Dandadan : Awkward Guy

[1st POV]

(Three months later)

*PAKH!*

It was the last coherent sound I heard before my ears started ringing like they had bells inside. There was a nasty stinging sensation on the side of my head and I felt a little dizzy from the punch.

"You hit like a little bitch," I gritted out while wincing in pain.

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to set in the horizon, casting a red hue to the world that went well with the blood and intensity of the situation.

We were in an empty alley of the school - a small gap of space between the main building and the gymnasium. And standing in front of me was the same guy who threw those paper balls at me three months ago.

He had an awkward fighting stance and with his slightly bruised face and roughed-up uniform, he had seen better days.

There were four guys behind him as well - his friends probably. They stood in a line and watched us intently, they had come to watch the fight between me and their friend.

"You've never been in an actual fight before, have you," I said, buying some time for my body to recover.

Compared to him, I was beaten up pretty badly. He was five inches taller than me and weighed almost twice as much as I did. No matter how hard I trained for three months, it was impossible for me to be his match.

I had a small cut above my right eye and on my lips. They were bleeding out quite a lot due to my rapid heartbeat and adrenaline. I was also bleeding from my nose but that already stopped.

"It's a lot more different than football or other sports right?" I asked, trying to convince them that my injuries were not as bad as they looked. Only I knew that it was worse and I could barely breathe.

Putting away the physical condition we were in, I was clearly winning the fight. You could tell it from our eyes, mine were burning with life while his eyes were shaking with fear.

The eyes of the victor were mine.

"Of course, you wouldn't know how to fight you privileged bastard. Born in a great physical body with influential parents, I bet I was the first one to punch you," I said.

"Shut up Takakura!!" he yelled but his voice didn't have any fight.

I was finished catching my breath at that point so I burst into action, as if I was angry at him for yelling.

I crouched low while I ran to make myself an even smaller target. I quickly closed the distance as he had nowhere to run in the alley.

He got into a stance and threw a punch at me. His range was longer than mine and throughout the fight, he was successful in keeping me away by throwing a punch before I got close.

But this time, in his fear and panic, he miscalculated the distance and threw a bad punch. I slowed down my speed briefly and the punch failed to make contact. It flew right past my head.

Then I lunged at him. I immediately went for his leg, I grabbed his right leg with both my arms and hugged it tightly to my chest. He was standing on one leg.

Then I pushed, driving my body forward and he hopped around to stay in balance. I stopped pushing and pulled again, making him hop around even more in an attempt to stay upright.

Right then, I used my leg to trip him. He could not hold on and he fell forward and crashed on the ground chest first.

A pained groan left his lips and he tried to push himself up but I gave him no respite. I jumped on his back and pushed his head to the ground.

After that, I rained down punches at him. I knew hitting him at the back of his head could cause him brain damage but I didn't give a fuck. I continued punching with everything I had.

He struggled like a wild animal, but only for two solid seconds before he cried out.

"Stop! Stop! I yield!"

I stopped immediately because to be truthfully honest, the punches hurt my hands more than they hurt him.

"haa...haa...haa.." I remained on top of him for several seconds to catch my breath.

I also wanted him to know the feeling of being pinned down with a clear head. I wanted him to know that he was at my mercy.

Only after I was satisfied did I get off. He carefully turned his body to lay on his back and I threw a punch at his face one last time.

The others were not satisfying.

His hand shot up to his face to cover them and he writhed in pain.

"Now, as you promised, you will not disturb me in class anymore," I said while standing over him.

He nodded while still holding his face in pain. I walked away after that and his friends immediately came to help him.

'That went better than I expected,' I thought to myself while leaning on the wall. My back slid down against the wall until I was sitting down to take a rest.

I never hoped that the guy would accept my challenge in the first place. He had enough dignity to accept my bold challenge and even instructed his friend to not jump into the fight.

I'll give him respect for that. He was better than the common goon.

"You fought well," I said when I saw him sitting up, his friends gathered around him.

He glared at me with bloodshot eyes. The last punch was dirty, I'll admit.

"I guess it should be obvious to anyone that I can't beat you in a fight," I said, surprising everyone and him in particular.

"I won solely because I dedicated three whole months of my life into beating you and because of my mentality that did not mind being hit ten times if it meant hitting you once," I said.

My new body was oddly resilient. I could take much damage and keep going. I endured a lot of knock out punches in the fight as well.

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about," I said.

The only reason why I fought him in the first place was to make my school life peaceful, so I did not want to make an enemy out of him. Losing to me was a big humiliation and at best, he would challenge me again to get back his dignity.

I didn't want that.

"And you four, don't laugh at him. I'd have beaten you worse," I said

They didn't argue with me. They weren't afraid of me but I have earned their respect. They knew now, that even if I was not stronger or even if I were to lose, I was prepared to fight.

And that's all you really need to stop bullying. One party didn't have to be absolutely superior, both parties just had to know they were ready to fight and stand up for themselves.

"No, you won the fight fair and square. I was the fool who picked on a tiger while being a mouse," the guy said and slowly stood up while dusting himself.

He stood up only to bow to me again. His bow was at a right angle to show utmost sincerity.

"I'm sorry for all the things I did to you,"

That left me speechless. I could only nod in acknowledgement.

He straightened back up after a few seconds and walked up to me. He put his hand forward and said.

"Come, let's clean ourselves,"

"...."

I see. He realized that I did not want bad blood between us from what I said and he was also going out of his way to match my initiation.

"Sure," I said after a long silence and took his hand.

He pulled me up to my feet and we all made our way to the tap water right beside the football field.

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