It was morning as we saw Haru running through the streets in a worried haste. He overslept in his sleeping place and now he was late to warn Hakufu about Ryomou's plan to fight her.
"Not good, so not good! Of all the days Haru had to oversleep, it had to be the day that one of Haru's friends could be in danger! If Haru doesn't warn Hakufu in time… she may end up like Gakushuu… or worse." He said to himself.
It was fortunate that Haru knows all the back roads and shortcuts to get him to Nanyo quickly. He dash through alleyways, back streets, and even some backyards to reach the school. He was nearly there but fate had decided otherwise. A foot came out of nowhere and tripped him, making him fall face first on the pavement. He held his face as pain shot through his face. Once the pain dulled enough, he looked up to see what tripped him. There in front of Haru were 5 to 7 thug looking teens, some of them carried weapons, and the nearest one to Haru looked like the leader. Haru paled, knowing exactly what they were about to do.
"Not now, can't Haru be beaten up some other time?" Haru thought as the leader walked up to him.
"Now what do we have here? Looks like we found the homeless shit stain boys." The leader said to the others.
"C-c-c-can Haru help y-y-y-you?" He asked with a frightful stutter.
"Actually, yeah you can… DIE!" The leader swung his bat at Haru.
Haru dodge the metal bat and starts running. The teens chase after him with the intent of killing Haru. He ran as fast as he could into a large crowd hoping to lose them. Haru then headed into an alleyway to catch a breath once he thought he lost them. He leans back to the wall thanking whatever higher power for losing those goons.
"Why can't Haru get a break? It seems no matter where Haru goes, bad luck follows Haru… well, and at least Haru lost those teens for now." He sighed.
But a hard punch in the face sends Haru to the ground. He tried to get up but was kicked in the rips. He held his sides and managed to look up to see the teens were there looking at him with a cruel looking grin on their faces.
"We almost lost you back there which would have been bad for us since you need to die." The leader said circling Haru.
"Why… why are you doing this? What has Haru done to you? Whatever it is… Haru sorry for causing you any pain." Haru coughed.
"How pathetic. And for the record, as for why we are doing this, we were told by our leader. Why he wants you six feet under, I don't have a clue and I don't fucking care. No one would miss a lousy homeless kid like you. You're nothing but a shit stain in this world and should be thanking us for taking you out and making the world a better place." He said with a mock tune.
"But… Haru doesn't under—"
WHACK!
The leader hits Haru in the back with his bat.
"Oh just shut the fuck up and die already. Grab him." The leader ordered two of his goons to pick Haru up.
"Now my boss has asked me to kill you before sunset but he didn't say I couldn't have fun with you before then." He slammed his fist into Haru's stomach, making him cough up blood.
"And I haven't had much fun lately so me and the boys here are going to beat the living shit out of you before we end your sad excuse of a life." He punches him again.
"So just stand there and let us do all the work you fucking waste of life." He swung his bat back to his ribs hard.
Haru cried out in agony as the leader and the others started to torture him. Haru could do nothing but let them do what they wanted. Within the grueling pain, Haru had a memory flash of Hakufu and their first meeting. She was the first person ever to not only be nice to him but be his first friend. Then an image of Hakufu lying face down with cuts and bruises all over her body in a puddle of her blood with Ryomou over her with her grin. Haru felt this was his fault for not warning her about Ryomou and what Ryomou would do to her. He wouldn't be able to save her. He had let down his only friend because he was weak. And that made him angry. As the beating continued, Haru felt a familiar but dreaded feeling that was coming from within himself. He was losing control again.
He was becoming what he feared the most.
"No, please not now. Haru can't let that happen again. No… can't fail Hakufu. Can't let that happen. Can't become the monster but can't let Hakufu die." Haru was losing his inner battle.
And before long all Haru saw and felt from then… was nothing but rage and hatred.
"Damn that cousin of mine, she thinks it's my fault she can't get her lazy ass up for school. And then she just leaves me in the dust." Koukin muttered to himself as he ran to school.
Koukin was almost at the school when a newspaper flew into his face and he nearly slammed into the ground.
"Oh for crying out loud! First Hakufu leaving me behind now trash in my face? Can this day… huh?" He was about to throw the paper away but the bold letters on the paper caught his attention.
KANTO BEAST STILL AT LARGE!
"So… it's still out there… man I would hate to run into that thing." Koukin mutters to himself.
There has been a large rash of deaths in the Kanto region before thanks to the turf-war, but these deaths weren't from the Fighters, at least not these deaths. Bodies have been found shredded, crushed, sliced, ripped, and in some cases slightly eaten by an unknown killer they deemed the Kanto Beast. No one knows who or what is doing these killings. In each crime scene, there has been a large amount of damage to not only on the bodies but within the crime scene themselves. The concrete ground smashed into a million pieces as if a boulder did it, shredded or warped metal fences, poles, and even dumpsters and cars found with claw marks on them, destroyed walls with similar claw marks, and lots of blood as well. The scenes basically look like a bomb was set off. Too heavy or large for even the most powerful Fighter to make. And all the bodies that were recovered were mainly Fighters. It isn't clear whether the Kanto Beast is targeting the Fighters or if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Law enforcers can't seem to find a connection with each attack, they happen at random points of time from day or night and those who were killed have nothing in common plus the fact that they have no clue that the victims are Fighters or about the war so they had nothing to even start a lead to finding the Kanto Beast.
With little knowledge on what the Kanto Beast looks like and where it'll strike next plus the fact it seems to only kill Fighters, it made every Fighter in Kanto uneasy. Even the top Fighters have been watching their backs for any signs of the unknown killer. Koukin threw the paper away and returned back to running to school.
"Almost there… shit they're closing the gate! Hey hold on!" He yelled at the person that was closing the gate.
Koukin slipped in just as the bar gates closed. He skidded to a halt to catch his breath.
"Holy crap that was close. For a second there I thought I would be late and I would really be in trouble. Now where is that cousin of mine?" Koukin looked around to find her
He got his answer as Hakufu jumped on his head making him eat dirt.
"HA! Looks like I defeated you Koukin-kun, you're still the same as when we were kids." Hakufu teased.
"Dammit that hurt! What was that for?" Koukin asked angrily.
"Just to show you that even though you have a higher rank than me I can still whoop your ass." She smirked.
"That's why you jump me? Are you really that stupid?"
"HEY! Don't call me stupid!" She barked.
"Then don't do stupid stuff like that. Haven't I told you to use your head instead of blindly doing shit like this? I bet Haru-san would say the same thing."
"Great, now you're sounding like mom. And speaking of Haru-kun, I totally forgot to ask him for his number."
"His number?" Koukin asked.
"Yeah so I can hang out with him. He has been so nice to me and I would like to do a 'thanks for the grub' thing too and just spend the day with him." Hakufu said.
"That's very kind of you but I don't think Haru-san has a phone."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well… haven't you noticed that his clothes look like they are from a dumpster?"
"Koukin-kun! That is very rude to say. You shouldn't make fun of Haru-kun's clothing." Hakufu snapped at him.
"Wait, I didn't mean it that way. I mean that Haru-san may not have much, that he may be poor. So he may not have a phone or be able to afford nice clothing which is why I pointed out his clothes. He must have gotten them from other places besides a store because he doesn't have money." He explained.
"So you're saying you think Haru-kun is poor just by his clothing?" Hakufu asked.
"Um… well yeah pretty much."
BAM!
"OW! What the fuck Hakufu?!" Koukin held his head with a large bump.
"That's for saying mean things to Haru-kun and saying he is poor just because he wears those clothes. Maybe it's a fashion statement these days, have you ever thought of that?" Hakufu said, cracking her knuckles.
"Hakufu, no one has clothing like that unless they have no money, it's common sense. And I'm not being mean; I'm just saying that Haru-san might not have a phone because he doesn't have much money so it won't do you any good to try to get his number."
"Still say you're being a meanie."
"GAH! You're impossible to reason with!" He threw his hands in the air in frustration and started to walk off.
"Hey wait up!" Hakufu chased after him
The two headed into the hallways to a concession stand to get a snack since they left home without getting breakfast. As they made their way to the stand, Hakufu suddenly stopped. She was clutching her heart as though it was in pain. Koukin noticed she wasn't following him and turned around to see her leaning against the wall holding her chest.
"Hakufu what's wrong?" Koukin said with a worried tone.
"I… I don't know. I just have this dreaded feeling that… something is wrong. Like… something terrible is happening… from someone I know." She said slowly.
"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" He asks.
"I'm ok… the pain is gone. Let's get something to eat, I'm hungry." Hakufu walked over to the stand.
Koukin doesn't buy it but decides to let it go for now. Unbeknownst to them, Ryomou was leaning against the wall holding her chest, the same way Hakufu did only a few seconds ago. She was feeling the same pain and dread as Hakufu did, but she doesn't know why.
"Where is this coming from? And why am I feeling like this? This ache in my heart… this feeling of dread and worry… it's like… my soul is reaching out for someone, but whom?" Ryomou softly whispered to herself.
She shook it off and got ready to fight Hakufu. But they weren't the only ones for across the nation and even beyond, certain people were having the same sense of dread as they did.