An Unimportant Matter
The punks, who had just been yelled at by Tojo from point-blank range, finally seemed to recognize who she was.
"Well, well, if it isn't Tojo-senpai! We didn't recognize you under all that makeup!"
The punk chuckled as he said this, then gestured to her clothes.
"You usually dress like a tomboy. What's with getting all dolled up today? Ah, don't tell me you're on a date with this pretty boy?"
"It doesn't suit you at all. Especially since you're the type to go around beating people with a kendo stick."
"If you've got a flat chest, you should just stay at home. What's with that getup? You look ridiculous."
Even though it wasn't my business, my blood started to boil just listening to them.
Just then, Sakamoto, who was standing beside her, cut in.
"Shut your mouths! Tojo isn't someone you can talk to like that!"
"Oh my, trying to play the hero again, pretty boy? Well, isn't this a shame? We're not the only ones here today, you see."
"Boss! A little help here!"
As the two punks said this and stepped aside, a man with slicked-back, bleached-blond hair slowly walked out from behind them.
"You the one? The one who dared to mess with my boys."
The tall man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, looked down at the protagonist with a slouch, blowing a bubble with his gum.
Sakamoto frowned at the man's threatening demeanor and took a step back.
Seeing this, the punks got excited and started spewing information they didn't need to share.
"Our boss is a former pro boxer who was on his way up! If he hadn't beaten someone up at a bar in a fit of rage, he'd still be active today!"
"No matter how tough you think you are, you're just a high schooler! You can't possibly beat our boss!"
Hearing their helpful explanation, Sakamoto must have decided this wasn't going to work. He spoke to Tojo behind him.
"Tojo! Leave this to me and run! I'm the only one they're after anyway!"
"I can't! How could I leave you alone in this situation!"
Then, the slick-haired man they called 'boss' hardened his expression as if he found the whole thing absurd.
"What a joke."
"Hnng!"
"Did you really think I'd just say, 'Oh, please go right ahead,' and let you walk away?"
He suddenly reached out his right hand and grabbed the wrist of Tojo, who was hiding behind Sakamoto.
"Hey, pretty face. Instead of playing with a pretty boy like this, why don't you have some fun with me today?"
"Kyaaah!"
"Tojo!"
Sakamoto hurriedly tried to separate them, but the man didn't hesitate to use violence.
"Get lost!"
"Gah!"
"Sakamoto!"
Tojo cried out, both her wrists caught in the man's grip.
Sakamoto, having taken a solid punch to the stomach, threw up everything he'd eaten for lunch.
Watching the scene unfold, I could no longer contain my surging anger.
"...Rika, wait here."
"Huh? Ryu-chan! Where are you going!"
I set the bag I was carrying on the ground and began to walk slowly toward the punks laughing and chatting around Sakamoto, and toward the slick-haired man holding Tojo's wrist with a vile grin.
At this point, to hell with intervening in the original story. None of that mattered anymore.
Honestly, looking at guys like them made my stomach turn.
Lawless thugs who relied on their petty strength, unafraid of even the city's authorities.
What was so amusing about beating someone up in broad daylight?
If they loved the fear created by violence so much, then I would become that fear for them.
***
Seeing Tojo Karen captured by the suddenly appeared slick-haired man, the Toseikai executives who had been tailing her all shot up from their hiding spots.
"How dare that bastard!"
"Whose wrist does he think he's touching!"
"Chairman! Should we grab our weapons?"
"Wait."
Everyone froze at the calm voice of the one person who should have been more furious than anyone else present.
"There's no need for us to get involved in a kids' fight. And look at him."
Where Tojo Naoto, the 6th Chairman of the Toseikai, pointed, there was a large man walking forward, emitting an overwhelming murderous aura.
It was Kim Yu-seong, the young man who had exuded an extraordinary air from the moment he first saw him.
Tojo Naoto looked down at his own trembling hands as he watched him.
This feeling, it was all too familiar.
It was the same feeling he'd had when he was a wild, reckless youth and had a chance encounter, a one-on-one confrontation with the boss of the Red Mafia who happened to be in Japan.
The fear of someone overwhelmingly powerful.
Back then, he'd luckily been able to escape with the help of his right-hand man, Takeyama, but he didn't think for a second he could win if they were to meet again now.
And this young man, Kim Yu-seong, not even twenty years old, was exuding an aura similar to 'Ivan,' the God of Destruction from Russia, a legend in the underworld.
Even now, in his completely unrefined state, he radiated such pressure. What if he were to meet a proper master and learn martial arts?
*Gulp.*
Just imagining it suggested a high probability that an unbelievable monster would emerge.
'I want him.'
If possible, he wanted to scout him as an asset for the organization.
But he couldn't very well ask his daughter's friend to become a yakuza.
And from what he'd heard, despite his appearance, the boy was an exceptional student, so there was no need for him to step into the dirty underworld.
It was a true shame to just let him go, but he had no choice but to give up.
'Still, I should at least watch.'
If that young man hadn't stepped in, he would have had his right-hand man, Takeyama, subdue all those punks before sinking them into the ocean with a block of concrete.
But his anticipation to see the power of a young man who exuded an aura similar to the God of Destruction in his prime made him unconsciously stop his other subordinates from acting.
'Now, show me. Your true power.'
Naoto watched Kim Yu-seong's profile as he slowly pulled down the hood he was wearing, a smile of thrill spreading across his face.
***
"Hold it."
At the sudden low voice, the man called 'boss' by the high school punks, Hayashi Gen, scowled and turned around. "Huh?"
"And who are you?"
Though he spoke nonchalantly, he was inwardly flustered.
'What's with this guy? What kind of training did he do to get a body like that?'
It was like a massive stone statue was standing before him.
Developed forearms, broad shoulders, thick trapezius muscles, a defined neck, and massive pectoral muscles.
Even to him, a former professional, it was an extraordinary physique.
A quick glance told him the man was a heavyweight.
Compared to him, a light heavyweight during his pro days, this man had at least 10kg on him.
The punching power generated from that frame would be formidable.
'Don't get scared. He's just a civilian. He probably just knows how to throw a punch.'
In an ordinary fight, his menacing aura and hulking muscles would have made his opponent back down, but that slight difference was no disadvantage to a man like Hayashi Gen.
Facing opponents much larger than himself was a common occurrence in back-alley brawls.
As his sharp eyes were sizing up his opponent, figuring out how to take him down, the large man who had suddenly intervened spoke to the red-haired girl who was staring at him with a surprised look.
"Tojo, leave this to me and get out of here with Sakamoto."
"But!"
"I won't lose to guys like this."
Listening to him, it was clear he was treating them like complete nobodies.
Just as Hayashi was about to throw a punch at the back of the guy's exposed head, his anger flaring, his underlings who had stepped back shouted.
"Boss! That's Kim Yu-seong! The strongest man at Ichijo Academy, the one who took down a biker gang in a 50-on-1 fight a while ago!"
"Huh? Are you idiots? How can one person beat fifty? And a high schooler? Looking like that?"
Hayashi Gen lamented his own foolishness for having considered fighting his opponent seriously just moments ago.
"You're pretty big for a high schooler, but don't think you can beat me with just a little size difference, kid."
Feeling indignant for a moment for having been intimidated by a kid who had eaten hundreds of fewer bowls of rice than him, Hayashi Gen immediately started his footwork, throwing out jabs at an invisible speed.
"There it is! Boss Hayashi's specialty! The Flash Jab!"
"That's our boss for you! All we can see are the afterimages of his fists!"
A super-fast jab that landed nearly eight times a second.
He was as confident in the speed and power of his jab, normally used for feinting, as he was in his right straight.
Most opponents would be instantly concussed and knocked out by the flurry of Flash Jabs alone.
However, despite landing continuous effective hits, his opponent didn't fall.
No, to be precise, he didn't move a single step.
Like a great tree rooted firmly in the earth, he was silently enduring every jab thrown at him.
Though Hayashi was the one unleashing a one-sided assault, his opponent's monstrous endurance, taking every attack as if it were nothing, fueled Hayashi's impatience.
"Grr! Then how about this!"
In the end, Hayashi gave up on ending the fight quickly with just the continuous Flash Jabs and threw the right fist he had been saving.
A textbook straight punch.
A punch of formidable power, perfected by the simultaneous twisting of his waist and torso, flew in a straight line toward Kim Yu-seong's face.
At that very moment, Kim Yu-seong's body, which had been silently taking the attacks, moved for the first time.
BAM!!
The punch collided with something, making a sound like the air itself was exploding.
However, the place his fist had struck was the frontal bone, one of the thickest parts of the human body.
With blood streaming down his face from the torn skin, the monster before him spoke in a flat tone.
"From now on, it's self-defense."
In that instant, a chill ran down Hayashi's spine.
'This bastard, he took that hit on purpose?!'
But by the time he realized it, a massive fist was already crushing his handsome face.