CHAPTER 48: THREE ON THREE
Koyo Female Academy was a prestigious school for elite young women; its security was usually top-notch.
But the three foreigners in suits were professionals. They had planned their move with surgical precision. They cornered Hina Hongo in an alleyway that was a perfect blind spot for the school's cameras and guards. The area was quiet—no matter how loud the girls screamed, no one would notice.
The only "error" in their calculation was the sudden appearance of another high school girl—Arisa.
But that didn't matter. They only had one objective: Hina Hongo.
The students were all in uniform, but the men were confident they had the right girl. Hina was unmistakable. Her pupils weren't normal; in her deep blue eyes, the centers were shaped like sharp, five-pointed stars. Combined with her pale pink hair and refined features, she was impossible to miss.
"..."
The men closed in, pinning Hina and Arisa into the narrow alley.
Hina, however, seemed entirely unbothered by the tension. She remained smiling, her expression almost serene. She pointed at the three men and turned to Arisa.
"Arisa-chan, you said your brother wanted to talk to me. Which one of these three is he?"
Arisa shook her head. "None of them. My brother is much more handsome."
Hina nodded thoughtfully, turning back to the men. "You said you work for 'IDEAL'? That doesn't sound like a branch of the police department..."
"Enough talk," the lead man, Scarface, growled. He pulled a tactical knife from his waistband. "When the Army of God was dismantled, a cache of high-grade chemical weapons vanished. Our intel says you took it."
"Now, little girl... are you going to be a good student and tell us where it is? Or do you want to play a game with your uncles?"
"..."
"Are you sure?" Hina tilted her head. "Uncle... you might actually die if we play."
Hina's eyes twinkled. "IDEAL... a foreign criminal syndicate? You're targeting the cult's old weapons, so you tracked me down. You couldn't get into my foster parents' estate because of the security, so you waited for me to leave school."
"Hmm... you didn't bring guns. If you had them, you wouldn't be showing me a knife. I guess the Tokyo police have been too active lately? Is it hard to smuggle pieces through Shinjuku these days?"
"..."
The deductions were too accurate. The men's patience evaporated.
Scarface toyed with his knife, his voice turning icy. "The detective game is over. Do you realize the situation you're in?"
Hina sighed. "My, how rude—"
She didn't get to finish. Scarface realized he wasn't going to get a straight answer from her through intimidation alone. He pivoted, lunging at Arisa with his blade.
"Wrong answer."
SHING!
The knife whistled toward Arisa's throat. It was a cold-blooded execution move.
The logic was simple: the extra girl was useless. Killing her would shatter Hina's composure and force her to talk.
But in the next microsecond—
ZIP!
Hina stepped forward, her hand moving to deflect the man's arm before the blade could reach Arisa.
But someone else was faster.
The man guarding the alley entrance sensed a shadow erupting from behind him. "CAREFUL—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
THOOM!
Ren Shiroki burst into the alley like a cannonball. He launched into a high-speed spin.
[ZANGIEF: CYCLONE WHEEL KICK]!
The double-footed kick caught the two guards on the perimeter.
CRACK!
The men were thrown back, forced to reset their stances as Ren landed and lunged toward the lead man. He threw a mid-level straight punch aimed at Scarface's spine, forcing the killer to spin around and defend.
[DRIVE IMPACT: SHOCK STRIKE]!
BANG!
The heavy punch slammed into Scarface's palm. Even though he blocked it, the sheer kinetic energy numbed his arm to the shoulder. His forearm began to vibrate uncontrollably from the shockwave.
"SHIT!" Scarface cursed. He didn't waste words; he slashed his knife in a horizontal arc across Ren's chest.
Ren dropped into a deep crouch. His right fist tightened, his left foot slamming into the pavement.
THOOM!
[RYU: SHORYUKEN]!
The rising uppercut carried the weight of Ren's entire lower body. It was impossibly fast.
Scarface tried to bring his left hand down to guard his chin, but Ren's fist punched right through his palm and slammed into his jaw.
BOOM!
Scarface was lifted off his feet. He was launched backward, tumbling across the concrete for several meters before he managed to catch himself in a half-kneeling position, gasping for air.
Half his teeth were gone. His lower jaw was cracked, and blood was pouring from his mouth.
Above him, he heard the roar of the man who had hit him. "WHAT THE HELL... DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"ONII-CHAN!"
Arisa shouted from behind them. She wasn't screaming for help; she was providing intel. "I-D-E-A-L! They said they work for IDEAL!"
Ren gave a stiff nod, shaking the blood from his knuckles.
Hina Hongo watched the exchange with a look of mild surprise. She turned to Arisa. "My, Arisa-chan. You aren't scared at all, are you?"
Arisa gave a confident grin. "Destiny is on my side! My luck is god-tier! Why else would my brother show up right at this exact second?"
"Heh... hahaha!" Hina laughed. She liked that answer.
She looked at Ren. So this is Arisa's brother? He's "Fast." This might actually be interesting.
Ren looked at the Scarface man.
Unlike Q-Taro's mercs, or even Komada, the pain hadn't made this man angry. His expression remained cold and calculated.
These were Professional Killers. They had bodies on their records. Their "Aura" was less about martial arts and more about the raw, metallic scent of blood.
"Good," Scarface muttered, spitting out a shard of tooth. He reset his stance. "I don't know who you are, kid. But let's see if you can keep your head attached until the police arrive."
"You're wrong," Ren growled, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He stalked forward, his voice a low, terrifying rumble.
"The question isn't whether I'll survive. The question is: how many pieces will you be in by the time the cops get here?"
"Wow," Scarface smirked. "One against three? Bold."
The two other IDEAL operatives moved in from the flanks, drawing their own knives.
Ren didn't flinch. "MARCO!"
ZIP!
A massive silhouette tore into the alley. A heavy boot lashed out, striking a guard's wrist and sending his knife flying. The blade buried itself two inches deep into the brick wall.
"BAD PEOPLE!"
Marco stood behind Ren, his face a mask of childlike fury. "You are killers! Baku-nii and Akagi-nii said... if I see bad people, I have to kick them hard!"
The board was reset. Two-on-three...
No. Three-on-three.
Hina Hongo stepped up beside Marco, casually picking a target. "Hmm. This looks fun. Let me play, too!"
The sudden shift left the IDEAL thugs stunned.
Before they could adjust, Marco lunged. His kick was a blur of raw power, shattering a guard's jaw before the man could even raise a hand.
"What is this monster?!" Scarface thought. But he didn't have time to process it. Ren was already in his space.
"You—you're an expert at killing," Ren whispered as he caught the man's lapels. "But you're an amateur at 'Fighting.'"
Ren locked the man's arms. He pivoted toward the wall. "How dare you hesitate in a brawl?"
Scarface: "...Eh?"
The world spun. Ren executed a violent side-suplex, driving Scarface's head directly into the brickwork.
CRASH!
The man's skull cracked the bricks. Ren hauled him up by the collar, suspending him in the air for a second.
"Hoo—!"
Ren splayed his fingers, aiming for the man's face. He delivered a series of rapid, chopping strikes.
[ZANGIEF: MACHINE GUN CHOP]!
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The hand-blade strikes rained down until Scarface stopped moving. His face was caved in, blood pooling in the hollows of his features.
Ren stood up and looked around.
Marco's opponent had been the weakest. The giant had kicked him a dozen times and was currently sitting on the man's chest, pouting because he had let Arisa get into danger.
As for Hina Hongo... her opponent had fared even worse.
Ren didn't see the move, but the professional assassin was currently "embedded" in the wall. His face was a ruin of burst capillaries and broken bone. He was unrecognizable.
"He was so... 'Slow,'" Hina mused, flicking blood from her knuckles. She turned to Ren, her star-shaped pupils glowing with curiosity.
"I wasn't wrong. You're 'Fast,' aren't you? Do you want to play with me, too?"
"..."
Ren was about to decline—Hina had helped protect Arisa, and he wasn't a jerk—but then he saw Marco.
The giant had stood up, his eyes locked on Hina.
The "Killing Intent" Hina radiated was so intense, so "Abnormal," that it triggered Marco's trauma. In his simple mind, he didn't see a high school girl. He saw the cold, murderous aura of his father, Q-Taro.
"Ah... ahh...!"
Marco didn't want to be controlled anymore. He tightened his fists and, acting on pure survival instinct, lunged at Hina.
"RODEM!" Marco roared.