I need help plz! thankyou!

[6] As these things go, it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t actually lose any teeth or break any limbs or misplace an eye. Afterward, I even managed to limp home. My mother was at the hospital, so no one noticed that I had gotten stomped. Even took my blackened eye to classes the next day, but because my assailants attended another school, I didn’t have to tell the truth. I said, ‘‘It happened in karate.’’

What is the best meaning of the word “assailants” as it is used in paragraph 6?

A. companions

B. neighbors

C. attackers

D. allies