Mika was utterly baffled. He stared at Maria like she had grown horns out of her head, still sitting there in her boxing headgear, calmly telling him to punch her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His fork of lasagna hung suspended in the air before he finally set it down and rubbed his face.
"You're seriously asking me to beat you up?" He said, voice flat with disbelief. "What kind of lunatic suggestion is that?"
"...Why the hell would you even want me to do that?"
Her reply came with no hesitation, her tone clipped and straight, like she had prepared it in advance.
"I don't want to be like the rest of them."
"The rest of who?"
"The students. The ones who whisper, who spread rumors, who call you a cheat without knowing anything. And today, I was no better. I doubted you. And I was proven wrong. That's on me." She straightened her shoulders, posture perfectly rigid. "But unlike them, I don't run from my responsibility."
