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| damian |

"If you idiots do not shut up..." I growl at the nagging boy and girl beside me, only moving my eyes over from the book in my hands as we walk down the sidewalk towards the park.

"What are you reading anyway?" Bart asks, taking the book from my hands within a millisecond and flipping to the cover. Their faces contort in confusion as they read out loud "the 33 Strategies of War."

"I could read this whole thing in two minutes." Bart again brags about his speed, but I only snatch the thick 500 page book back, "You wouldn't understand a word."

"Yeah, we all know you still have a third-grade reading level." Kitrina hits him in the back of the head, and then they're back at it again. I roll my eyes again, but as soon as I open back to my page, I hear a mumbling of voices and laughter and an even softer sound of grunts. I look up, tuning out the children beside me towards the entrance of the park we were approaching.

There were a group of kids — five boys and two girls my age or not much older — circled around another girl who they push around as if they were playing some kind of hot potato with her. I could finally make out what they were saying as we walked closer; I hear them taunt "mutt" unsynchronized and nonstop at the girl. When one of the girls push her down onto the ground, I yell out at them and quicken my feet to a jog.

"Back off!" My palms come in contact with one of the boys' backs in a rough shove that makes him fall onto the ground. In a blink, Bart's got another kid by his collar, matching his height and standing in his face. "Yeah, leave her alone, dude."

Another boy helps the one I pushed back onto his feet while the two girls fall silent and their eyes grow big in a stare. My eyebrows furrow as I glare back at them until my arms are grabbed and a balled fist is thrown into my gut. My flex makes the punch less impactful as I hear one of the girls yell.

"Jake, stop! That's Damian Wayne!" She squeals while the other two boys fight Bart and Kitrina nonchalantly walks around the commotion towards the girl on the ground.

"Am I supposed to care?" The boy hitting me asks, making the two holding me back snicker. He makes the mistake of glancing over his shoulder, letting me pull my feet up to run up his torso, kick him smack on his forehead and flip over the two restraining me. 'Jake' falls back from my kick that shouldn't land him a concussion (just a really nice, fat knot and bruise on his forehead) and I land in a crouch behind the other two, swiping my leg across both of their feet and making them fall onto their backs.

I stand and watch them ache and roll on the ground for a second before glancing up to Kitrina helping the girl up and Bart bashing the last two boys heads together before letting them fall too. I step over one of the boys to approach Kitrina, glaring at the two girls who watched in shock.

"Get out of here." I demand, and one of them grabs the other before hopping over the bodies on the floor and running out the park.

"What were you gonna do, just lay there all day?" Kit asks the victim as she gathers her fallen binder and papers in her arms.

"Whoa! That's a nasty gash!" Bart joins with a smile, setting his hands on his hips while looking at the scrape on the girl's knee that's exposed from the skirt she wears. She brushes her straight, brown hair out of her face while rotating her leg to observe the wound at every angle, then she looks back up at Bart with matching big, brown eyes and long, thick eyelashes. She sheds a white smile, a tiny gap between her two front teeth and a dimple in her right cheek, "Yeah, I'll be fine though. Thanks for the help."

"You know, it's what we do." Bart cheeses so hard, his eyes close as he talks with pride until Kit nudges him with her elbow and snaps him out of it. She nods towards me and Bart and corrects, "It's what you do—"

The two look at me while I clear my throat loudly. They go quiet, and I look back to the victim who's only a few inches taller than me, but what's new? "You should go get that patched up before you catch an infection out here." I suggest although I actually don't care. I look back to Kit and Bart and gesture forward, continuing to walk.

The three of us keep going on our way until the girl yells out for us.

"Hey!" Her call makes us halt and turn around. "Is this one of you guys' book?" She asks as she picks it up from the ground and the bullies finally start to recover and get up. I walk back to her, eyeing the kids reaching their feet but holding their new injuries. They look at me like I was crazy, but back away when I draw closer until the five just turn and leave.

The victim smirks a little while watching them before looking back at me, "You're an intimidating little guy, huh?"

"Don't call me little guy." I put one of my hands in my pocket and snap my head over my shoulder when I hear my friends snickering behind me. They immediately shut up and I gesture my hand back to the victim, "My book?"

"Yeah," She begins to hand it to me, glancing down at the cover before her eyebrows raise, "33 Strategies of War?"

I take it, "Yeah, you wouldn't know anything about it."

Her look turns challenging almost, "Oh yeah? I've read it. Twice. My favorite is the 7th strategy. You know, morale? Transform the war into a crusade? Greene said, and I quote, 'Don't push from behind. Make them run to keep up with you.' Turn your fight into a cause to motivate your team."

I look at her a bit amazed, and she giggles again, "Let me guess, you're not that far?"

"I-" I try to come up with a comeback but I can't. I grit it my teeth and glare at her mischievous grin. "Thank you again for the help," She begins to walk off, waving her hand as she holds her stuff to her flat chest and looks back at me knowingly again, "Enjoy your book."

I watch her walk away for a minute, still trying to think of something to say even though it's way too late now. My friends walk up on both sides of me, snickering and smirking again. "Wow, she's a nerd and a smartass just like you." Kitrina claims and Bart adds on in a sing-song, teasing voice, pointing his index finger and moving it towards my cheek.

"It's a match made in hea— AHH! DAME!" I catch his finger before it can poke my face, bending it back until his body contorts to keep it from breaking. I look down at him, "Don't ever poke my cheek."

"ALRIGHT! OKAY!"

I let him go and turn back around to continue walking through the park.

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⏰ Last updated: Jun 30, 2020 ⏰

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