Aki and the girls from Seaton Academy weren't just delinquents, they were known for going further than most. They did what they had to do to survive, to win, to take whatever the world refused to hand them. And sometimes, that meant using their fists.

This was one of those times.

Without a word, Aki shifted slightly, her silent signal.

Nightly and Susan immediately panicked, bolting from their seats and trying to make a run for the door.

It was all too late.

The two girls at Aki's sides moved fast. In a blur, they each drove a solid kick into Nightly and Susan's stomachs, folding them over with gasps of pain. Then, SLAP, a heavy palm strike across each of their faces snapped their heads sideways.

But it didn't end there.

Both attackers grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked the girls back, only to drive brutal punches into their chests. The blows sent them airborne for a split second before they crashed onto the hard floor. Before they could even groan, each girl had a foot planted firmly on her stomach, weight pressed down, hard, pinning them in place.

Across the room, the guys who'd helped capture the girls were watching, unmoved, even entertained.

"These ones are a little rough, huh?" one of them said, chuckling. "Not like the sweet little angels we're used to."

Aki gave them a cold glance but didn't waste a word. She turned her focus back to Kira, who was still seated across the table.

"It'd be smart if you didn't try to run like your friends," Aki warned, slowly balling her fist.

Kira's eyes widened. "Wait, I, !" She threw her hands up, palms out, scrambling to defend herself.

Too slow.

Aki's fist slammed into the side of Kira's mouth.

It wasn't a sharp sting, it was worse. It was the kind of hit that left her whole face numb, her vision blurred, her balance gone. Her ears rang, and for a second, everything around her vanished into white noise.

She'd been slapped before, Abby's hit came to mind, but this was nothing like that.

This was real.

Her whole body went limp, adrenaline crashing into her bloodstream as she started to tremble. Just as her head lulled forward, a strong hand grabbed the back of her hair and yanked her upright again.

Aki grabbed a fistful of Kira's hair and slammed her face down hard against the table. The side of Kira's cheek smashed against the cold surface, skin flattening, pain blooming instantly.

"You dragged my girls into this, for what?" Aki barked, her voice raw with fury. "For some stupid, petty grudge?!"

She yanked Kira's head up, forcing her to meet her eyes.

"Tell me, what pathetic reason made you think this was okay?!"

Then, WHAM, she slammed Kira's face down again, the sound cracking through the air.

Kira felt something shift in her mouth. Her tooth. Loose. Blood pooled at the edge of her lips, warm and metallic.

"You think your dumb little actions don't have consequences?" Aki shouted, voice shaking with rage. "Your selfish choices screw up more than just your life, you selfish b*tch!*"

Another slam. The third.

Each time her head hit the table, Abby, Cindy, and Sheri flinched. Their eyes were wide, hearts hammering in their chests. They didn't even know who they were supposed to be scared of anymore.

Was Aki here to save them… or had something worse just walked into the room?

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kira cried, her voice garbled through her bloody, bruised mouth. "I was just jealous… I was mad they were talking to Max… I'm sorry!"

The confession didn't surprise anyone. The girls had suspected it all along. But hearing it out loud didn't make it better.

It made it worse. Aki wasn't done.

"You let jealousy over a boy drive you to this? And you didn't even do the dirty work yourself, you used my girls?!" she screamed.

Without warning, Aki lifted Kira completely out of her chair by the hair and flung her across the room.

Kira slammed into the wall with a heavy thud and crumpled to the ground. She didn't move. Not because she couldn't, though her limbs felt like jelly, but because she was too scared to.

If she stood up, if she made even a wrong breath, she knew… she'd get hurt again.

"You are never to call on anyone from Seaton Academy to do your dirty work again," Aki snapped, voice cutting through the air like a blade. "And you are never to lay a finger on these three girls. Not even a single hair. You understand?!"

"I, I understand! I understand!" Kira cried, her body still trembling as she curled into herself on the floor.

Even though Cindy, Abby, and Sheri had been dragged here against their will… even though they'd been threatened with knives and slapped across the face… somehow, in this moment, they could only feel a little bad for Kira.

Only a little.

Aki turned to them, her expression softening just enough.

"You three," she said, stretching her hand out and pointing toward the door. "You're free to go. Leave this place, forget this day ever happened. And if anyone ever gives you trouble again… just tell them you know Aki from Seaton Academy."

A small smirk crept across her face as she added, under her breath:

"Though it seems like someone even greater than me is already looking out for you."

"Come on!" Cindy said, grabbing Sheri and Abby by the arms. "We're out of here."

The three moved fast, slipping out of the room. But just before they exited, Sheri slowed and glanced back, drawn by a strange feeling she couldn't shake.

That's when she saw it.

The leader of the Seaton girls, Aki, had a jacket on. And across the back of it, printed in bold, was a blood-red droplet and words underneath:

Bloodline Gym.

Sheri blinked. Had that been there this whole time?

Now that she noticed it, she saw it on all the Seaton girls. Even the ones who'd threatened them earlier. Each of them wore something, jackets, patches, wristbands, all with that same logo.

Bloodline Gym… is that some kind of group?

Then something clicked in her memory.

Didn't Mom say the company that saved us… the one that bailed out our family… was called Billion Bloodline VC?

Her heart skipped.

Could they be connected somehow? A gym and a private venture capital firm? What would delinquents like this have to do with a company that powerful?