Hearing Yuuki Asuna's words, the dozen-plus upperclassmen froze for a beat—then their faces cracked into amused grins.
"Hahahaha—what are you even talking about?" one of them laughed. "You really think he's Superman or something?"
Whether it was a high school brawl or a real street fight, more people beating fewer people was an absolute advantage.
Just like the wall between bare hands and weapons, "one-on-one" and "jumping someone" weren't even the same game.
They knew Hōjō Yoru—the freshman representative—could fight. But ten-plus against one?
Even if they all rushed him at once, they could crush him to death under sheer weight. How would they lose?
Did she think they were idiots?
What they didn't know was that Asuna wasn't mocking them or "backing Yoru up" at all.
She was simply stating her honest fear.
Asuna had seen Yoru fight a ghoul with her own eyes. Monsters whose toughness surpassed human imagination had looked like fragile dolls in front of him—let alone a bunch of ordinary high school boys.
With Yoru's absurd physical ability, if he really slipped and didn't hold back…
It wouldn't just be "beating someone to death."
One punch might literally break a normal person apart.
...
When they reached a relatively secluded open patch of ground, the upperclassmen surrounded Yoru in the center. The leader cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck, the joints popping sharply.
"You little shit, you're about to learn what pain—"
Thud!
Before he could finish, Yoru's fist drove into his stomach. Then Yoru followed with a kick that sent the leader flying, and he said in the same calm tone he might use to complain about bad cafeteria food:
"Seriously. It's just a fight. Do you really need a whole 'pre-fight speech' segment? I don't have that kind of patience."
After that, under Asuna's watchful gaze, Yoru folded the rest of the upperclassmen with embarrassing ease.
Not only did he avoid getting hurt—
No one even managed to touch him.
He didn't display anything too outrageous in terms of raw superhuman power. The reason the fight became such a one-sided stomp—aside from his skill—was actually very simple:
Yoru was fighting with the objective of "incapacitate the opponent."
These upperclassmen, on the other hand, still thought this was just an ordinary schoolyard scuffle.
They weren't operating on the same level.
Asuna even started to lose interest in watching. She'd only been worried Yoru might fail to control his strength, but now it was obvious: his physical stats might be terrifying, yet he could regulate them smoothly.
He wasn't the kind of person who'd "accidentally" lose control in daily life.
Her attention drifted. Her mind wandered to something else entirely.
Hōjō-kun's kitchen was really clean… like it barely gets used. And he's always eating convenience store bentos…
Maybe… starting today, I could make him lunch?
Just imagining herself making a bento for him made heat bloom on Asuna's cheeks.
She knew it might be a little too intimate—but he was her lifesaver.
And since she'd only recently started living alone, she'd been learning how to cook anyway. Making him a bento would be a way to show gratitude… and he could give her feedback after tasting it.
Though with his personality, his "feedback" would definitely be sharp.
Thud!
A sudden dull impact snapped Asuna back to reality.
When she looked up, she saw Yoru's straight punch had been blocked—caught on a raised forearm—by a blond upperclassman with pierced ears and a single earring.
"Huh?"
Asuna's eyes widened in surprise.
Even holding back, Yoru's speed and strength were still alarming—and paired with his fighting skill, it was ridiculous.
And yet someone in this group of high school boys had stopped his punch?
And it didn't look like a lucky fluke. The stance, the timing—this guy moved like he knew what he was doing.
Is that upperclassman trained too?
"Interesting."
Yoru glanced at the blond boy—then immediately swung a whipping roundhouse toward his waist.
This time, Yoru got just a little more serious.
The explosive force even tore the air with a sharp, piercing sound.
Smack!!
The blond boy's expression changed. He dropped his arm to guard his midsection—but even so, his whole body was blasted sideways several meters. He hit the ground and rolled hard, over and over, before finally managing to scramble up, filthy and rattled.
"Y-you…!"
The boy gritted his teeth—
and his eyes shifted into a vivid, unnatural crimson.
Yoru saw it, stepped in, and casually patted him on the shoulder. He leaned close and murmured a few words into his ear.
Then—without hesitation—Yoru turned and walked away from the open ground.
"Huh? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?"
Because of the angle, Asuna hadn't seen the boy's kakugan, the telltale sign of a ghoul. She hurried after Yoru, confused.
"With your personality, you finally find someone who can take a hit and you'd usually want to play longer. Why are you leaving? That's not like the you I know."
Yoru replied quietly.
"That guy isn't human. He's a ghoul."
"Ghoul…?"
Asuna's pupils constricted. She didn't speak out loud right away—she moved closer to Yoru, then lowered her voice to something no one else could hear.
"There's a ghoul… in our school? W-what do we do?"
"It's fine."
Yoru looked at her worried, tightly knit brows and answered with a smile.
"He thinks I'm a ghoul too. I invited him to meet tonight."
"Mm. That's you, alright."
Asuna nodded. From the ghoul's perspective, it made sense. Yoru had knocked down a dozen-plus boys without a scratch, then drove him back with a single roundhouse—physical ability far beyond human limits.
Even without seeing kakugan, the ghoul would naturally assume Yoru was "one of them."
It wasn't some deep, elaborate scheme, but thinking of that approach instantly in a surprise situation meant Yoru's brain really was sharp. He adapted quickly—exactly what you'd expect from an experienced Devil Hunter.
"…Wait."
Then Asuna suddenly caught a problem. She looked at Yoru, curiosity surfacing.
"I remember you told me ghouls are the same species, but they still kill each other. They're even more wary of unfamiliar ghouls than they are of humans sometimes."
She frowned slightly.
"So how did you get him to agree to meet you tonight?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 90)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter70)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter70)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter60)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 30
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 30
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