But there are some corners of the world that are better off unexplored. And for Kai, this was absolutely one of them.
Matsuda’s bellows echoed throughout the karaoke room.
“Shit, I can’t get a holda Chiaki!”
“Every one of ’em is leavin’ us on read!”
“They’re actin’ like it’d kill ’em to hang with us!”
“And they were beggin’ to come along last time we asked!”
The boys were serving their suspension. They were supposed to be spending this time confined at home and studying on their own, but following such tedious rules had never been their style. Today, Wednesday, marked their second straight gathering in the two days following the incident, but they couldn’t lift their spirits from the gloom of a suspension with a sausage party. They needed chicks.
So here they were, calling every girl they knew. And every single one was giving them the cold shoulder. It was enough to drive them nuts. They didn’t need to shoot for someone high class like Reina; any random uggo or slut would do. But even after lowering their standards that far, they still weren’t getting so much as a bite.
“Screw this bitch!”
“Who does she think she is?!”
With their shouts shifting to insults, the boys started taking out their frustrations on the walls.
Why were they suddenly getting the silent treatment? They had a clue. The first person they messaged over LINE was the biggest slut they knew, Suama Sakakibara from Class 3. Her reaction told them everything.
“Like, aren’t you suspended?”
“Losers LMAO”
With that, she stopped even reading their texts.
And Matsuda was sure she wasn’t alone; he bet everyone in school was gossiping about them! His gang was the butt of their jokes! How could he show his face at school again once their suspension ended?
“It’s all ’cause of that otacreep...”
Matsuda hit the wall with malice. The people from the next room over hit back, yelling at him to shut up. Matsuda’s gang wasn’t going to take that lying down.
“You wanna go?!”
“We ain’t in a good mood over here!”
“Try us, punk! You’re dead meat!”
“You don’t wanna see how tough Matsuda is!”
The boys all kicked the walls and made threats. It was nothing more than a temper tantrum. But the next room went quiet, probably because that put them in their place.
“Shouldn’t be talkin’ shit if you’re just gonna wuss out!” Matsuda gave the wall another knock or two to calm himself down. “Yeah, that’s right. This is who we are. Nobody messes with us.” A sinister grin rose on Matsuda’s face as he finally had a good idea. “When we get back to school, that otacreep’s getting slaughtered.”
“Yeah!” the others responded in unison.
“We gotta make an example outta him to show what happens when you stand up to us.”
“Good idea!”
“Dude, let’s do it!”
The cronies were gleefully on board. If they tortured Kai for everyone to see, then all those shit-talkers would know exactly how scary Matsuda was. ’Cause when it rains, it... something. Whatever it was that came up on that quiz. They would earn back their respect and set their place on the food chain in stone.
“So, what’re we gonna do to that otacreep?”
“I don’t wanna get expelled, so it’s gotta be somethin’ more fun than a beating.”
“How ’bout we take Kishimoto or whoever hostage and make him streak butt-naked around the school?”
“Ooh, I like it! But first, we gotta make sure Jun gets an eyeful of her boyfriend’s microdick!”
“Gahah, that’s evil, dude! Bet that creep’ll get a boner over it, too.”
“I know, like a total sicko!”
“Yeah, otaku are always into some messed-up shit, hahah!”
Matsuda’s gang had a lot of fun coming up with ways to ruin Kai’s life, each more cruel than the last. They noted their ideas down on their smartphones and committed to take action.
At that moment, they heard a knock at the door.
The boys looked at each other. Nobody had ordered any drinks, so there shouldn’t have been any staff coming by. They thought it was strange, but the door burst open before they had the chance to respond. Someone entered the room... and it was none other than Reina.
“Yooooo!” all the boys said together.
After getting ignored by every girl they asked, even the ones who used to squeal with joy as they tagged along, the only one who showed up was the most untouchable beauty in school. Talk about snatching victory from... somewhere. That one was also on the quiz.
“Reina, babe, perfect timing! Have a seat!”
“Whatcha wanna sing? I’ll put it in!”
“Or, hey, wanna hear Matsuda sing Kanjani?”
“Order whatever. It’s our treat!”
Matsuda’s gang immediately changed their tune to welcome Reina. Unfortunately, their music would stop soon enough. Because someone else followed her inside.
“Geh... erm...”
Every single one of the boys gasped. Their eyes widened in disbelief at what they were being faced with.
The figure of the man who followed Reina in was just that imposing. His height was so far beyond the average Japanese guy’s that he had to duck when entering the doorway. His body was so buff that he looked like he was in a suit of armor. His age was maybe in the late 20s? He had the threatening countenance of a bloodthirsty beast who’d been dressed up and sent on the town. And he was wearing the kind of suit no man walking the straight and narrow would be caught dead in; it had the color and flash of a peacock, but its lapel was unusually wide. In other words, a mafia-style suit.
W-Were the rumors of Reina dating someone in the yakuza true?!
Matsuda gulped loudly. He wanted to run. Immediately. At least, if that were still an option here. Sadly, the entrance was fully blocked by the big guy before them.
“These the punks who beat up Jun’s boyfriend?”
A glance from him was all it took to make Matsuda shiver. And a gaze from him, projecting far more presence than a high schooler ever could, was enough to freeze Matsuda in place.
“Yes, it’s them. If that weren’t enough, they’re imbeciles who could never dream of learning from their mistakes.”
Reina’s scorn taught Matsuda a valuable lesson: the human voice was capable of sounding far more cold-blooded than he ever thought possible.
“Hasn’t your teacher ever taught you not to bite off more than you can chew?” The massive mystery man before them sounded none too pleased.
“W-Wait, please! I mean, I beg of you!”
“Yeah, we’d never pick a fight with someone as terrify—I mean, as terrific as you!”
“You must have the wrong people!”
Matsuda’s gang hurriedly shook their hands and heads in an attempt to earn some pity as they desperately argued their innocence. Unfortunately...
“You really are a bunch of fools,” said Reina as she made it clear that she had no mercy to spare for them. “You still don’t get it? To harm my own flesh and blood is to sign your own death warrant.”
“F-Flesh and blood? Who?!”
“I got no clue who you’re talkin’ about!”
“My best friend’s boyfriend counts as family to me.”
With the hammer dropped, Matsuda’s gang was in terror. Because it was now crystal clear that the certain death staring them in the face wasn’t doing so over a mere case of mistaken identity.
“Sh-Shut the hell up!”
“Surround him, guys!”
“It’s just some geezer! Nothin’ to act scared of!”
With nowhere left to run, Matsuda’s gang resorted to desperate measures and ganged up on the massive man... until he suddenly clenched his right fist and backhanded the wall right next to the doorway with all his might. It was just one blow, but the drywall now had a crater in it surrounded by a web of massive fissures.
“Geh...” was the boys’ only response.
Matsuda’s gang wailed, unable to take another step out of fear. How does a human fist come to contain such force? This karaoke shop might have been cheaply built, but its walls weren’t the kind of thing you could pulverize with your bare hands. Even fools like these boys could understand, especially after all the punishment they’d given those walls just minutes earlier. This man’s strength was on a different level from theirs; just making the comparison was a show of arrogance.
“I suggest you refrain from talking shit if you’re simply going to wuss out.”
Even in the face of Reina’s scoffing and ridicule, they couldn’t say a word back.
And with that, they had the living shit beaten out of them.
To Matsuda’s gang, violence was just a part of daily life. They were blessed with large frames and athletic skills since childhood, so they could win fights without trying very hard. They found people weaker than them to prank and bully, and if they didn’t like someone, they just kicked their butt. That’s how they’d lived until now, and what they rubbed in everyone’s faces.
But now... the barrage of brutality raining upon their flesh was something fundamentally different from the fights they had considered their specialty. This man didn’t shout to intimidate his opponents. This man didn’t resort to hackneyed threats. This was something Matsuda’s gang didn’t know, something they were entirely ignorant of. This was what could only be called true violence, and it was something far removed from the life they’d lived.
Afterward...
The suspensions of Matsuda’s gang ended after two weeks, right on schedule. However, all four of them happened to spend that day atop a hospital bed. It wouldn’t be until after the end of summer vacation, the start of the second semester, that they would return to school like entirely changed men.
This was a world Kai needn’t enter. And it would be a long, long time before that mysterious man appeared before him.