The arena trembled with the noise — footsteps, cheers.
Ryan stood among the crowd next to the Boxing Club section, eyes were locked onto the massive stage in the center of the school's ground. The sound of clapping and metal benches filled the air as the announcer's voice filled the air again:
"First Match — Bodybuilding Club versus Kickboxing Club!"
The moment he heard the words, Ryan's pulse spiked as his gaze quickly drifted towards Maya, standing among her clubmates — calm, composed, hands resting on her hips as she smiled while talking to her friends.
'Will she step up for this match? And if she does, will she be fine? He thought as he looked at the Bodybuilder Club members— hulking guys in black tank tops, muscles looked like concrete slabs, veins snaking across their arms.
They didn't look like students at all, they looked like they were in mid 20s.
Ryan's throat went dry. 'They'll crush her up... This can turn out in a bad way.'
As the discussion started within the both teams, the Kickboxing Club coach barked. "Alright, who's first?"
A tall boy with a little short hair which was reaching near his mid-forehead stepped forward. He looked like someone who had a plan in his mind.
Ryan let out a sigh of relief. 'Good... Thank God it's not Maya, haha.'
But as the boy tightened his wraps and was about to walk up on the stage—
"Stop."
A voice came cutting through the cheers of the audience.
It was Maya's voice.
The boy froze as everyone turned towards her.
She walked forward slowly, wraps already tied around her knuckles, her ponytail swinging behind her. "I'll go first." Eyes had a fiery glow.
Her teammates looked a bit surprised — one even started to protest to Maya. "But, Maya—"
"I said, I'll go so I'll." Maya said, voice fierce. Her tone left no room for further arguments.
Ryan stared at her, dumbfounded. 'What the hell are you thinking right now, Maya? Those guys are monsters and your body can't handle them.'
The announcer's voice boomed again:
"Representing the Kickboxing Club, we have Maya Jin! And for the Bodybuilding Club, we have Travis Gant!"
A loud cheer erupted across the crowd, though a few laughs echoed from the bodybuilding side — deep, mocking laughs, trying to make Maya's confidence go downhill.
Travis stepped onto the stage, smirking wide. He was six-feet-three tall, easily weighing around a hundred kilograms of raw bulk, his chest broad that his arms looked like tree trunks attached to it.
Maya, at five foot seven inches, looked small beside him, but her eyes didn't waver even for a brief second.
Ryan swallowed hard. 'Please don't die up there, Maya...'
The referee motioned for them to greet each other before the match began. Maya slowly extended her gloved hand forward as the gesture of respect—polite, firm, disciplined. "Let's have a good fight."
Travis chuckled as he reached out, his grin twisting cruelly. "Sure thing, sweetheart."
But instead of shaking her hand, he squeezed it tightly.
Maya's face tightened instantly, a faint crack echoed.
"Ugh—!" she hissed through her closed teeth, trying to pull her hand away from his grip.
Travis's grin widened even more, finally letting go of her hand. "Oops. Guess I don't know my own strength." His evil laugh echoed.
Ryan's hands clenched by pure instinct. "That bastard—!"
"Don't," Arthur said calmly beside him, not even glancing over.
Ryan glared. "She's—" he muttered as he looked at Arthur with a pleading look.
Arthur cut him off. "You don't offer kindness in a sport of blood. This isn't charity work." Arthur said, voice cold.
Ryan bit his tongue, anger boiling inside of him. He looked at Maya, who was flexing her fingers — pain was clearly visible on her face, but she didn't back down.
The announcer hesitated a bit, unsure about the thing which just happened. "Looks like Maya might be hurt before the match even started..."
But Maya raised her hand up, signaling that she was fine. She looked at Travis as she said. "Start it."
The referee nodded, dropping his hand down—
"Begin!"
Travis charged forward without wasting any time, his footsteps were heavy.
He swung a wide hook, there was no type of precision in it — no guard, just brute force.
Maya slid to the side, rolled backwards and flipped to her feet in one smooth motion, the crowd let out a soft gasp at the speed of her.
Ryan's heart wavered for a second. 'Yes! Just like that, Maya.'
She spun her hips and fired a roundhouse kick aimed straight at his neck.
WHAP!
The impact of her kick was clean, sharp and perfect. There were zero flaws in that kick.
But, Travis didn't even flinch, he tilted his head as he cracked his neck with a big grin on his face. "That's all you got, sweetheart? Feed me something better, hit me with more force."
Then he grabbed her leg mid-recoil—his hand closing like an iron clamp and lifted her up effortlessly.
"Here's how you really fight."
He slammed her into the mat as the sound of the impact made Ryan's stomach turn bad.
Maya let out a loud groan as her body made contact with the ground, her breath knocked out, saliva escaping her mouth.
Ryan took half a step forward, fury rising—
"Don't move." Arthur's voice came out from his side—cold and commanding.
Ryan froze mid-step.
Arthur didn't even look at him, just kept his gaze locked on the stage. "It's not our job to look after her, she isn't part of our club nor is she weak."
Ryan bit his lip hard enough for it to start bleeding, his mouth got filled with a few drops of his blood. The sanity hit him when the pain started erupting in his mouth.
On the mat, Maya coughed hard, her vision spinning. She forced her body up—trembling, gasping. Her hand throbbed from the earlier squeeze, but she refused to stay down.
Then—a voice echoed in her head.