He reached. His fingers brushed her shirt and Nadira moved. The world narrowed into a sequence her body knew better than breath. She pivoted. Her foot slid diagonally, balance steady despite the slick ground.
Her hands rose, not to block, but to guide. She caught Riker's sleeve and arm in a textbook grip. One every judo fighter drilled thousands of times. Her hips dropped low. Her weight shifted forward.
Her balance became the anchor. She exhaled sharply. tai otoshi, a perfect body drop. Her legs swept across Riker's path with surgical precision. Her hands pulled him forward while her torso blocked his momentum. His center of gravity shattered.
His eyes widened as the rooftop tilted beneath him. "What theโ? No." But gravity had already claimed him. His feet flew upward.
His body flipped sideways. His arms windmilled wildly in the air, desperate for something to grab. Then thud, Riker's back slammed into the concrete with brutal force. The blow echoed like a gunshot across the rooftop, bouncing off metal, vents, and the billboard behind Nadira. Dust shook loose from the signs frame.
A bolt rattled. A pigeon scattered into the air. Nadira remained where she was, knees bent, hand extended, breath trembling from the execution of the throw. Her heart thundered, not with fear, but with the adrenaline of instinct, meeting survival. Riker lay sprawled out, gasping, pain radiating through his spine.
His phone slipped from his fingers, skittering across the rooftop in a desperate scramble of glass and metal. It spun, clinked once, twice, and slid to a stop near the puddle of spilled water. The screen remained lit. The red dot blinked steadily: live, Riker saw it, and terror filled his eyes. "No," he whispered, voice cracking with realization.
"No, no, no. Stop, stop.", he crawled toward the phone, dragging his body across the ground like a man drowning. But it was too late. Down below. The livestream viewer count passed 1,700.
Comments flew so fast the text blurred. She threw him because he ran at her. Y'all see her footing. She's trained. I saved the video.
Sending to admin now. He tried to shove her off the roof. This dude is done. A senior typed. She warned them by not fighting.
They kept coming. This is self-defense. A freshman replied. Riker hail just got folded like laundry. Teachers saw the livestream.
Coaches saw it. Counselors saw it. The vice principal saw it. And worst for Riker. The dean of discipline saw it.