18 Girls with GUTS!

"Towa… you're bleeding!" Yuzuru exclaimed, her voice tinged with concern, as she noticed blood trickling down from Towa's forehead.

"Don't worry, Yuzuru. It doesn't hurt," Towa reassured her calmly, his demeanor unwavering as he wiped the blood from his eyes with his fingers. With a practiced motion, he applied the blood to his talismans, causing them to glow with a vibrant green light.

"Oh no, he really hit him!" one of the onlookers gasped in shock. "That's real blood! We gotta run, help!" Panic began to spread among the kid's group.

"Did you find out the hard way? Run away before it's too late," Kazuki urged Towa, his voice laced with a sense of urgency. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he struggled to maintain his composure.

He knew that while Genki hadn't used much force this time, the next blow might not be so forgiving. Kazuki didn't want to get involved in a murder, and he desperately left the scene before things escalated further. The rest of the mob followed suit, fleeing from the impending danger.

"Where you runts think you're goin' away to?" Genki bellowed, turning his attention away from Towa towards the direction where Kazuki and his company had fled.

'Now's the chance.' With that thought seizing the opportunity, Towa extended his index finger towards the three kids, and with precision, the Ofuda adhered to their foreheads. Yuzuru's view was obscured by Towa's figure standing protectively in front, shielding her from witnessing his supernatural powers at play.

As soon as the talismans made contact, the purple fog dissipated into the tags, burning away after absorbing the miasma and causing the three kids to collapse to the ground, no longer under mind control.

Now, only Genki, the old guy, stood alone on Suimon Bridge, while the previously controlled kids lay unconscious nearby.

"Now old delinquent, you're all alone," Towa declared with a hint of defiance.

"Hey, d-don't you dare call me old! I'm the mighty Genki-sama! You have no respect for someone as great as me. Seems like the pain I gave you ain't teachin' you nothin'!" Genki slurred his words, his confidence fueled by alcohol.

"Nah, when I say it doesn't hurt me, that means I can bear it,"

"Ay, I see, so let's jus' see what ya gonna do 'bout another one, huh!" Genki slurred angrily, swinging his bat once more.

"[Levita-]" Towa stood his ground, making no attempt to defend himself. Yet, a smug smile lingered on his lips as the bat swung perilously close to his solar plexus. However…

*Clang...Scrape-Skid* 

Just before impact, someone pulled Towa back from harm's way. The metal bat met only the hard concrete, leaving behind the sound of shoes skidding on the rough surface.

"Nee-chan!" Yuzuru's eyes widened as she witnessed Shouko, her sister, appearing with a face she couldn't quite decipher as it was the first time she was making such a face. 'Is she angry?' she thought.

but one thing was clear—Shouko didn't like what was going on. Without hesitation, Shouko intervened, pulling Towa back just in time. She then used her handkerchief to tend to the small wound on Towa's forehead.

"Hey, a little missy playing hero, get lost before I make you so."

In response, Shouko stood in front of Towa, assuming a protective T-pose like an anteater guarding its young.

Until now, Yuzuru had been unable to move, her legs frozen in place. But witnessing her sister's brave stance and feeling the weight of responsibility, she couldn't stand by idly. She couldn't let her sister face this alone. With determination burning in her eyes, she stepped forward beside Shouko, ready to confront Genki.

"What's with that, huh? Another one's here! Have your parents not taught you how to act like a girl?? Haha! *hiccup* Blaaarh! You know wha' I mean!" Genki's mocking words echoed in the air.

"A-Anyone seeing your wrongdoings will stop you. It doesn't have anything to do with being boys or girls," Yuzuru retorted with her voice wavering, but with full conviction.

"Indeed not!" A feminine voice filled with vigor agreed from a distance.

*Ring-ring* 

Just as the tension reached its peak, it was shattered by the sound of a youthful voice accompanied by the tinkling of a bicycle bell, which echoed through the air.

From there, emerged a teenage girl, riding her bike at full speed toward Genki. As she neared, her figure stood out against the afternoon sun, her sailor uniform fluttering in the wind as she bunny-hopped towards the scene, her skirt and lab coat billowing behind her.

*Crash*

"Hah? Uwaaaack...!" Before the old delinquent could react, the girl's swift movement caused her bike to collide with him, sending him crashing to the ground with a sickening thud. The force of impact stunned him, causing him to release his grip on the bat as he lay sprawled on the concrete, momentarily incapacitated.

As the dust settled, the teenage girl dismounted from her bike with confidence, a triumphant smile gracing her lips. "You're correct!" she declared, her words resonating with kids who watched her in awe. 

"What's important isn't whether you are a boy or a girl," she continued, her words striking a chord with those gathered.

Despite the chaos unfolding around her, she remained composed and approached the brave sisters with an air of assurance. Her attire was curious, with a traditional sailor uniform adorned with a white lab coat, the sleeves slightly rolled up. A vibrant lavender ribbon adorned her collar, a stark contrast to the monochrome of her attire, loosely tied as if to signify her disregard for convention.

"Huh?"

"It's GUTS!" the teenage girl proclaimed, her cool fearless smile leaving no room for doubt.

"Yes?" "Is this a shounen manga?" Both Yuzuru and Towa couldn't help their inner straight man.

"Hey, are you three girls alright?" the girl asked, concern evident in her purple eyes.

"Umm, we're fine, but this over here is a boy," Yuzuru pointed toward Towa.

"For real?"

"For real, real."

Towa sighed, realizing the absurdity of the situation, and chose not to retort, feeling as if the author was simply repeating the same gag without adding anything new thinking this is some peak fiction. 

[A/N: Hey, that's NG. I wrote this with your appearance in mind, and you're supposed to retort to the gag… wait, since when were you self-aware?]

Meanwhile, Genki struggled to regain his footing, his face twisted with anger and humiliation. His pride wounded, he rose from the ground, his fists clenched and eyes blazing with fury.

"Don't you realize you bitch what have you done huh! Are ya picking a fight!" Genki spat, his voice dripping with venom as he glared at the teenage girl who had dared to challenge him. 

But the girl remained unfazed.

"Sounds good, looks like a spineless man like you still has some guts left…" she retorted calmly, her stance firm and her confidence unshaken by the delinquent's threats. "Go on, show me the kinds of guts you've got!" With her final words, she lunged forward with great speed.

"Come, Lemme show how ya fight face to face!" With no shame and a grunt of frustration, Genki picked up his metal bat and readied his stance. 

A catapult.

With a few steps she edged toward him—still in her fighting stance before anyone knew, she'd closed the distance between them as if it was nothing until she was near enough to land a punch.

"Haah!" Genki swung his bat downward with all his might like an avalanche, aiming for her front. 

Observing the direction of his strike, the teenager sidestepped as the bat collided with the ground instead.

*Clank*

In a fluid motion, the girl seemed to twist her entire body around as her left fist came right at Genki—this time there was no sign, no initial motion, only a determined attempt to punch him from her current position.

"Oof!" Just in time he cocked his head back. He barely managed to dodge, the punch grazing his chin and ripping away a few strands of hair from his goatee.

But she wasn't done. 

*Whack* Before he could react, her other hand swiftly disarmed him, knocking the bat from his grip with ease.

"Shit!" Genki cursed as he saw his weapon fall to the ground. In retaliation, he aimed a powerful kick at her waist.

In defense, she positioned her lead arm across her body, diagonally from the opposite shoulder. This created a shield-like barrier that blocked the incoming kick.

'She's pretty slick,' Genki thought, impressed despite himself. 

But he had no time to dwell on it, as he didn't see the next punch coming. 

Not that the punch itself was any faster, Genki quickly raised his backhand to defend. But the girl hadn't purposely slowed her attack to set up a guard break.

This time, however...she added it as a feint. It made a big difference.

The first strike was full force punching his guard.

But the second strike—was a doozy.

The girl launched a flurry of punches, her movements relentless and calculated.

"Ack... Ng-nghh!" 

The long black-haired teen girl landed five light consecutive punches to his torso and he had failed to block a single one.

It was a total onslaught, a barrage of fists.

Forget about evading it, even defending against it would be foolish.

Her strikes were supposed to be light which barely should've hurt Genki.

Yet—it hurt.

Genki grunted as the punches landed on his torso, each strike sending a jolt of pain through his body.

It was a total onslaught, and he was helpless to defend against it.

"Woah... it's on a different level," Yuzuru observed such moves and was captivated by the girl's skill.

"So cool! She probably does some martial arts, and maybe she's too good at it." Towa was impressed to see hand-to-hand combat for the first time not from a screen but irl.

"Wow~ *clap-clap*" Shouko clapped her hands, equally impressed by the display.

Despite his bravado, Genki was feeling the effects of the relentless assault. And if it hurt so much, He was drunk no more. Even his smirk—vanished, replaced by labored breathing as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"Looks like you're out of breath. Need me to call you an ambulance?" the girl taunted, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Don't make me laugh. The only one who'll be getting in an ambulance is you," Genki retorted, struggling back on his feet. In desperation, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that glinted in the sunlight.

"Brass knuckles? If you weren't resorting to such cheap tricks, I might have gone easy on you," the girl remarked, unimpressed by Genki's choice of weapon. "Looks like you're short on guts." She knew without a doubt that this scrawny drunk was no match for her.

"Ha-ha! No rules, no mercy, we don't play nice in a fight! Fight dirty, win big—that's my way," Genki declared, flashing the sunlight towards her eyes using the knuckles as a distraction before moving in for a straight punch.

"Ugh." The girl felt discomfort in her eyes but managed to duck the punch just in time, tilting her torso to avoid the blow.

"Hahah!" Elated by the chance, Genki lifted his leg to deliver a kick to her stomach. 

But his attack was useless.

Because the teen followed up where his kick should have landed—with a kick of her own. With lightning speed, the girl countered his kick, canceling out his attack with ease.

"Ouch!" Genki was treated to the force of his failed kick reverberating through his shins. That was in his current state, which meant anymore it would have been blown to smithereens; The impact was so intense that even the thought of it was terrifying. He pathetically crawled away to get some distance from her.

"Hmph! Not bad! Now I can hit you for real with my special hidden move," the girl announced, taking a run-up and leaping high into the air with a Superman punch stance.

'What? Was she holding back?' Genki started sweating nervously, raising his brass knuckles in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

"Meteor Mash!" the purple-eyed girl exclaimed as she descended towards Genki.

"Huuh…?" But the expected punch didn't come.

*Clank*

"…..Iyaah!" What came was intense pain from an unexpected place. His Eyes started watering and a high-pitched whimper left his mouth.

"Sheesh, that was brutal. Even I can feel phantom pain from here." Clutching at the groin area Towa paid condolence to Genki's unfortunate loss.

"Ha-ha idiot, you didn't even know 'Meteor Mash' is a Steel type move! Well, who cares it was super effective." the girl taunted, reveling in her victory.

"Rather wouldn't it be a critical hit?" Yuzuru chimed in.

"Pfft!" Even Shouko wasn't able to stop her giggle at that.

What happened was that the teen girl chose to kick the metal bat between Genki's legs, instead of punching him in the face. The kick was so powerful that the bat lifted up and its knob hit him on his groin, causing him to lose his marbles, quite literally.

"Should I go for one more?"

"Eek!" Genki lying flatly with his face on the ground tried to stand up in a panic, but between his legs trembled and shook in pain so much that all he could do was go from prone to supine.

"Anyways, who are you, Onee-san?" Yuzuru asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

"I am Hirastuka Shizuka, just a passing normal JK. I came here when some kids were shouting 'There's blood, run away from here!!' so I came lookin'…wait aren't you bleeding?" Hiratsuka's concern flickered in her eyes as she saw the patched handkerchief on Towa's head stained with a dull red color.

Towa expected, with that light novel protagonist-like introduction and iconic lab coat, she would be one of the most popular sensei characters, a good mentor, and a beauty who would still be a Christmas cake in her late twenties but still an otaku at heart who loves the shounen genre the one and only Hiratsuka-sensei in the flesh. But currently, she was a high school girl adorned in a sailor uniform. 

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