"What do you think you're doing?"
My eyes narrowed, watching the fool manifest his mana.
"That's what I'd like to ask you." He said, now straining a smile.
"You'd really tattle on one of your roomies and cause them to suffer such a punishment just for lunch?"
His question sounded so stupid, like a sorry excuse for justification. I sighed and shook my head. I didn't have the time or energy for this.
"It's none of your business, is it? Since you're not the culprits. Besides, didn't you guys day you didn't care?"
I made to turn away, but Ivan raised his hand and pointed it at me, glaring at me in a threatening manner.
"Oi. I'm trying to be polite here. It's not nice to tattle on our fellow coursemates."
'Fellow Coursemates, eh? That's quite a funny way to describe a bunch of people who totally alienated me.'
I would have loved to ignore Ivan and just return to my room, but the boy drew closer to me, donning a threatening look. It appeared he wasn't going to let me return in peace as long as I intended to take the issue to the authorities.
"You should just let this one go... don't you think so?" He smiled menacingly.
At this point, I had no idea if this was still the effects of my Mana Pressure, or if Ivan was just plain dumb. Why would he decide to choose this method?!
'Well, if he was smart, he wouldn't have chosen to take my lunch, to begin with.' I rightly reasoned.
When dealing with such a person, maturity had to be suspended. I had to handle him as I would a child and rightly discipline him myself.
"I think I remember now... that lunch..." He muttered as he drew closer, displaying the mana that leaked from his body as a way to intimidate me.
"... It was evening already and no one came to get it. Instead of it spoiling, I decided to do the owner a favor and eat it."
How shameless. I didn't expect him to actually confess. He must have been confident in his ability to keep my mouth shut.
"I did the right thing, didn't I? It's not good to let food waste, don't you think?"
At this point, he was already at a close distance from me. Ivan placed one of his hands on my shoulder and gave a confident grin, like everything was going according to his plan since I was motionless.
He paused, waiting for my answer to his question. Ivan most likely wanted to indirectly coerce me into giving up and losing my resolve. Also, as one ostracized by everyone, it would only prove worse for me to report someone like him of theft.
'My reputation will take another nosedive and I'll probably garner a lot of animosity...'
Regardless, I had nothing much to lose. It wasn't like my reputation was solid, to begin with. It appeared Ivan had overestimated my regard for such paltry things.
"Well, I think... what you've said is nothing short of bullshit!"
My rude remark, coupled with the vulgar word mixed in gave everyone quite the shock, Ivan most of all.
His face morphed from an intimidating smile to a more aggressive and annoyed expression. He revealed his teeth in a growl. However, it seemed he hadn't given up on trying to 'convince' me.
"Hey, little shit..." Ivan drew his face closer to mine, moving to my ears as he whispered words into them.
"... If you know what's good for you, you'd better play along now that I'm being nice. I don't want to get rough with a fellow coursemate, after all."
I could feel his strained breath waft on my skin, it felt a little disgusting having someone this stupid so close to me.
His arms pressed in my shoulders, trying to get a feel of my bones to make me further understand the point he was making. Apparently, threats were all he was good for.
"Would you remove your hands from my shoulder? I'd like to relax in my room now." I replied.
He responded according to my wishes, thinking I had finally conceded to his 'deal'. Grinning energetically, he gave a short chuckle.
"Hehe, I knew you'd get it."
Ivan must have misunderstood my words, so I had to correct him.
"Get what? I need to save up my strength for when I report to the supervisor that you took my lunch. Since it was a benevolent act, I'm sure they would 'understand'."
That seemed to have pushed Ivan to the limit of his primitive brain. He growled in annoyance, and increased the tempo of his mana in an instant.
"Then I guess I'll have to beat you to the point where you can't speak!"
Tightening his hands into fists, he took a step back to build momentum for when he would strike me. I suspected he made himself slower on purpose since he wanted to give me room to change my mind. But, that wasn't going to happen.
The boys behind Ivan were smirking at me, clearly hoping to enjoy a little beatdown. Well, they were going to see what they wanted, it was a shame I wasn't going to be the one on the receiving end.
>FWOOOOOSH<
Ivan's fist, enhanced by the mana coat he had on rushed at me. Judging from its trajectory, he was aiming for my cheek. Most likely going for a quick jab that would render my face swollen and a portion of my teeth shattered to the point that I would experience pain and learn not to speak a word of the perpetrator.
'In this apartment... even though there are all sorts of rules... there's no single one against fights!'
I found that strange, but because of this fact, people like Ivan could resort to measures like this to silence others.
I felt tempted to smile. After all, since all the conditions had been met, there was no need to hold myself back anymore.
>WHAP!!!<
