The final bell echoed throughout the school building as students flooded into the hallways in noisy groups.
Outside, the evening sky glowed with soft orange light.
Hiroyuki walked beside Fumi casually, his school bag hanging loosely over his shoulder while she walked beside him quietly.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
It wasn't uncomfortable.
Silence between them had always felt natural.
Fumi suddenly stopped walking.
"Hiro."
"Let's stop by the convenience store."
Hiroyuki glanced sideways.
"Need something?"
"Mhm."
"Alright."
The automatic doors slid open with a soft mechanical chime as they entered the brightly lit store.
Fumi wandered toward the food aisle while Hiroyuki moved toward the stationary section.
A few minutes later, he returned carrying several PVC sheets, glue containers, and a thick sketchbook.
Fumi stared at the pile in confusion.
"That's... a lot."
"What are you making?"
Hiroyuki smirked slightly.
"Secret project."
"Again?"
"I'll show you once it's finished."
Fumi narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Hmm…"
They paid for their items and stepped back outside into the cool evening air.
Then—
Several figures blocked their path.
Five men stood near the entrance.
Older than high school students.
Delinquents.
The one in front stepped forward slowly.
"You the freak who beat up my friend earlier?"
Hiroyuki immediately understood.
Ah.
So this was revenge.
He sighed.
"...I guess that depends."
"Was your friend an idiot?"
The gangster's face twitched.
"You got guts."
Another cracked his knuckles aggressively.
"Don't try acting cool in front of your girlfriend."
Fumi's entire face exploded red instantly.
"W-WHAT?! H-He's not my boyfriend!"
Hiroyuki looked exhausted already.
"...Can we skip the dramatic dialogue?"
He glanced at the group lazily.
"Your friend was bullying someone."
"I punched him."
"Seems fair to me."
The leader stepped closer.
"You think you're tough?"
Hiroyuki's eyes darkened slightly.
"No."
"I just think all of you are annoying."
A vein bulged on the man's forehead.
"The hell did you just say?"
Hiroyuki pointed directly at them.
"I said you're a pile of asswipes."
Silence.
Fumi covered her face.
"Hiro please…"
The gangster leader snapped instantly.
"BREAK HIS ARMS!"
The group charged toward him at once.
Hiroyuki calmly handed his shopping bag to Fumi.
"Hold these for a second."
"WAIT HIRO—"
Too late.
The first attacker swung a metal bat toward Hiroyuki's head.
Hiroyuki ducked smoothly beneath the strike.
SLAP!
A devastating slap echoed through the street.
The attacker spun sideways before collapsing unconscious.
The second gangster rushed forward immediately afterward.
Hiroyuki stepped inward in a flash of speed.
"Too open."
BAM!
A brutal punch landed directly across the man's face, shooting blood from both nostrils.
He dropped instantly.
The third attempted to tackle him.
Hiroyuki kicked him squarely in the chest before grabbing another attacker by the collar mid-motion.
A fourth gangster rushed from behind.
Without even looking back—
hiroyuki's elbow drove right onto the the face of the one from the behind as he was arm behind to punch the one he had held onto the collar.
CRACK.
The both men collapsed immediately.
hiroyuki turned back to look at the attacker who got hit by his elbow.
"sighh, maybe you shouldn't always attack from behind..."
The entire fight lasted less than thirty seconds.
Hiroyuki exhaled tiredly.
"...That should be enough for today."
He walked back toward Fumi casually.
"Thanks for holding my stu—"
"HIRO BEHIND YOU!!"
Too late.
THUD!!
A metal bat smashed violently against the back of Hiroyuki's skull.
Pain exploded instantly.
His body slammed onto the ground.
The world tilted sideways.
Hiroyuki slowly dropped onto his knees.
Blood dripped onto the pavement beneath him.
Fumi's face lost all color.
"HIRO!!"
The gangster holding the bat stumbled backward nervously.
He hadn't expected the hit to be that severe.
Hiroyuki's vision blurred violently.
Voices became distant.
His body felt unbearably heavy.
Inside his fading consciousness—
A memory appeared.
Warm sunlight.
Laughter.
A younger version of himself running through a park.
His father smiling.
His mother watching them gently.
Hiroyuki collapsed onto the pavement completely.
Blood spread beneath his head.
Fumi immediately dropped beside him in panic.
"HIRO!!"
"HIRO PLEASE!!"
Her hands trembled violently as she held him.
"SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE!!"
Nearby pedestrians finally began panicking.
Phones came out.
Voices echoed.
Someone ran for help.
But hidden in the shadows nearby—
Someone else had been watching everything.
A figure stood silently beneath the darkening sky.
Tall.
Motionless.
Red eyes glowing faintly within the darkness.
The injured gangster who attacked Hiroyuki fled the scene in terror, running into a nearby abandoned building to hide from the police.
He stumbled through the empty hallway breathing heavily.
"Damn it…"
"Damn it…"
Then suddenly—
A figure appeared directly in front of him.
The man froze.
Those glowing red eyes stared at him silently.
Fear crawled down his spine.
"W-Who the hell are y—"
BOOM!!
That figure grabs his neck with immense grip, choking him in the instance, his fits slowly rise off from the ground and starts to struggle to breathe.
"L-let...me.....go...."
The figure throws the gangster onto the pillar of the abandoned building.
"AGHHHHH!!"
CRACK!!-
THUD!!
The gangster smashes onto the pillar and hits the ground
The gangster crashed onto the floor violently.
Before he could recover—
The figure began kicking him repeatedly.
Again.
Again.
Again.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
Only rage.
Meanwhile—
Inside the ambulance sirens—
Hiroyuki drifted deeper into unconsciousness.
And somewhere within the darkness of his fading mind…
His mother's voice called to him once again.