A Warrior's Heart

Chapter 32; Standing up

The following hours consisted of cleaning up the mess and rearranging the furniture. Taehyun had made up a story quickly as to why there was such a mess in the living room, and even though his brother didn't seem to buy it, he was glad the older let it be for what it was. When Seokjin had attempted to throw out the pieces of the basket he had quickly stopped him, not wanting to say goodbye to the wooden object just yet.

The next day the brunette sadly had to go back to school again. Though he didn't want to and didn't miss the building at all in the time he was in the other world, he knew life just continued here. He had to get an education in order to become successful here, rather than having some skills with a sword.

He left his bike at the side of the building and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he walked towards the entrance of the school. He took a deep breath, feeling somewhat refreshed now he had the whole adventure behind him. He was sad he couldn't see the platinum blonde anymore, but glad he had saved him together with the black haired warrior.

Once he got closer to the entrance the giggles of some taller boys filled his ears.  "Hello fucker."  Ravn piped up, stepping forwards.

Taehyun rolled his eyes, not wanting to deal with them now.  "C'mon man, we're gonna be late for class."  He said, nodding to the other students that were walking into the building with books in their arms.

"I think you're gonna be the one late here,"  The taller said, lifting a hand to shove his shoulder.  "Permanently."

Seoho and Leedo smirked and grinned at the other's words, finding it surprisingly funny. The brunette sighed and removed his hands from his pockets.  "It doesn't have to be this way."

"You're right, it doesn't."  Ravn agreed, nodding.  "You could.. I don't know,"  He said and looked at Keonhee in fake thought.  "You could run, coward."  He then said and smirked as he pushed at his chest this time.

Taehyun clenched his jaw and thought about it for a second. Then he was nodding and poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue.  "Okay. Let's do this then." He said and shimmied his bag off of his shoulders.  "I gave you the option."

Ravn's lips spread out over his face and a laugh erupted from his throat as soon as the boy was finished with his sentence.  "You gave me the option?"  He repeated while Leedo and Keonhee chuckled as well.

Taehyun cocked his head to the side, popping the muscles in his neck and lifted his arms, hands clenched to fists as he created the circle. Seoho laughed and shook his head, clearly amused.

"What are you doing?"  Ravn chuckled, mimicking the circle in a mocking way.  "You wanna dance or something?"

From the corners of his eyes Taehyun could see multiple students watching them from a distance, looking through the windows or stopping with walking to see the scenes unfold.

"Just get this over with."  The brunette said, shifting his weight on his feet and lifting his hands higher now, away from the circle but still keeping it in mind.  "Fucker."  He then added.

Ravn stopped laughing and Leedo bit his tongue at the words. The oldest whipped his head around to look at him.  "What did you call me?"

"You heard me." Taehyun retorted, keeping his eyes set on the other. Ravn narrowed his eyes and lifted his hands now too, clenching them to fists.  "Idiot."

Taehyun sighed at the male's childish nature and barely refrained himself from rolling his eyes again. He wasn't going to reply to it though, not wanting to act on the stupidity of it.

Ravn made a flinching movement, trying to get the younger to msss up but Taehyun wasn't having it. When the taller did leap forward to hit him he quickly stepped aside, swiftly grabbing his wrist and shoving him to the ground.

Keonhee and Seoho almost grinned but collected themselves when Leedo slapped the back of their heads, shushing them but barely keeping his laugh in himself.

"You done?"  Taehyun asked the older as he scrambled back to his feet, running a hand through his hair to get the strands away from his eyes. Ravn crinkled up his nose and pointed at him.  "You're dead."  He huffed and leapt clenched his hands to fists. He leapt forwards again, aiming for the younger's head. Taehyun ducked to avoid the blow and when Ravn stumbled forwards he grabbed his shoulder to help him a little, pushing him into Seoho.

"You okay man?"  He asked, but Ravn didn't answer the question. Just pushed his hands away from him.  "Don't touch me!"  He growled and stepped towards the brunette once more.

"Had enough yet?"  Taehyun asked, raising an eyebrow and watching as the taller raised his hands up. He sighed and let his shoulders hang, wanting to finish this already and get to class.

When Ravn thrusted his fists towards his face again he stepped aside, grabbing his fist and swinging his hand towards the other's jaw. When Ravn was disoriented he ducked and slammed his elbow into his side. The older stumbled backwards the turned around, tripping over his own feet and falling face first into the iron railing of the stairs leading to to the entrance of the school.

Keonhee stepped forwards and crouched beside the male who was turning onto his side and gripping at his face.  "Are you okay?"  He asked their leader while Leedo look at Taehyun with wide eyes. The brunette just smirked, stepping back and grabbing his bag from the floor. When he raised an eyebrow at him Leedo stepped back, lifting his hands in a surrender action.

Taehyun nodded and proceeded to walk up the stairs, leaving the guys to worry about Ravn who was on the verge of tears, blood running from his nose and his lips cut.

"Don't touch me." He was still saying, pushing their hands away from him and still trying to appear all cool and badass but not succeeding as the students who had been watching all chuckled and grinned at him.

The corner of Taehyun's lips turned upwards in a small smile as he stepped up the stairs. Finally he had been able to stand up against them, rather than to run away from them. He should thank the warrior if he'd ever see him again.