Chapter 3 – The Pen Is Mightier...

The library was a veritable beehive of activity the next day. Leon and the One Star students were all gathered around a single table, stacks and stacks of papers in front of them. They almost seemed to be in a trance, burning through paper after paper with record speed. The rest of the group was busy running papers and books to and from the same table, while some were taking full notebooks out of the library. Ryuko stood by the door, watching with a bored expression as student after student passed her by. Overall they seemed to have accepted her presence, though every once in a while she would receive a nervous look or two.

"Yamada! I need you to take these to the World History room on the third floor!" Matsuo called from the center of the room. The young student stepped forward with an energy that was uncommon to his typical timid nature and took the notebooks she held out for him. Then, with just as much energy, he rushed out of the room.
The work went like this for about half an hour before, as one of the students went to step through, the doors burst open and a group of students stormed in. They were all wearing Goku Uniforms that made them look like they belonged more in a safari than in a school, and each of them carried a rifle. All heads turned to them as they all pointed their guns at the group around the table and, in unison, fired a barrage of red feathered darts.

"One Stars!" cried Matsuo, "Defensive Argument!" As if she were their commander the other four One Star students leaped up from their places and pulled out small notebooks not unlike Leon's own. They held the notebooks open and the pages flew from them, creating a thin wall of pages that, surprisingly, stopped the darts.

"Well well," came a baritone of a voice from behind the intruders, accompanied by slow clapping. "Seems I underestimated the capabilities of the Writing and Linguistics Club. You're faster on the draw than I expected." The man speaking was tall, muscular, and had shaggy black hair that hung down past his shoulders. The features of his face were angular and wild, and his eyes were a wild looking amber color. His teeth seemed sharp, like a wolf's, and he wore a Goku Uniform that consisted of a tight fitting, sleeveless shirt and a loin-cloth that (thankfully) fell down to knee length, and a pair of silver and black gloves.

"Hey just what the hell do you think you're doin'?" asked Ryuko, who had been forced to move out of the way of the students that had barged in. She now stood between them and the rest of the people in the library.

"Oh? I didn't know you were a part of this club. This is a fight I was not expecting to have."

"I'm not," said Ryuko with a scowl, "but if you're looking for a fight I'd be more than happy to kick your ass!"

"Stop," came Leon's voice as the wall of paper quickly fell apart, "there won't be any fighting in here. And if there is it won't be you fighting, Matoi."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ryuko asked as Leon stepped forward and in front of her. He gave her a glance and a smirk.

"It means, if it comes down to it, it's my business," then, to the intruder, "Now then. Just who are you and what do you want with us?" In answer, the man pointed a thumb to his chest and smiled wide.

"My name is Okami Ryu, President of the Zoology Club," then, losing the smile and suddenly very serious, "Word is your club has struck a deal and won't have to participate in the Election like everyone else. Sounds pretty unfair to me."

"Yeah, right. Unfair. Because all we have to do is sort through all the work you've done and make sure it sparkles," Leon answered, his tone practically caked with sarcasm, "it's not like you'll really lose your place anyway. Who are you under, Inomuta?"

"That doesn't matter," said Okami with a growl, "we know the stakes and we aren't going to let some group of nobodies get through with a free ride. You want to mark your territory? Gotta spill some blood first." Leon would have told him that what he said didn't make any sense, but as soon as he stopped talking Ryu was in motion, quickly closing the distance between himself and his target. Leon only had a moment to react, pulling his book out of his inside pocket and holding it up defensively. The blow connected with the leather-bound surface and absorbed the impact, but the force was enough to send Leon rocketing backward over the stacks. He finally came to a stop when he collided with a shelf filled with books. Though some books did fall around him, he was happy that the shelves in the library were practically welded to the floors. With a pained groan he forced himself to his feet just in time to see Ryu leap up and perch like some kind of predator on the shelf opposite him.

"I'm surprised that book's not in tatters," said Ryu, pointing at the black book in Leon's hand, "the Gorilla Punch generally destroys whatever I throw it at. That thing got Life Fibers or something?" Leon smirked at this.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact. That, and I've got a few more surprises up my sleeve," said Leon, popping the book open. The majority of the pages, it seemed, were blank, and there was a pulse of energy from him. Ryu notices this immediately and leaps down from the shelf in an attempt at a horribly telegraphed comet punch. Leon jumped to the side, dodging the attack and flipping pages into the air. At first, they fell like paper would but, after a moment and a twist of his wrist, they twisted into sharp cones that hung in the air for only a moment before launching at Ryu with intense speed. The Zoology Club president, taken by surprise, jumped up and away from the attack, clambering up one of the shelves but unable to dodge all of the projectiles. One dug into his leg like an arrow as he reached the top and flipped over, splattering blood on the shelf behind him as Leon started running, hoping to make some ground between himself and his enemy. Maybe he could even get out in the open – he definitely wouldn't last another close encounter with that ape of a man.

"Sneak attacks only work once!" snarled his opponent as a powerful slam knocked books to the floor and nearly destroyed part of the shelving that contained them. As he ran, Leon could see Okami dashing alongside him through the slats, pounding the shelf every once in a while until the two of them came to a gap between the bookshelves. Leon kept moving forward, taking a quick sidestep to jump into another lane, using it to make some distance between himself and his enemy. It seemed to work, too, until Okami came smashing through the stacks and stopping in front of him. The larger man had a cocky grin on his face.

"Don't think a bunch of paper and wood is going to keep me from catching my prey!" he said as his gloves grew long Life Fiber claws. Leon took a step back and held his arms up defensively, though he knew one hit from those claws would probably tear through his jacket and book regardless of what they were made of. As Okami cocked his hand back to strike, Leon took his chance and stabbed with his pen, making a small cut that didn't do much in the way of damage but staggered Okami for a moment.

"You little bastard," Okami snarled, curling his fist and catching Leon with a sidelong punch that sent him careening into the broken shelving. Leon kept his feet as well as he could, holding his side and dodging to the left as another strike came crashing toward him, claws extended and ready to eviscerate. The strike cleaved through the bookshelf like paper (giving Leon something to compare to what might happen if he got hit) and, in a rather fortunate turn of events, caused it to come crashing down.

"What?" was all Okami could gasp out before the shelf and all it's contents fell on top of him. On the other side Leon could see the entrance to library and took off toward it, hearing the sound of wood cracking behind him and knowing that his opponent wouldn't take too long to catch up. He just needed to get out in the open.

"Leon!" called Matsuo as he stumbled out from the stacks, falling into a roll that saved him from the chunk of shelf that came flying over his head. As he rolled he flipped his book open, turning through the pages frantically in search of an empty one.

"What are you doing, dumbass?!" yelled Ryuko as Okami came barreling out from the same spot, looking a little beaten, a little bruised, and a whole lot angrier than he was before. He approached Leon slowly, cracking his knuckles, and Ryuko took a confident step forward only to be stopped by the raised arm of Matsuo. The redhead's eyes were focused forward and the look on her face – a small smirk and wide eyes – told Ryuko that she was missing something. As Okami lifted his arm for a powerful,l life ending strike, Leon found a blank page and quickly put his pen to paper, scribbling out a few quick words before slapping the book closed. As soon as he did this, Okami seemed to freeze where he was standing.

"Wait...why is he stopping?" asked Ryuko. Matsuo smiled smugly and pushed her glasses up her nose as Leon stood, taking defensive stance and holding his book in front of him. The pages began to flip around wildly until they all ripped from the book entirely, swirling around him as if he were suddenly surrounded by a whirlwind. The whole thing had a magical feeling to it, accentuated by what Matsuo said next.

"It's all over now. A little blood is all Leon needs to hit someone with Suspension of Disbelief. The Life Fibers do the rest of the work, connecting a single thread to the victim's mind and showing them whatever he wants them to see." At this point in her monologue, Okami started to move and twitch ever so slightly.

"Unfortunately, while he isn't writing, the effect slowly wears off," she continued, but her smirk was ever present, "of course, that doesn't matter at this point. Like I said...it's all over." As she spoke these last words Okami seemed to come to, confused as to where he was as his hands fell to his sides. Meanwhile, the pages whipping around Leon began focusing around his left arm as he cocked it low and back, his hand forming into a fist as he put all his strength into an uppercut punch that made his opponent's head snap back and up as he was lifted off his feet and thrown back.

"One Thousand Paper Cuts!" Leon cried, and in response the pages whipped forward into the air, surrounding Okami in a crinkling sphere of paper through which he could barely be seen. The pages only lifted the man higher into the air as he cried out, the pages leaving their mark, inconsequential individually but devastating en mass, in his skin. When it was all over, Okami came falling to the ground in a defeated heap, the pages thinning out quickly before he landed and returning to Leon's book, snapping shut when they were all back in their places. Okami's Goku uniform, scant as it may have been before, was torn to useless shreds by the cutting pages and he was left groaning on the ground.

"Take him and leave," said Leon, panting a little but putting on the most intimidating tone he could muster. He half turned and gave the rest of the Zoology club a stern glare, trying to drive his point home, and the assembled students stiffened at his gaze before jumping to work, gathering up their leader and dragging him out by his shoulders. As they crossed the threshold of the room Okami grumbled something along the lines of "this isn't over" but Ryuko, leaning against the wall next to the doorway, merely sneered and rolled her eyes as they passed. Once they were all gone, the room went silent. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath. Waiting, though for what exactly was a bit of a mystery.

"Well," started Leon with a sigh and a nervous laugh, "that went well, I think." With this the atmosphere seemed to lift a little, and the rest of the Linguistics club began to clean up the mess their most recent visitors had caused. Matsuo, meanwhile, was immediately at Leon's, forcing him to sit even though he didn't seem all too interested in it.

"I'm fine."

"You got launched through the air like a ragdoll you're not fine," combated the redhead as she looked him over, unbuttoning his shirt so she could get a look at his side. He struggled for a few moments but eventually gave in. There was no point in fighting her at this point – she was going to check his wounds, even if she had to time him down to do it.

"Wow," she said as the white cloth was peeled back to reveal the slowly purpling bruise over his ribs, around a foot wide, "you're lucky he didn't get a good shot off, or else these might have been broken." As she spoke she felt around the bruise slowly and firmly, doing her best not to hurt him any further and looking for any breaks. Not for the first time, Leon felt grateful that her parents were both doctors.

"All right, you seem to be in good enough shape, but you're going to be hurting for a couple of days."

"Told you," he replied, buttoning up his shirt. The sight of Ryuko approaching caught his attention. She had her arms crossed and seemed to be making an effort to keep her eyes to the side, apparently to avoid looking at him while his shirt was still undone. Once he was decent, however, she met him with a hard glare.

"You know I could have taken him out in a second, right? I don't see the sense in letting yourself get hurt."

"It was my fight," Leon retorted, which earned him a slight smack on the back of his head before Matsuo walked off.

"Well. Whatever. At least hanging out in here is less boring than it was before," Ryuko said. Leon stood slowly, not wanting to jar his now aching side too much, and patted her on the back as he began to walk by.

"And it's going to get way more exciting. You and I are going somewhere." To this Ryuko could only look at him with a raised eyebrow and a scowl.

"And what the hell do you mean by that? Where do you think you're going to take me, to dinner or something? Give me a break."

"Ha, you wish," he replied with a smirk as he grabbed her lightly by the wrist and began walking. To his surprise she didn't resist.

"Then what?"

"We're going to visit Jakuzure about this," he said, smiling wide as he looked back at her, "and I'll need you as my witness, of course."