ON A SNOWY NIGHT...!

"WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO FOOL, NAOFUMI? OR SHOULD I SAY, THE FORMER MIXED MARTIAL ARTS PRODIGY!"

Prodigy?! It's been a while since I've heard that word. And it pretty much leaves a sour aftertaste every single time. But, more importantly...It reminds me of her. How long has it been, Yuki-nee? Are you a better person now? You should be since I'm not around anymore. But if you aren't, that's entirely upon you.

"I knew you were familiar."

"Hooh! So you finally remember me. My, my. Looks like the gods have blessed me. I was quite upset when you weren't so curious about me. After all, it's hard to get closer to you, ain't that the word on the street."

"Yeah, I wouldn't blindly put faith in that stuff. Word's on the street that 'the prodigy' has put it all behind and is a ghost of his former self. Plus, he doesn't want anyone disturbing his quietude."

"Oh, that's a bummer! I was hoping to spar with him again. It's been a long time since I actually lost. You remember my streak, don't you?"

"What was it, again...40-0?"

"Don't you fucking mess with me! You clearly know it."

"Why are you so adamant?"

He kicked the chair while getting up, and glared at me with eyes intent to kill.

"67-1! IT WAS 67-1!!!"

"Those 67 members included the former champions, the future generation, and many more crown jewels. I took away their dreams. I showed them the harsh reality. And yet...yet..."

"Hey, Ryosuke! Enough!"

"Huh?"

"That's all in the past! Stop dwelling in the past. Let it go!"

"Let it go? Haha...Haha...It's easy for you to say."

"Yeah...it's easy for me to say. Because I barely even remember about all that stuff."

"YOU...BASTARD!"

Ryousuke Kaganaki!

Kaganaki family's only heir. And the successor to the company.

The Kaganaki group is a well-renowned group that mainly emphasizes Sports, especially combat sports. Mixed-Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Jujutsu, Kung-fu and many more. The top athletes that represent the country are recruits from their academy, who have been scouted and trained from a very young age.

Trust me, when I say this, it's not all gold and glory. Like Ryousuke just mentioned, he took away many fighters' aspirations and crushed them mercilessly. And they're all branded as failures and rejects. You win, you are under their control and dance to their tunes, till you retire, or you're no longer need, and worst-case scenario, discarded, in exchange for now blood.

You lose, that's the end of your life before it even begins. I have seen it up close. The cool kids who would brag about it at school, get into a relationship and be on cloud nine when all goes right, only for everything to be shattered. Their girlfriend/ boyfriend ditch them on the spot for another victor while leaving them in even more despair, instead of sticking by them and consoling them. It's not that they are so toxic and cold-hearted, it's just how the system was.

The loser was given a contract which they had to abide by. The contract was simple. They had to be loyal and only work for the Kaganaki group till they were rendered useless. And no one would want to be with such a confined person. A slave, in every essence. And even if they still chose to stick with them, society would always carve its fangs.

The horror that follows was unbearable. Some say it is a folk tale and not to be taken seriously.

There once existed a fighter, who was mightier than those preceded and those who were to succeed. He was tipped to be the future of the nation. But that fighter had a side that no one knew. He had an innocent and unrequited love. A typical childhood friend love story. He was 18 and was at the point of being a college student. He had it all. And things were going well, a little all too well.

So much so, that he nearly tasted his first defeat. The crowd was still mesmerized by his comeback. But the academy seniors felt humiliated and betrayed. He was supposed to crush his opponent and show the world his dominance. And that's when they decided to look into him. They weren't happy with his love life. They treated it as an obstacle to his evolution. What was supposed to be his private life, was thrown into a tantrum.

Threats to his family, and even his childhood friend's family too. Even the media got involved, and with the help of a few false tips, word spread quickly. And it was a sad sight. To see a pure and innocent girl be labeled as a whore, bitch, slut, and does adult business and financially supports her family, was heartbreaking. The world was quick to believe it and act upon it, and they dismantled her completely. That was enough for him to lose his humanity, and yet he stood by her.

He created a chaos at the academy and wanted to end this saga. And that's what they were waiting for. An ultimatum was presented. Win, and we'll take all the responsibility, and compensate for the damages. Lose, and you'll have to let her go and be our puppet for eternity. Those were the conditions.

A sane person would usually back out. Only a sane person. But he wasn't, and that was a plan well executed by the professionals. The fight went ahead as planned. And the challenger was the current #1 of Tokyo and the top 10 of Japan, plus he was an alumnus. To him, it was just repaying the debt he owed to that academy.

The match was intense, as each traded blows, but in the end, when everything was going against the academy, they resorted to the cheapest option.

"I heard she's good in bed. I'm tempted to spend a night with her."

Those words were enough to throw him into a rampage or in other words, create a lot of openings, and the mighty one had fallen. It was over. Everything was done. That's how it should have been.

But fate had other plans. The girl ran into the ring and consoled him, and told him that she would stay by his side. His last ray of hope, shined so bright. He hadn't realized that, those were the final flames of the phoenix right in front of his eyes. What followed was something I wish was folk lore.

The girl went against the system, and indeed that meant she would face the consequence. The mighty was put down with a tranquilizer, and he was locked down by his fellow sparring partners.

And then from the shadows, emerged a hyena, in the form of a human. A hyena that was high on lust, bore its fangs onto the helpless girl.

"Stop it, please! I beg you! I'll do what you want. Spare her!"

Those cries echoed but soon died down, as the hall was filled with cries of agony of the pitiful girl, violating her without any remorse, and breaking her down. The cries of the parents begging for mercy, none of it was even given any notice. For what felt like an eternity, finally ended. And when all was done, he dragged is body towards her static body. He grabbed her arm while stretching out his remaining arm with the remaining strength left in him. She smiled.

"I LOVE YOU!"

And she bit the dust...She ender her suffering. She bit her own tongue!

I don't know what was the evolution that they were expecting, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't what incarnated in front of them that day. The birth of a ferocious monster! It slew the hyena mercilessly, and the remains of it were unretrievable, and then it followed up by slaying, everyone involved in her death. The halls were filled with cries, as it was like deja vu. And when all was said and done, the monster returned center stage, bathed in crimson red blood, and lifted the girl in his arms, and cried out loud. That snowy night blew out the fire burning in his heart, as it was the howl of a wounded animal.

The monster was later put down, as the cops on the scene couldn't even handle the remains of that catasthrope, and took him out to the vehicle. The crimson red blood-covered shoes left an everlasting footprint on the white snow. The white snow that resembled the purity on the girl, tainted and tarnished, and all that was left was a carcass in a pool of maroon.

THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

Case closed!...