Sokudo: Villains Always Win (ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ)

Chapter three│fallen heroes

"─upid stupid stupid!" He shouted at himself as he teared at his hair. "Why can't I help?! Huh?! I'm not just some stupid kid who can't contribute!" Forming his hands into fists, he began attacking the punching bag hanging in front of him, punching it with his fists, kicking it with his legs, and even making objects around him levitate and throw them at the punching bag.

The punching bag dropped to the floor, almost unrecognizable with all of the rips and tears, it was literally torn apart. All around Taichi were objects of all sorts, ranging from kitchen utensils such as knives, forks and spoons, to a larger scale of a small table, which had caused the punching bag to break off its hinges.

Exhausted, he was left gasping for air, his body hunched over with sweat covering every inch of his, and his head lowered. After a few seconds of huffing and puffing, his entire body aching in pain and exhaustion, he lifted his head, his eyes glowing bright green.

"I'm not useless."

If that was true, then why did every fibre in his body tell him it was a lie?

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This wasn't such a good idea, was it?

It was currently eight-thirty am, exactly thirty minutes before class starts. Where was she? In the city, having just ran out of the bookstore, in the rain. Woke up at seven, and on her way to school, thought that she had some time to spare and checked out the bookstore. That was quickly regretted once the rain came down.

And the thunder and lightning that came after it.

"Oh come on!!" She had never hated the requirement of wearing the school uniform before, she wished that they at least included a hood for these type of situations. Because right now, the only protection she had from rain was... well, nothing, covering her head with her arms did nothing.

With just under thirty minutes until class starts, she only just now left the city. There was a chance that she'd still make it in time, run through the gates, throw her bag into her locker, and make it to class, all on time. Though, with time running out, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it.

Quickly glancing around her, the number of people were rapidly decreasing. Even so, even if only one person saw, that still meant that someone had seen it. Sure, they might not think much of it or even think twice about the person they saw running at the speed of a cheetah (okay, maybe that was giving herself too much credit) she didn't want to take the risk.

Though, did she really want to be late on her first day back to school? That wouldn't really be such a good start to the year... But still, it wouldn't be that bad if she arrived to class just a few minutes late, she could say that there was traffic.

When she looked down at her watch, what she saw completely changed her mind. "How?!" She must of lost track of time, the thirty minutes she had had reduced to only eighteen, and she was still a distance away from the school. Before, she thought that she would be able to make it in time, but now...

"Darn it!" She couldn't lie, even arriving one minute late wasn't good enough, and neither was getting there right on time. Her eyes scanning her surroundings for potential witnesses, the risk had reduced a bit when the amount of people outside did, but still, just one person could easily cause chaos. After all, the only reason she's being targeted by the villains is because one of them witnessed the moment she discovered her power and accidentally used it in public during broad daylight. She didn't want to repeat that incident and make it worse.

But it wasn't broad daylight, and there weren't that many people around, it was much safer with all the people running for cover. Really, with this weather, was it even worth going to school? It seemed like the clear blue sky wasn't planning on making an appearance anytime soon. But the school was closer than her house, and she didn't want to spend any more time in this rain.