; you'll most likely walk away with only a bruise. You glance down at your shirt in surprise, realizing with a start that she's using rubber bullets instead of metal ones.
