A slap to his morals

Holding his hand was none other than Rumi, "you would hit a girl first? How despicable."

Her grip on his wrist tightened and he let out a yelp of pain as he was forced to his knees.

Crrk!

"Why are you screaming like a girl?!!" She mocked with a twisted smirk.

Asahi cheered his friend, "kick his sorry butt, show him whose man enough!"

Rumi tilted her head and gagged at the cringe lines. Immediately recovering, she shot a death glare at Asahi, "you just had to ruin my moment, didn't you?!"

Asahi hid behind the girl Rumi had saved, "you don't mind me crashing in here, right?"

'Should I be concerned a senior is acting this way?' the girl wondered with a raise of her brow.

"This makes me uncomfortable." She deadpanned.

"Ow! Ow! Let me go you sick..."

Dai's voice faded the moment he saw a portal open up in front of them.

The other students scattered to steer clear of the portal.

Leaning closer so she could whisper in his ear, "would you like to see where the other end takes you?"

Dai's eyes only widened and he shook his head profusely, he could see molten lava overlapping on one another. With his ability, it was merely going to set him ablaze in an instant.

When he heard the other students laughing at him, he clenched his teeth at the humiliation.

'You have your good days, you would pay for this someday!' He vowed in his thoughts, outwardly suppressing the urge to cry.

A hand tugged on Rumi's shirt and grabbed her by the arm easily. To her sheer disappointment, her portal–the one way she could use to threaten Dai, closed due to her lack of focus.

"What in the–" Rumi appeared stunned when she looked at a displeased Tenji.

"What's going on here?" He muttered in suppressed rage.

He and the other professors had just left them for a few minutes and a fight had ensued.

Leaving for the hall earlier, he was glad to have taken the decision or the situation would have gotten a lot worse than it already was.

"It's professor Tenji!"

"Our savior!"

Cross popping veins made their way on his head at the side remarks from the swooning female students, it was sickening enough that they were doing that, but in the situation they were all in?

'This is getting tiring!' He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm his emotions. 'The pay and your research are what keeps you going, take it as it is.'

Immediately changing in her demeanor, Rumi brought up her most innocent look and batted her lashes while clasping her fingers. "Professor Tenji..."

When it dawned on her that her plan was falling on blind eyes, she let out a sigh and was just about to come clean with her actions when she was interrupted by the girl.

"Professor Tenji..." She called out, sprinting towards them. "She did no wrong."

"Huh?" Rumi turned towards the girl in disbelief at being defended by someone who wasn't Asahi.

"Oh really?" Tenji folded his arms and switched glances between the two.

"I am Miku Ai." She gestured to the name tag on her dress. "I am the victim here and that stupid senior..."

Dai burst out in rage, "who the fuck are you calling stupid, you underaged loli!"

Miku looked behind and spat, "I'm 18 years old, it's not my fault I was born a little lower than the average height and look way younger than most but at least I don't have a face like yours that rivals the elderly!"

The crowd of students burst into laughter, and even the minions of Dai cackled along.

When given a death glare, they gulped, put on a stoic expression, and whistled while looking anywhere but his direction.

Getting to his feet after he snapped back his shoulder in place, he had his limp right hand hanging loosely but his side, supported by his left. "Professor Tenji, these two lie and they are trying to blame it on me after they tried to beat me to a pulp."

Rumi took a step forward but was held back by Miku. "It's not worth it poking at a spoiled brat, even his grade must be faked! Did daddy buy them for you too?!"

Dai clenched his teeth, "bitch!"

Rumi glared daggers at Dai but decided to let it rest, it was pointless knocking some sense into a fool.

Rushing up to her was Asahi, he took her hands and examined them. "Don't listen to anything he says."

Pulling her hands away from his, she felt a bit flustered by his action. Not knowing why she was feeling that way, she channeled it all and gave a knock on his head.

Whack!

"What the hell?!" Asahi held onto his head and glared at her.

"I'm sorry." She blurted out and turned back to Tenji who was watching things play out.

Any moment, the other professors and Maiyu would be arriving.

"You lying bully!"

"They did none of those things!"

"You deserve every beating you got, jerk!"

Those who had watched the scene play out couldn't help but speak up against his misdeed.

Analyzing the situation, he went in the only manner which would make Dai reconsider his actions.

Raising his hand a miniature green magic formation which spiraled around an italicized minus mark appeared on his palm.

The students all gasped and took several steps back as Tenji approached Dai.

Dai tried to avoid the verdict by running but was stopped by an invisible barrier created by Tenji.

"It's beyond wrong to evade a demerit," Tenji warned, clenching his fist and pulling him closer to himself.

"Please... No... I know I was wrong!" Dai begged as he began to wail in fear. "My father… my father can provide you with anything, just name it!"

Tenji had been levelheaded at the initial stage, but upon hearing what sounded to him like a bribe and a slap to his morals, he couldn't help but wonder if Miku's statement was true about his acquisition of grades.

Feeling a force pull him closer at great speed, the distance between them was covered and he flew into Tenji's hand.

Tenji let out a sigh as he held Dai by the neck, with his legs dangling as he struggled for air.

"Do you know what I hate the most?" He sneered in a whisper for Dai to listen.

Dai coughed out as he felt an overwhelming aura engulf him, causing his left hand to sway limply beside him.

Maiyu had just stepped into the hall, humming to a melody.

The clip-clop of her black opened pump went to a stop and she was stunned to see the students gathered yet again around Tenji.

Her eyes bulged when she realized who was in his grip. That dangerous aura only she and the target could feel had a chill run down her spine.

Her eyes looked over to Tenji's palm, 'a demerit!'

When she saw him whisper something into Dai's ear, she saw the horror-stricken face as he stared back at Tenji with tear-filled eyes.

Even though Tenji must have had a good reason for resorting to this method, she couldn't allow it, he wasn't in the right state of mind to carry it out properly and this could drain Dai and leave him bedridden.

"Tenji, stop!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she rushed to the scene.

Tenji was temporarily distracted by her voice and looked to his right, 'you shouldn't get in my way!'

His attention was brought back to Dai, he had a wicked smile and whispered, "in the end, you would thank me for sparing your life."

*****

A/N

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