Why did things become like this?
Kahei Watari panted heavily as he sprinted furiously at maximum speed. His face was drenched in sweat, and the sweat included both normal sweat from strenuous exertion as well as cold sweat from fear.
The purple-haired youth next to him, his good friend Takashi Kobayashi, was in a similar condition, and his expression was filled with confusion and fear as he ran desperately.
They were pursued by a nasty bunch of brutes in suits. They all had ferocious expressions, and most of them were brandishing metal poles or even stun guns, which radiated a fearsome aura.
It was clear that they were on a completely different scale from teenage hoodlums.
If Watari and Kobayashi were caught, they would definitely be thrashed badly if not killed outright. The beating would almost certainly be severe to the extent of at least some broken bones, and there was even the chance of being permanently crippled.
'Why did it all happen?' Watari forced his brain to work with great difficulty as he focused his eyes on the girl running in front of him.
That's right—it was all because of her.
He had just come out of an internet café together with Kobayashi when he saw a man in a black suit struggling with this woman. The very slight sliver of justice he possessed as well as his overly hot-blooded nature prompted him to ambush the man and save her.
But without even a chance to say anything, another man in a black suit appeared out of nowhere, then a whole bunch... and things turned out like this.
Other than telling them to hurry up and escape, that woman didn't have the chance to tell him anything.
Just who was she? What trouble was she in? Watari had no clue whatsoever.
He and Kobayashi were only ordinary delinquents, and all he did was protect a woman to fulfill his sense of justice, doing a rare good deed!
They were currently running down a street filled with businesses, and all the passersby watched them sprint past with bewildered expressions, ignorant of what was currently transpiring.
Just as they ran through the entire business section, a black car appeared from the street corner. With the sudden sound of rubber screeching, it braked at the intersection and some more men in black suits rushed out of the car and blocked their way before the car even came to a full stop!
The girl in the lead attempted to change direction, but it was too late. The three people escaping had slowed down due to the car's interference and they were quickly captured.
Watari and Kobayashi instinctively tried resisting, but two hulking men approached them and instantly knocked them over with a punch and a stun gun.
"S... stop, they... they have nothing to do with me..." The girl said as she desperately attempted to catch her breath.
She was wearing a jacket and a leather skirt that showcased her excellent figure. She had curly blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and a soft oval-shaped face... even though she was also covered in sweat, it could still be seen that she was an above-average beauty.
"Let them... go..." She said to the man with the vicious-looking scar. Upon hearing this, he coldly strode towards her and ruthlessly slapped her on the face!
"This is a lesson from our leader." The scarred man said icily, while he indicated towards the others that they should teach a lesson to the boys sprawled on the ground.
And so, Watari and Kobayashi, who were lying motionless on the ground, suffered a brutal beating!
Upon witnessing this brutal scene, the expressions of the pedestrians underwent a drastic change. Most hurriedly left, some watched from far away, the few honorable ones called the police, while a small number of reckless ones secretly filmed the beating with their cell phones.
"I said... stop!!!" The girl covered her face where she was slapped, and she shouted with tears in her eyes.
The scarred man merely watched her coldly.
Seeing the two boys that had defended her were receiving an increasing number of injuries, the blonde girl ground her teeth.
"I get it..." It seemed like she finally gave up on something important as tears incessantly rolled down her face, "I..."
"Oh my..."
A voice filled with resignation interrupted them.
"Misters... I don't know exactly what's going on, but beating someone like this in public, not to mention there's so many of you beating up on two teenagers, there's gotta be a problem with that, right?"
The person to whom the voice belonged to was a boy wearing the mask of a cute character from an anime.
He was tall and muscular, but it was still evident that he wasn't very old yet. It was a strange feeling as his appearance in the anime mask was rather comical, which conflicted with the serious nature of the situation.
The blonde-haired girl was stunned, while the scarred man frowned.
As the boy approached, a black-suited man blocked his way and reached out to grab him.
*Boom!!!*
A resoundingly clear smack was heard by everyone.
It sounded like a bag or a balloon had suddenly been popped by a mischievous child.
The man who was over 1.8 meters tall and weighed more than 100 kilograms was knocked about two meters back and heavily fell to the ground!
In that instant, everyone was stunned.
Nobody had ever imagined that they would see a movie-like scene in a real-life scenario.
"My apologies... I don't have much experience with fighting, so it's difficult to control my strength." The boy retracted his fist before he continued striding forwards.
Everyone came to their senses again.
Another two black-suited men approached him, disregarding their fallen companion, and flanked him with a pincer movement. One man wielded a metal pole while the other was armed with a stun gun, and they attacked him without uttering a single sound.
Their movements were swift, and their attacks had great force behind them.
But the boy was even faster.
He suddenly took a step backwards and dodged both their attacks, before he spun around with natural-looking movements, jumped up, and kicked!
*Boom! Boom!!*
A sound that was almost like an explosion echoed out again.
As the boy landed lightly, the two men simultaneously fell over and fainted just like the first, without even putting up a struggle.
Some spectators gasped out in awe—
"That's too amazing-"
"Is this a television drama? This is too unreal..."
"What makes you think it's a TV drama? Do you see any cameras!?"
More people started recording this with their cell phones, while some youngsters with high typing speeds even began blogging!
Three of his companions were defeated with only a single blow. This caused the scar-faced man's expression to change.
He was quite clear about the skill level of his companions: while it wasn't exactly like they were all boxing champions, each of them individually should suffice for handling a bunch of low-level hoodlums.
However, in front of that mysterious boy wearing that ridiculous mask, they were the ones that seemed like low-level hoodlums.
Just as his expression was changing, another wave of black-suited men rushed at the boy.
*Boom!* A beautiful uppercut.
*Smack! Pound!* A brilliantly executed empty-handed attack to disarm his opponent, followed by an elbow that almost pierced through a black-suited man's chest.
*Smack! Pound! Boom!* He stole a metal pole and struck someone's head with it, before he broke another man's arm, and used a merciless knee attack to disable the other one.
*Pound! Smack! Pound! Smack!* A right uppercut straight to the face, a left kick to the shin, with his left hand blocking attacks as his right leg suddenly kicked over two people.
...
By the roadside.
There was a pack of unconscious men in black suits behind him that had all collapsed on the road.
He continued walking onwards without a single injury on him!
This scene was a huge impact to all the remaining men.
The scarred man's mouth dropped open.
He suddenly realized who this boy might be.
This boy might be that person with "special abilities" that their leader wanted to recruit so badly that he would even sell out his only daughter!
How ironic...
But he still wasn't completely certain.
The scarred man stopped his few remaining companions from going up to attack him and took out something from his suit.
After seeing what it was, the bystanders started shouting panickedly!
"A gun... he has a gun!!!"
"This is dangerous—let's run!"
"Did anyone call the police!? Why haven't they come yet!?"
That's right, it was a gun.
One of the weapons that human civilization has invented, and the strongest weapon that ordinary people could acquire.
'Let's see if you're really that person with "special abilities..."' The scarred man's mouth twisted into a strange smile as he aimed for the boy with his gun.
But suddenly, he noticed that something was flying towards him.
It was a metal pole!
Before he could react, the metal pole accurately knocked the gun out of his hand, and the force of the impact also broke his finger.
The scarred man glanced at the gun flying away for an instant, but when he turned back around again, that ridiculous mask was already right in front of him!
"So fast..."
As expected, this person was—
*Boom!*
A fist that felt as heavy as a hammer hit his chest.
He retreated several steps in order to keep his balance, but it took about three or four meters for him to stabilize, while his leather shoes even scuffled up some sparks against the pavement!
*Rip!* The back of his suit also ripped open.
The heavy blow, which was unlike anything he had ever taken before, felt like it exploded within him!
He noticed that he was groaning in a low voice while a trail of blood flowed out from from his mouth.
Had... he ever tasted this feeling before?
He had been a boxing champion before.
He had also been an underground fighting champion as well and had fought for huge quantities of money.
Never from any of his opponents had he ever taken... such a blow that felt like an explosive!!
"Haha..." The scarred man's face distorted, and his vision was blurry, but he still made an effort to raise his head and look at the boy.
What kind of... monster was behind that ridiculous anime mask?
"Wonder... ful..."
Then he fell unconscious. The scarred man collapsed onto the ground listlessly.
The masked boy—Seiji—secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
The moment he saw the scarred man reach for a gun, he instantly decided to load back to before the fight, and as he defeated the scarred man's companions, this time he kept a metal pole and used it at the perfect timing to resolve the dangerous situation.
"He actually had a gun... that wasn't what I wanted to fight."
He had just wanted to test his luck and grind against some low-level mobs; he didn't want to attract the attention of a huge group of men in black suits!
But there was no helping it. After he recognized that the two boys being beaten up were his classmates, he felt like he was obliged to help them.
According to his memories... they were called Watari and Kobayashi?
Seiji sighed. Delinquents were just too talented at attracting trouble.
'Well, you were lucky that this time I came and saved you,' Seiji thought to himself as he looked at the two of them who were moaning on the ground.
Then, he looked at the remaining black-suited men.
Alright, who could tell him what he should do to resolve this terrible situation!?