The flute squealed like a dying animal.
Kai Arashi lowered it, face burning.
The class erupted with laughter.
"Zero Kai strikes again!"
Even the teacher sighed.
"Sit down, Arashi. Just… sit down."
***
Art class was no better.
Kai grinned as he painted. "It's not just a dog—it's like, a knight dog! With armour and a sword—"
The teacher looked down at the canvas. The dog's legs were the wrong size, the sword was crooked, the armour looked like blobs of paint. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"…Is this supposed to be a dog?"
The class howled.
***
Math.
23%.
The big red circle on his test paper might as well have been a bullseye.
"Hey, Zero Kai! Did you just guess all the answers?"
They passed his paper around the room, giggling like hyenas.
The teacher shook his head.
'Even guessing, he'd statistically score better…'
***
Gym class.
One shove and Kai hit the mat.
His opponent didn't even look proud—just annoyed.
"At least try and put up a fight, will you?"
The chant rose again.
"Zero Kai! Zero Kai!"
Kai stayed down, staring at the dusty floor.
I like music. I like art. I like math. I even like fighting. But no matter how much I want to… I can't get the hang of any of them. And everyone thinks I'm useless because of it.
***
At lunchtime, Kai was digging through his locker when a shove knocked him aside. His stuff spilled onto the ground—sketchpads, a half-deflated football, a harmonica, even a plastic model kit still in its box.
The bullies laughed as they held up the junk.
"What is this, a junk shop?"
"Look at him—tries music, tries sports, tries art. Fails at all of it."
"Why don't you just give up, Zero Kai?"
Kai scrambled to grab his things back.
"I just… I just like a lot of stuff, okay?"
The tallest bully sneered.
"Yeah, and you suck at every one of them."
Laughter followed as they walked off, leaving Kai crouched by his scattered hobbies.
'They're right. I really do suck at everything. So why do I enjoy trying all these different things? Why do I have this need to…?'
He walked past the school's trophy cabinet. Golden cups, polished medals, even a framed newspaper clipping.
"Arashi Ayame Sets New National Record!"
His sister's smiling face stared back at him.
Everyone who passed whispered in admiration.
"She was amazing."
"Best student this school's ever had."
"Can you believe that's her brother?"
"Really? No way!"
Kai clenched his fists. His reflection in the glass looked small next to his sister. In his mind, he heard his father's disappointment.
"Ayame has WILL. You, Kai… you have none. Without WILL, you'll never achieve anything."
Kai's jaw tightened.
"You're wrong! I do have WILL. And I'll be great someday, just you watch."
"Oh really? And just what are you going to be so great at, Zero Kai?"
Kai didn't realise that he'd made that declaration out loud. Chest pounding, he turned to the sniggering students and before he could stop himself—
"I'll enter! And I'll win!"
The hallway fell silent as all eyes went to the poster flapping on the notice board.
Prize Money: 100,000 Yen!
Survive 3 Minutes Against Riku the Bull!
The underground fighting scene was a taboo subject at school, but no matter how many times the teachers warned them, the posters returned.
"You? Against Riku?"
"You can't even win gym class!"
The laughter exploded and Kai's face turned red—but he didn't back down.
'You'll see.'
***
"Another idiot signed up against Riku? Do they have a death wish?"
"Yeah, Riku crushes everyone. Their WILL just breaks after the first hit."
These two gamblers and more had assembled in the contest hall lobby to speculate.
"And just what would you know about WILL?"
To the untrained eye, the man who asked this question looked frail and senile. Sadly the two gamblers to which he was speaking had neither a trained eye, nor mouth.
"Stay out of it, geezer."
"Yeah, buzz off, jiji. Take your walking stick and shove it up—"
Once again, the untrained eye would've sworn that the two uncouth gamblers had kicked the the old man's stick and run out with boisterous yelling. But in fact this twosome would later spend the night in jail after wasting police time with a report that a "monster" had attacked them in the contest hall.
The old man picked up his stick and shook his head in disappointment.
"Degenerates…"
It was at this precise moment that Kai Arashi sprinted inside the hall. He spotted the registration desk quickly.
"Sign me up."
The organiser, a heavyset man with a ledger, gave him one glance and smirked.
"You? Forget it. Go home, kid."
Kai leaned forward, palms pressed hard on the desk. "Please, sir. Just give me a chance."
The man scoffed. "No way. Rules are rules—"
"LET. ME. FIGHT."
The organiser's pen froze above the page. His pupils dilated slightly, as if caught in a current.
"…Fine. You're in. But don't say I didn't warn you."
Kai blinked, then grinned in relief.
"What? Really? Ah. Thank you, sir! You won't regret it. Thank you!"
As Kai ran off, the organiser rubbed his temple.
"Wait… Why did I just agree to that?"
Indeed it was a reasonable question because nobody under eighteen years of age could participate in such fights—this was a strict rule. He stared at Kai's name which had somehow made its way onto the sign-up sheet.
'And in my handwriting?'
The organiser was very confused but upon catching sight of his superior, he quickly ushered forward the next would-be contestant, and put the incident out of mind.
He did not remember the strange flash in Kai's eyes, nor the way Kai's voice had dropped, heavy with resolve.
Only the old man noticed anything.
"That wasn't persuasion. That was WILL."
Nothing had impressed him in the ten years he'd scouted this contest hall.
Until now.
***
PART 2
***
The arena shook with noise as an unconscious fighter's body crashed into the stands.
"Pathetic!"
Riku the Bull stood roaring in the ring. A mountain of scars and muscle, he hadn't broken a sweat despite already bludgeoning a string of challengers. He cracked his neck side to side.
"Come on, shitbags. Surely one of you can help me with this pain in my neck."
The announcer pushed Kai forward.
"You're up, kid. You better not make a mess."
There are few things sadder than a prey animal when it sees its hunter. Kai's mouth hung open like a black hole.
"No. Please. I shouldn't be here. I made a mistake—"
But unfortunately the circle of spectators had already closed around him like a pack of hungry wolves.
"Ah, so this is how the orphanages get rid of their stock!"
"Can't blame them. Who'd adopt this runt?"
"Twenty says he shits himself."
Kai's vision spun as hundreds of spectators stomped and shouted. The floor smelled of blood and sweat, the air of alcohol and fried food.
"Kai Arashi, you have three minutes. Good luck!"
A buzzer sounded. Above the ring a digital board began counting down.
WHACK!!
Kai was suddenly face down, like a swatted fly.
'Did I… faint?'
'No. The digital board must have fallen on me. I can't move at all.'
If these were his options, he hoped for the second—it was too embarrassing to faint from fear. But either option was preferable to being ripped apart by Riku.
How unfortunate that this is exactly what was happening.
***
SMACK!
Kai felt his stomach flip as he became momentarily weightless—
THUD!
His body punched into the ground and blood sprayed from his lip.
The crowd jeered.
"Ha! Riku's something else. He's playing football with the kid."
"Hey Riku! How many times can you play keep-it-up? Any bets?"
Riku grinned. Ninety seconds left to have his fun. Not that beating on a shrimp was much fun… but he had his fans to please. He slammed his boot into the kid's stomach, launching him into the air.
The crowd counted each kick.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
Kai had long since lost all feeling in his body. But the terrible thought remained: with every kick, something else broke.
'Well, at least I made a good punching bag.'
'No. What am I saying? I don't want this. I don't want to be broken!'
He crashed against something soft.
"Get off me."
A tattooed spectator at the ring's edge hauled him up by his hair. Two more grabbed his arms, holding Kai in place.
Riku sighed.
"I gotta say, kid, you got balls for stepping in the ring. But let me give you some advice. If you want to win at anything in this world, then you gotta have more than balls. You gotta have WILL. And kid, you ain't got no WILL at all."
Kai lifted his trembling chin.
'What… did you say?'
He had zero strength left but that word made his body pulse.
Riku pointed his index fingers and placed them either side of his head, like horns.
"Here comes the bull!"
Through swollen eyes, Kai watched as the musclebound figure charged from across the ring.
"I… I don't want to be Zero Kai."
Tears pooled in his eyes. He recalled the faces of his classmates as they mocked him. Of his father disappointment. Even that of his sister, her face full of life and determination to succeed.
"I don't want to be Zero Kai…"
He didn't want to be a failure anymore. And if he left this ring crippled, he'd be even worse.
step—STEP—STEP.
Riku thundered closer, head lowered, horns aimed at Kai's gut.
Even though Kai's body twitched uncontrollably, he didn't look away.
Maybe I can't do everything.Maybe I don't have WILL. But right now… just once… I WILL—
His eyes flashed with light and dust curled around his feet. Suddenly his hand bunched into a fist.
***
"Hey, what the hell just happened?"
When Kai's sight cleared, he saw Riku lying on the ground. A man in blue and white pushed at Riku's jaw which had been snapped sideways, completely dislocated.
The tattooed man who'd held Kai was staring.
In fact, the whole crowd was staring too.
"Is this a joke, or what?"
"Yeah. Something stinks. They're trying to rip us off."
"I want my money back!"
Kai looked between his shaking fist and Riku's unconscious body.
"I… won?"
The fight announcer was equally confused, but the scene said it all. He had no choice but to call the result in Kai's favour.
The arena erupted.
"Cheaters!"
"Scam artists!"
They closed in from all sides, nostrils flaring with anger.
Kai wanted to run but his body shook and wouldn't move. He was in shock.
"If anyone so much as lays a hand on that boy, I will personally end them."
The strong voice immediately drew everyone's attention. Heads turned and the crowd parted to reveal the old man from the lobby. His walking stick tapped the floor as he walked forward.
"What'd you say, old man?"
"Yeah, don't you get it? This contest was rigged. They stole from us."
"Shut up, you idiots! That's Master Renji Okami!"
This third spectator might have saved fifty lives through his astute observation. For indeed, the old man was none other than the famed martial arts master. The man said to have created the Mountain Breaker—a strike so powerful it could split stone.
"You are all understandably disappointed. You have bet money and lost it. But to all those who claim foul play, let me assure you of the opposite."
Okami came and stood between Kai and the angry crowd. From his pocket he pulled out a fistful of cash.
"And to all those who wish to reclaim their losses… I say: FUCK YOU!"
A silence followed.
And then the tattooed man who'd restrained Kai stepped forward.
"I don't care who you are, old man. I want my money back."
"Me too!"
Four men burst forth from the mob, fists flying—
TAP
The sound of Okami's walking stick meeting the ground was unusually loud.
Kai could not see the old man's face, only the terror etched on the faces of the four men—all of whom were now frozen solid.
The air grew heavy, pressing on Kai's chest, and stealing his already ragged breath. It seemed the other men were experiencing the same sensation.
"What… the hell… are you?"
The tattooed man's words were almost strangled.
TAP
Okami's stick came down again and the four men fell over as if hit by an earthquake.
"What's going on?"
"RUN!"
The four men scrambled away and the crowd scattered in panic.
Kai wanted to follow but the world tilted. He felt a rush of warmth to his head and—just as the old man's eyes turned to him—Kai blacked out.
Episode 1 End