Now that Xavi, the leader of the pack, had stopped, the entire group of pacesetters halted their march. The effect, quickly passing down the line, interrupted the entire exercise in logistics before long.
“Ack, now you’ve really done it…”
Cardina, catching up to them, cast a desperate look heavenward. Despite his exaggerated reaction, it was Xavi, not Kuklo, who had caused a scene. Kuklo didn’t see how he could be blamed.
“I’ve done nothing.”
“That’s not true. Take a look,” Cardina asserted, turning his gaze on the line of recruits from Xavi on down.
Knitting his eyebrows, Kuklo did the same to find countless pairs of hate-filled eyes looking back at him. This is…
Every recruit he saw was visibly upset, and about ten of them were inching toward him. They exchanged glances with Xavi and closed in on Kuklo with the kind of caution hunters might show. They must have been Xavi’s lackeys. By the time Kuklo realized this, he had already been surrounded. Xavi’s henchmen would surely all swoop in on their target at once on their boss’ signal. Their eyes intended harm, and a fight was unavoidable.
Can I do it?
Kuklo balled his fists and carefully watched his enemies’ movements. Knocking out every one of them would be difficult, but they were only human, nothing compared to a Titan. Besides, Kuklo wasn’t beyond the walls but inside them. He could always retreat without having to worry about being attacked by strange monsters.
Just as he was preparing to fight, he heard a voice.
“No. Put down your fists.” Cardina put his hand on Kuklo’s and forced them down. “They’re our allies, not our enemies.”
“But I didn’t attack first…” Kuklo said, and would have continued, “he did,” but Cardina didn’t let him finish.
“We can talk about what happened later. For now, I want you to apologize to them,” Cardina whispered, but Kuklo could hardly consent to this. Even if he did have a legitimate reason to lower his head to Xavi, he still wouldn’t.
As their exchange played out, Xavi and his underlings continued to close in. Unless he did something, Kuklo would fall prey to the venom that was Xavi’s gang.
Even if they’re on our side… If they bared fangs at him, there was nothing else but to fight back with everything he had. He clenched his fists anew, getting in the mood for it.
“You have to hold back. Touch them, and you lose,” Cardina admonished, as if he’d sensed Kuklo’s bellicose thoughts. Yet Kuklo could not bring himself to apologize as Cardina insisted, even with empty words.
Kuklo kicked off the ground and charged at Xavi, who took a large leap backwards, apparently having anticipated the move. In his place, Xavi’s henchmen closed in on Kuklo. Unlike the Titans, who moved in straight lines, they came at him from both sides in freely shifting ways that he couldn’t anticipate. When he reached for them, he was sidestepped, and even when he succeeded, he was brushed off. It was as though the recruits and Kuklo used their bodies in completely different ways.
I’m no different from a Titan like this. To the extent that his actions were guided by sheer instinct, he truly was the same. Just as the unpleasant notion crossed his mind, one of the recruits moved in. Ready to send him back shorn, Kuklo grabbed at him but found his own body floating up and his vision turned upside down. He had no idea what had happened, but the recruit who’d dashed into his range must have thrown him. Kuklo turned his body mid-air to land safely before he could crash, but other recruits were waiting for him and soon pinned him down.
Damn it! Kuklo writhed in protest, but there was nothing he could do with all four limbs immobilized. He lay on the ground face-up as though crucified.
Then came Xavi, who’d bided his time. Kuklo held up his head, the one part of his body with some freedom left, and glared at him.
“You should have stayed dead,” Xavi spat. Then he delivered a powerful kick to Kuklo’s face.
“Gah…” The powerful impact felt like a blow from a club, and Kuklo’s face twisted in anguish. His vision wavered like he was looking through water, and he could tell that he was rapidly losing consciousness.
But Kuklo didn’t stop glaring. He flatly refused to submit to Xavi.
Opening his eye wide, he blacked out staring at his sworn enemy.