Chapter 9 : Cornered

Jun and Airi quickly ran towards the roof exit. Due to the situation their aggressors were completely caught off guard.

“J-Jun-kun!” Airi shouted as he pulled her along without looking back.

“If we can just make it back into the school, we might have a chance of getting away. We can worry about the rest later!” Jun shouted. He knew his words were bullshit. The Queen’s Army would never let something like this go-- what self respecting delinquent would?

When Jun thought back to all of the boys who seemed afraid in the hallways or who had been pulled into corners by random hands he realized things like this must have happened all along. He simply chose to avoid acknowledging reality because it never happened to him. Even in the short amount of time it took for him and Airi to make it to the doors Jun’s mind had begun racing to find a solution to the dilemma -- yet nothing.

“It’s chained. Dammit!” Jun said as he shook the heavy steel chain which securely fastened the double doors of the roof exit.

“Jun! They’re coming.” Airi said upon hearing the sounds of shouts and footsteps.

“This way!” Jun said, leading Airi by the hand once more to the far side of the vast school roof.

*Maybe there’s a ladder or another way? Those violent girls won’t let us off easy if we get caught!* Jun thought to himself as the two fled their captors.

“How dare you lay hands on the Queen? You’re fucking dead!”

“You must really want to die!”

“Stop running so we can beat you!”

These were just a few of the words the Queen’s Army had for Jun as they dashed after the pair.

Finally, the chase came to an end as the pair were confronted by a rather high chain link fence. Such a fence surrounded the entirety of the school roof, but this particular one served the purpose of preventing students from getting too close to the air conditioning units. Once again, the final year highschool students were trapped.

*Dammit. My birthday was tomorrow. Now it looks like I’ll be spending it in the hospital, or worse..* Jun thought as he stepped in front of Airi and prepared to defend her with his body.

“Jun-kun… You shouldn’t have done that.” Yukari said as she drew near. Behind her were the other six girls of the Queen’s Army and at the rear, just a few meters behind was the Queen. She was slowly strutting towards the cornered pair, using her followers to block their escape. From just one glance Jun could feel the energy around her shift and he could tell -- she was pissed.

“Stay back!” Jun shouted as he clenched his fists.

“I don’t want to hit a woman, but I will!” He shouted as two of the girls drew close to him.

“I said, stay bac--” Jun tried to warn them off yet again but a swift strike to his abdomen completely caught him off guard. His eyes bulged and he felt the energy leaving his body as he began to double over. He was then struck by a second and third strike, one on the cheek which knocked his glasses sideways and the other was a fierce slap which made his face sting and his eyes water.

Caught off guard and completely shocked by the strikes , it was all Jun could do to stay on his feet.

“Jun-kun! J-Jun!” Airi shouted as she stepped closer to him, using her body to support his weight slightly.

“You should have just stayed in line. Now I can’t help you Jun-kun.” Yukari said as she wrapped her fist around Airi’s hair and yanked her savagely, ripping her away from Jun in the process. Airi shouted as Yukari pulled her close and slapped her face several times with her free hand before tossing her to the side.

“One way or another the Queen always gets what she wants.” The husky green haired girl said as she drew near to Jun and began to strike him several more times. The hits weren’t heavy, but they still hurt. What’s more Jun could do little to block them, he’d never been in a real fight before and his head was still spinning -- his body racked with pain. He was only standing due to his desire to avert punishment from Airi at this point. The green haired girl was relentless, she struck him at least ten times and half of them were in places Jun simply couldn’t defend. What’s more because she wasn’t striking with intent to knock him out, she was using her knuckles. Each strike felt like tiny spears driving into his body, the stomach, rib cage, shoulders and forearms -- they were all aching profusely.

“Stop it, stop it please!” Airi shouted as she crawled towards Jun. Yukari held her back, punishing her with a few brisk head slaps in the process.

“Leave her alone you bi--” Jun lunged towards Yukari and in the process failed to guard an incoming blow to the stomach. The air left his body as a fist strike to his solar plexus caused him to crumple to the ground completely.

The moment Jun fell to the ground two other girls stepped in ; shadows and sunlight flashed before Jun’s eyes as they began to stomp and kick him. The beat down seemed endless, though it only lasted for a few seconds. He curled himself into a ball, thus the only real damage he suffered was to his fingers, which were kicked several times.

“Enough.” The Queen said amidst the sounds of Airi’s pleas for the violence to cease.

The Queen stepped forward and knelt in front of Jun, who was still huddled on the ground like a turtle. He was covered in wounds, his hands and arms mostly.

“Hmph. He’s done. You can have your way with him girls. This one is mine.” The Queen said as she then stood and turned to walk towards Airi. At this moment Jun reached out, grabbing the Queen by her ankle and jerking with all of his strength. The motion was enough to trip up the Queen completely. She fell face forward, smashing her head into the hard cement beneath her feet.

“You bastard!” A nearby girl shouted as she lashed out, kicking Jun in the stomach with a stomping motion. He was caught unaware and unguarded due to his attack on the Queen, thus he received even more damage. His ribcage was on fire and he felt as if he was finally becoming dizzy. Jun had reached his limit, he was even surprised that he managed to protect his eyeglasses through it all.

“Stop.” The Queen said, her voice having taken on a new note of anger. She pushed herself upwards with ease, almost as if she was doing a springing push-up. As she turned to face Jun several of the Queen’s Army gasped. A trickle of blood was running down the Queen’s forehead, apparently Jun’s surprise attack caused the injury.

“No way. The Queen is bleeding? You remember what happened last time right?”

“Holy shit. Someone stop her , or we will need a body bag!”

“No fucking way, you do it. I don’t have a death wish!”

Jun could hear the girls murmuring and the sounds of crying but that was about it. Things felt hazy and his body felt weak. He struggled to understand exactly what was happening but he felt a tug on his body, and the sensation of his hair being pulled. Soon he felt weightless altogether, or rather as if he was hanging. He was nodding in and out of consciousness, thus he could barely focus. He had no idea how long this lasted but when he finally noticed something he could discern it was the sight of the Queen’s face. She was so close, so angry and ready to strike.