Being as quiet as she could be, she snuck behind doorways and pillars, taking care to stay far enough behind that they shouldn't notice her, but that she could still keep tabs on them. It took more effort than she cared to admit to avoid gasping at what she saw when they finally stopped. Apparently the two men had the same problem.
"Choose." Spoke an authoritative voice in the room. "Whether to die here, or disappear without a trace."
Behind them stood Principal Lee, casting a very stoic and imposing glare in their direction, and giving off one hell of a powerful aura. From their frantic thoughts, she discovered that he was the one casting out that energy they'd felt before, and she suddenly wondered what was so different about them all that such things could be noticed or even done in the first place. The two turned to face him, standing their ground as best they could.
"Who are you?" The silver one ground out angrily.
A new voice responded, cold and dangerous in front of them. "You two are not worthy of asking questions."
Hana's clenched jaw barely stopped her from gasping at the sight of 'Rai', eyes blazing red, figure posed like death as he glared at the men.
The men's stances changed as they suddenly charged towards Lee and Rai, murderous intent flaring, along with a sharp sense of anxiety. This puzzled her, as she couldn't imagine how a school principal or one of his students could be so imposing to someone as large as the silver-haired man's partner, or even himself, given his pompous attitude. Then again, apparently Lee possessed some sort of special abilities related to dark energy, so maybe he was more intimidating than she thought.
'Silver Hair' drew his hands up, his nails elongating into huge black claws. Her eyes widened, but she'd sufficiently lost her desire to gasp at every little surprise now that they were so common all of a sudden. Still, it made him look like a monster out of a fantasy novel as he lunged at Lee, who quickly sidestepped the attack. The large man threw a fist at Rai, causing a huge cloud of dust and concrete chunks as he connected with Rai and the pillar behind him. She was scared for his safety, as well as Lee's, since Silver Hair suddenly started spouting about how easy this would be. Suddenly, though, both men got tense as the dust cleared, and Rai stood there, his hand held out, fingers barely touching the large man's equally large fist. There wasn't a scratch on him, and he was completely composed, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.
"What… How is that possible?" the large man asked incredulously. Hana was wondering the same thing, but wasn't really expecting much of an answer.
"Kneel." Rai said, quiet and demanding. The oversized hulk of a man instantly dropped to his knees with a huge thud. Neither she nor Silver Hair could pull their eyes away until suddenly Lee's voice rang out in the room.
"Never look away." Just as he spoke, some invisible attack assaulted Silver Hair to cry out in pain, his arms lacerated by the unseen force. "Ignoring me as your opponent, how humiliating." The wounds crisscrossed around Silver's arms from shoulder to hands, dripping blood down his flesh. Silver and his partner looked properly terrified as Rai continued to stare down the big one, and Lee lifted his hand dangerously.
"Stop." Rai's voice rang out, causing the others to stare at him in surprise. Lee dropped his hand, staring at the boy in confusion. "We're leaving." He stated simply, walking past them all and towards the room where the other kids were. Lee looked confused, but he followed suit, calling out to Silver Hair before he left the room. "If you don't want to die here, you know what to do."
"Tch. I already know we have no choice." He ground out, staring at the two angrily. "I can't believe it… retreating so simply after all we said." He challenged stupidly.
Lee stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the bleeding man. "If you still think you stand a chance, feel free to try." He retorted, giving off a violent aura that startled the men visibly. "If you even have the guts to do it."
"Tch." Was all Silver Hair could say as he struggled to stand straight, his bulky partner attempting to follow suit. She watched them for a moment, then snuck off to follow the principal and Rai, hoping to sneak back into position near Yuna before anyone noticed her missing. If only she had a GPS tracker or two to attach to them, if she could even manage such a thing. Next time, she promised herself, simultaneously hoping there would never be a next time.
Figuring it would be better than taking the same route as before, Hana snuck down a different hallway and back into the room with Yuna and the others, quickly dashing to the column the other girl was sitting up against. Sitting just to the side of it, she clutched her purse to her, half-pretending to be in fear for her life, as if she'd been there the entire time. Shinwoo was having a standoff with the creepy thug from before, but neither were moving much.
He looked around a few times, then stared at the thug again. "Ikhan, get the girls." He commanded.
Ikhan looked confused, staring around the room a few times as well. It seemed they only just noticed the absence of their captors. "They're gone… when did that happen?" he puzzled aloud.
"What are you doing? Move it!" Shinwoo yelled, obviously worried that they might come back soon.
"Right!" Ikhan affirmed, running towards Hana and Yuna. The creep dashed towards Ikhan, but Shinwoo cut him off.
"Trying to block us? Can't let you do that." He taunted, effectively blocking the thug's path. Suddenly the man grit his teeth and turned, dashing out of the room angrily.
"What?" Shinwoo asked, confused. "Why's he like that all of a sudden?"
"Shinwoo, it's weird that he's leaving, but don't you think we should get the girls out of here while we can?" Ikhan pointed out, sitting in front of Yuna.
"Yeah, you're right." Shinwoo admitted, turning to help Yuna stand. Ikhan moved towards Hana and offered her a hand up. She smiled shakily at him, still trying to process everything that had happened tonight as she got to her feet.
"Yuna, Hana, are you hurt?"
"No, but my legs feel-" Yuna started shakily.
"Are you alright?" A kind voice called out. Hana stiffened as Lee and Rai advanced on them, acting as if nothing had happened in the other room. They didn't seem to take particular notice of her, so she assumed they didn't know she'd been in there.
"Principal Lee! Rai!" Shinwoo exclaimed happily. Lee smiled cheerfully while Rai's usual stoic expression never wavered. Hana relaxed a little as the tension left the room and they all exited the building. She was silent as the other three talked with Rai and Lee about what had happened, contemplating what she had seen and decided.
"Especially for Hana." Shinwoo's voice cut into her thoughts as they walked.
"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking too hard again." She smiled sheepishly.
"I was just saying how this has been a crazy day, especially for you, since it's your first day here and all."
"Yeah… definitely." She agreed, her voice losing it's pep as she let the events start to sink in.
"I'm sorry you got caught up in it too, but… I'm glad you were with me, Hana. I was terrified, but at least I wasn't alone, you know?" Yuna admitted nervously.
Hana looked at the other girl and smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, I was too. I'm just glad it's over and we're all okay." She added sincerely.
They reached the ground floor and walked back to Principal Lee's house. Hana couldn't help but notice that it seemed strangely auspicious for Rai and Lee to have just shown up out of the blue in a half-finished building in the evening. Of course, she assumed with their powers that they had somehow sensed what was going on. There was no way for the students to know that, however. Had Shinwoo contacted the Principal before he left? It didn't seem like he had, but who knows. Perhaps Principal Lee had come to their rescue before, so they no longer wondered about it? Still, she couldn't help but feel the need to ask, if for no other reason than to appear as clueless as the others.
"Principal Lee?" she asked cautiously.
"Hm? What is it Hana? Are you hurt?" he responded, concern gracing his features. She smiled softly at his worry and shook her head.
"No, not really. I was just wondering… well… how did you even know we were there?" she inquired.
"Ah, that. A professor happened to be in the area and said he noticed Shinwoo and Ikhan rushing into a building that was still under construction, wielding a baseball bat, and acting with a sense of urgency. As the headmaster of Yeran, I like to make sure my students are safe, even outside of school. With everything that's been happening lately, I felt it was my duty to ensure their safety." He explained, not even hesitating. It was quite believable, even to her. Glancing at Rai, who was paying little heed to those around him, she felt even more curious.
"Um… well no offense, but… why did Rai come with you? Wouldn't it be dangerous for him?" she asked, blushing at the possible implications that might offend him.
Rai ignored her and kept walking, calm as ever. Principal Lee, or Frankenstein as she'd heard him called earlier, merely gave a sheepish grin. "He is a very noble sort, and felt that he should come along to, if for no other reason than to assure that everyone was okay. I would not have let him come to any harm."
She smiled and nodded, secretly thinking that it was likely unnecessary for him to protect 'Rai' or whatever his real name might be, but outwardly accepting the explanation she'd been given.
