The entire hall turned silent as Nakamura issued his challenge, every pair of eyes turning to see how the infamous rogue would react.
But to their surprise, the one who responded wasn't Reiji, but the two women next to him.
"Hey, that's not exactly fair is it? You clearly have a personal grudge, why are you mixing it with the orientation?"
"Yeah! You said you'd talk with him later, and now you want to fight?"
Both Haruna and Airi were furious, the blatant misuse of power irked them especially because the hatred seemed to be completely one-sided.
Reiji raised an eyebrow at their outburst, amused at the sight. Their reaction surprised him a little, so he couldn't help but smile. Greeny was also standing, but due to his extreme shyness, he was just pumping his fists in support of the raging girls.
"Haha, why are you getting so worked up? This has nothing to do with our issues, It was just a suggestion. If he's scared of a simple spar, I won't be so mean as to force him!"
Nakamura's obvious mockery won him a couple of laughs from the people in the audience as well as some of the seniors.
Not all the seniors though, because some looked at him with distaste and frustration.
"Hey Nakamura, let's just stick with the original plan, this is going to waste a lot of time," one of them said.
"Sure, sure. It's a little disappointing that he lacks confidence, but what can you do?" Nakamura looked a little annoyed that his plan didn't work, but being able to call Reiji spineless was enough for now.
But then a deep voice echoed through the hall.
"Hmm? Who said I wouldn't spar? It sounds fun, let's do it Senpai," Reiji announced with a slight grin.
"R-Reiji-kun! What the hell??"
"Reiji-tan, why would you..?"
"Well, if I join the club I'd end up sparring anyway, why not do it a little earlier?" Reiji replied to their anxious shouts.
No one expected this, but considering the scoundrel's usual 'just-throw-a-punch' mentality, it wasn't so surprising. Everyone looked a little eager now, because they knew they were in for a good show.
Nakamura licked his lips in anticipation, clapping his hands in glee.
"Good, good! Let's do this!" he exclaimed as he ran off to prepare the ring and the equipment, practically bounding with excitement.
As Reiji tried to get up, he was pulled back down by his friends.
"Hey are you sure about this?" Haruna asked with a serious face.
"....Why? Do you think I'd lose?"
His questioning look made all three of them go silent, exchanging quiet glances.
"That's not the point, it's clearly not going to be a simple spar, he's going to fight for real!" Airi chimed in.
"I know, but that makes it more interesting!" Reiji chuckled.
"You fucking psycho! I don't care anymore!" Haruna started pouting as she turned away.
"G-Good luck Reij-kun! I-I'm rooting for you!"
"See? You guys! Support me like Greeny does and I'll be fine!" Reiji reassured them, flexing his arms slightly to show them he'll be okay.
He walked off to the front, leaving behind a trio of worried students who started to fidget in nervousness. None of them had seen Reiji fight so they had no idea if he could keep up with a trained senior from one of the best clubs in the country.
Greeny had seen Reiji punch someone once when he had saved him from the bullies, but that was just a single move that knocked the other person out. It wasn't a great gauge of his strength.
"....By the way, what's with calling you Greeny?" Haruna asked with a confused expression, turning to the moss-haired boy who was twiddling with his fingers.
"I-It's a nickname because of m-my hair," Greeny puffed up proudly, happy to show off his hard-earned moniker.
"Pfft that's such a lazy thought-process," Haruna laughed, but she stopped when she saw him frown.
"I-I like it!" he whispered dejectedly, his head drooping down with sadness that made his glasses slip a little.
"O-Oh sorry..."
***
Meanwhile, at the front of the hall the seniors were setting up the ring. A couple of them moved towards Reiji, a trace of worry on their faces.
"Hey, are you sure about this? Nakamura is the best from the Boxing Club, and since it seems like you have personal issues with each other, he might not hold back," one of them asked Reiji, a hint of warning in their tone.
"It's fine, if I get hit that just means I'm still lacking. Not like he's going to try and kill me, right?" Reiji smiled, putting on the gloves that were handed to him.
Though in MMA, thinner gloves were used, they had given him the puffier boxing gloves for safety reasons. They also tried to put headgear on him, but Reiji declined because it looked uncomfortable.
"...Not bad, I like your guts Junior! Which club were you thinking of joining?" the senior asked, impressed with Reiji's calm demeanor.
"MMA."
"Damn, no thoughts on joining the Karate Club?"
"Nah, not really. Sorry," Reiji replied. Though karate was also pretty good, he felt that MMA would be more practical for real-world usage.
"Hey stop yapping down there, are we doing this or not!"
Nakamura's loud voice cut their conversation short, who was already jumping lightly in the ring for a warmup. He glared at Reiji, cracking his neck without breaking eye-contact.
"Come up, let's have some fun!" He hissed.
"...Are you that eager to put your hands on another man? That's pretty crazy dude," Reiji muttered as he entered the ring, his words causing everyone to burst into light laughter.
Nakamura just kept glaring at him, but now a vein was faintly throbbing on his neck that indicated just how pissed he was.
"Get your jaw ready motherfucker, it's too late to back out now," he growled.
"You really need to choose your words carefully, you're not helping your case at all," Reiji laughed incredulously, it seemed like Nakamura was insistent on giving people the wrong idea.
"AAGHH"
"Hey calm down both of you! Are you guys ready?" The senior who was acting as the referee asked.
"YES!"
"Yep!"
"Ok! The spar will only be one round lasting 2 minutes. Since you're sparring with different martial arts, only avoid the groin and the back of the head. Anything goes except for biting, spitting, or any other illegal plays? Understood? BEGIN!"
As he dropped his hand with a signal, the short spar began with Nakamura's infuriated roar.
"TAKE THIS!" He yelled.
His fist flew at Reiji with incredible speed, completely betraying the perception his bulky body gave.
"REIJI-KUN!"
His friends, who had come closer to get a better view, yelled in fear at the power Nakamura showed.
In response to the fast jab, Reiji leaned back just enough to escape his opponent's range of motion. Nakamura didn't give him time to celebrate though, following it up with a right hook with incredible precision.
Reiji saw it coming and chose to duck this time, stepping back simultaneously to maintain a bit of distance.
'Ok, my reflexes and processing is pretty good. It almost feels like he's punching in slow-motion, though that's an exaggeration.'
Reiji chose to fight Nakamura not because of the blatant taunts that were thrown at him, but because he had finally found an opponent where he could take his time and understand his body's capabilities.
The fight in the ramen shop went by too quick and happened almost instinctually, so this was a great opportunity to assess his strengths and weaknesses.
"FUCK, STOP DODGING LIKE A RAT!" Nakamura bellowed, his face going red at the humiliation of completely missing his first two shots.
"What can I do, those punches are pretty slow. I got bored waiting for them to reach me!" Reiji taunted him back, a small revenge for the tricks Nakamura used to try to get him to spar.
This seemed to maximize his rage meter, if he had one. If this were a cartoon, steam would be pouring out of Nakamura's ears by now.
He stepped forward again, and this time threw a combo of punches. A left jab, followed by a right hook, and a sneaky uppercut that was supposed to be the real killer.
But Reiji calmly leaned his head away from the two bait shots, and tilted his head back when the uppercut came. He didn't even take a step during this exchange, relying on his upper-body's movements to dodge the punches.
"Holy shit, his movements are insane!"
"Yeah, what's with those reflexes? His just toying with Nakamura at this point."
"Why isn't he punching back though?"
The seniors, who could tell just how impressive Reiji's movements were, looked at each other in confusion as Reiji simply continued to dodge Nakamura.
In fact there were two reasons why he wasn't fighting back. The first reason, was because he felt that this might be the best way to let Nakamura vent and hopefully resolve the grudges they had.
Since Reiji had punched his brother, he felt that adding onto that karma was not the direction he wanted to take, even though it was his predecessor who was responsible for it.
Haruna, Greeny and, Airi exchanged bright looks when they overheard the seniors discussing why Reiji wasn't hitting back. It seemed like they somewhat understood Reiji's intentions, which made them smile warmly at the black haired man who was still dodging punches in the ring.
As for the second reason?
'I don't want the fight to be over this quick...'
Because one or two punches might be enough to end the spar.