Four Inches Below

"Wise choic-"

Before the A grader could finish his sentence, a direct punch landed straight to his face. It sent him flying and his body crashed harshly onto the wall which resulted in a huge cracks around his body. The male student vomited a mouthful of blood. However, before he could even react, another body landed squarely to his face, slamming his body back onto the wall and the cracks behind him became even more visible.

Ayumi"s body dropped to the floor as she watched Chinatsu"s nimble and sharp movements while fighting her foe. She did not hesitate in the slightest to hurt her opponent and even the aura around her turned murderous. She really did want to murder these students despite knowing the consequences.

The rule of Kyuten Gakuin stated that you could rob anyone off their aether but, you had to do so without killing your victims. You needed to know how much you could take before the victim ran out of aether. Since aether acted out as one"s life force. The hunters were forbidden to rob their victims empty which would lead their victims to death.

Hence the violation of Kyuten Gakuin"s first rule and the consequence would be the hunters being tortured in any way inhumanely possible until their aether vanished from their body.

Chinatsu realized the dire consequences that she might have to face from killing these Betas. But, she couldn"t stop herself when she recalled how they had s.e.xually a.s.saulted Ayumi in front of her face.

Chinatsu might have thrown the punishment to the back of her head but not Ayumi. Upon seeing how Chinatsu had gone wild in hitting them, Ayumi rushed forward to stop Chinatsu from killing them. She tightly hugged Chinatsu"s legs, not allowing her to move even the slightest.

In between her cry, Ayumi begged Chinatsu, "Please stop, Natsu-chan. Don"t kill them! It"s not worth it to dirty your hands for the likes of them."

Chinatsu struggled to free herself from Ayumi"s grip. "Let go, Ayumi! I have to f.u.c.king kill them for what they"ve done to you!"

Ayumi shook her head incessantly. "Don"t. Please."

"Ayumi!"

Ayumi looked at Chinatsu straight in the eyes then as she said, "Don"t kill them. For my sake, please stop, okay?"

With how Ayumi gazed at her pleadingly, Chinatsu finally found it in her to stop. She tried to calm her enraged state by breathing in and out repeatedly. Looking how Chinatsu had finally gained control of her emotion, Ayumi decided to let go of her grip. She glanced at the three males lying down unconsciously on the floor. The one who had hugged her in his arms was in the worst state.

"Can you stand?" Chinatsu asked as she squatted down to level Ayumi. Ayumi smiled and nodded. With that, Chinatsu held her hands and pulled her up. As soon as she got up, Ayumi threw herself into Chinatsu arms. She hugged her tightly by the neck.

Chinatsu could feel Ayumi"s body trembling very badly. She sighed and put her arms around her wait while she tried to soothe her by patting her back.

"Okay now, it"s not the time to weep, okay? We need to move before another comes around."

Just as Chinatsu finished her sentence, a male"s voice entered her ears, "Oh, we"ve got two here. One is a Beta though."

Chinatsu immediately hid Ayumi behind her in reflex. And when she saw the coming hunters, she was surprised to see a group of them. What even more shocking was one of them was a female while the other three were males. Three A grades and one B grade. The girl was an A grader.

The girl chuckled. "Hey, Beta. Is that your prey?"

"Aye, why not let us join?" One of the male student asked.

"We can show you some moves."

Chinatsu frowned. She might"ve had a chance before with the previous betas because there was only one A grader and she had successfully tricked them too by letting them think that she was going to abandon Ayumi so, she could catch them off-guard afterwards.

But, not this time. She wouldn"t be able to pa.s.s this group easily. Her aether was already thinning out as well. She needed time to absorb the aether from the air. Chinatsu was now left with no choice.

"Oh c"mon now, don"t be so stingy!" One of the male chirped again.

"Don"t tell me. Is she your soulmate?" The female hunter asked.

That gave Chinatsu an idea. She nodded right away. "Yes, so could you please find another prey?"

And then she saw one of the boys at he back sniffing. After that, a grin found its way to his lips. "You lied."

The female hunter turned to face him. She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Try to focus the aether to your nose. It"ll help you with your sense of smell."

The female hunter tried then and when she did, the corner of her lips curved upwards. As she gazed back at Chinatsu"s direction, her eyes stayed fixed on Ayumi.

"She"s not your soulmate," the female hunter stated with a hint of teasing in her voice. "She"s a f.u.c.king virgin."

Her comment sent sparkles into the other two boys"s eyes. They excitedly eyed Ayumi who was staring at them with terrified gaze. With the female hunter making the first move to approach them, the other three followed as well.

Chinatsu"s heart fell at that moment. She turned around to face Ayumi. Upon seeing the look on Chinatsu"s face, Ayumi"s tears escaped from her eyes once again.

"Don"t." Ayumi shook her head.

"Run, Ayumi," Chinatsu ordered her softly as she smiled bitterly at her. "I"ll meet you later, okay?"

Ayumi shook her head. Her tears fell uncontrollably.

Without any hesitation, Chinatsu pushed Ayumi away as she turned her back on her to face the four Betas.

For the last time, Chinatsu ordered her, "Run!"

Ayumi turned on her feet and immediately ran upstairs, leaving Chinatsu behind.