Chapter 10:

Whenever there was war and oppression in a defenseless country. I used to get angry at the neighbouring countries who did nothing to help them in spite of having power. Then I felt like I was contradicting myself. Sure, I was powerful but was I overestimating myself? Then maybe I am weak. There's always someone or the other who's stronger than you somewhere. Wait....does that mean that all strong people who receive help from the weak think about what I just thought? Dammit, what an annoying loop.

Same time at Makino's house....

Makino sits down on her sofa in the living room and turns on the TV.

" Good evening to all viewers. This news is brought you by Naga TV. An emergency safety instruction has been issued by the government in Nagashima town." A news reporter spoke.

" Hey that's our town." She thought

" Three men near Okazaki store have been mauled by an unidentified creature. Experts say that the bite marks were at least 8 cm long and also said that it belonged to a big dog or maybe even a wolf."

" They've finally decided to put it on the news?" A 50 year old man stood behind Makino. It was her dad, Sugita Kyoshiro a high ranked police officer. For his age, he looked bulk and refined. He looked like a veteran who had experienced a lot of cases in his younger days.

" Wait a second!! The criminal here isn't a human??." Makino thought," I need to inform this to Haruno san"

A girl in her twenty's came out of a door and lied down on Makino. This was her sister Aoi Kyoshiro a second year college student.

" Oooh scary." Aoi rubbed her face on Makino's thighs. Makino started laughing as it felt ticklish.

" You girls be careful while going out. If anything happens, call me immediately." Their dad said.

"Roger that."

At my house.....

I was lying down on my bed feeling bored. I also craved for a drink. It was now 7 PM and dad would return at 8 or 9 PM. I got up and put on my favorite hoodie. It was a long black dress that reached the back of my heels. I put it on and locked the door. When the wind was strong, the back of the dress rose up and looked like a cape. That was one thing I liked about this hoodie. I reached the convenience store and found someone I knew. It was the white haired guy from our school. Again for some reason, my body tingled with the black sensor. He looked at me for a second or so and looked away then. He probably didn't like interacting with people. I gave him his space and picked my drink. He seemed to be buying a bento (A Japanese lunchbox that has processed food in it like rice and fried chicken). He went towards the counter and accidentally bumped into a guy with a cap and baggy clothes. He looked like a rich spoilt kid and had two other guys beside him. The guy with the cap got pissed and pushed him hard and he fell. The bento spilt on the counter and the cashier lady yelped.

The three of them started laughing at how fragile the white haired guy was.

" Watch where you're going, twig." The guy with the cap laughed.

I stood behind them and watched what happened. I looked at the spilt food and my blood started boiling. Veins popped out of my forehead and hands. I caught the cap guy's head and smashed it on the counter where the food was. His nose started bleeding right after his eyes went white from fainting.

"What the hell do you think you're doing??!!" One of the guy pulled back his arm for a big punch.

" Do you know who that guy is??!!" The other guy came holding a mop. I handled the right with a strong roundhouse kick and smashed his face to the ground. The other guy came yelling with the mop and I immediately kneed is face. I walked to the counter with an evil face.

" Yoooo!! Didn't your mother ever tell you to finish the food on your plate??" I stuffed the rice and fried chicken in his mouth and made the cap guy swallow it while he was still unconscious. I took his wallet and threw all three of them out of the store. I lent a hand to the white haired guy. He looked down and again my black sensor tingling. He didn't show any signs of taking my hand. So I Said

" I'll make something clear. I didn't do this to help you. I got angry because he spilt the food."

The white guy's eyes opened like he was surprised and took my hand to get up.

" I never got your name."

He looked at me and this nostalgic feeling washed down on me.

" Sasaki Shirou"

I heard this name before somewhere. I had no idea where but I felt like I shouldn't ask anymore.

I turned over to the cashier lady who was frightened at what was happening. She looked like she was in her mid twenties. She had blonde hair (probably dyed it) and was a little short.

I bowed in respect and sincerely apologized and handed over the cap guy's wallet. I looked at the broken counter and said

" Use this to fix it"

" Uhhh ok...."

I took my drink and stepped out of the door. I looked at the three people I thrashed and sighed

" I guess I went too far." Then I remembered something. Didn't the same thing happen a few years ago? I tried recalling but I couldn't remember when. The memories from my past were a bit hazy.

I started walking down a lone dark path. It was at these times, I felt at ease. Alone in the dark, looking at the moon and the stars. It made me wonder why humans had to put up glowing stars on their bedroom ceilings when they could just tear off the roof. But I knew I was being unreasonable.

For some reason this year started off a bit nicer. Back in my middle school, people kinda didn't notice me. I kept quiet on the first day of school and that continued on for three years. But I guess the first day of high school made a huge impact on my presence. It started with Makino and then keisuke. If I hadn't met them, I'd probably spend another three years of quiet life. That wouldn't be so bad though. These guys weren't particularly noisy, it's just that whenever I see them talking, it makes me wanna go and sit with them.

I looked at the local clock tower and it read half past 7. I started heading home . That's when I heard someone's footsteps behind me. No, something wasn't right. It didn't make noises of a shoe touching the ground. More like, barefoot touching the ground. I ignored it thinking that it's just a homeless man. The footsteps became softer now and after a few seconds, the sound completely vanished.

HISSSS...

My back started tingling real hard with my black sensor. I jumped and turned at the same time to see who it was, but it was too late. A big hand with claws was brought near to my face while I was still in midair. I blocked it immediately with my right hand and

SHIIIKKKHHHH...

A big chunk of meat came out from my hand and I started bleeding heavily. I made a poker face and looked at my arm. One of the rules of a fight is to never ever show pain or weakness. It hurt real bad but I was able to bear it.

I looked at my opponent and had to lift my chin. It was about 2 meters tall. It was too dark to see what it was but it's skin....no it's fur was gleaming in the moonlight. I didn't get a good look at it's face. It moved quickly with it's large body and pulled it's hand back again to swing and attack me. This time I dodged properly and landed a normal punch on it's face. I didn't have time to put enough power into my punch. It was clear now that I was fighting the infamous criminal in town that Haruno and Akira warned me about. It's fangs bared at me and had a smug face.

" You... Strong....must kill." It's voice was a bit distorted.

" You sure you're a human? I didn't know humans grew fur from their bodies. Should've paid attention in biology class" I talked to it.

I took a deep breath, analyzed the monster properly and took a step forward. I held my head and chest high and walked slowly. The monster growled and came forward slowly too. Suddenly, both of us moved with full speed. Again I felt a tingling sensation on my face. I dodged and instantly kicked it's waist.

"KHA!! AHHH!" It let out a voice in pain.

Again my attack wasn't strong enough. I took a deep breath again and stomped my foot hard making a loud noise.

"AAAAAGGHHH" I let out a battle cry along with a full swing punch to it's jaw.

THUCKKKKKK

The monster whimpered and held it's dangling jaw. It blindly swung it's arms and I jumped back and said

" That was for my arm"

It got pissed off and before it made a move, a light shone on both of us.

" Hey what are you both doing there??!!" It was the masked police officer.

He looked at my bloody arm and then the large grey figure. I could see the face clearly now. It had a face of a.....wolf. Our criminal here was clearly inhuman. The policeman immediately understood what was going and took out his gun. The monster on seeing the gun ran off with great speed into the dark.

" Hey!!! Wait you bastard!!!!" He cried out.

He looked at me and said

" Kid, get to the hospital real quick before the wound gets infected. I'll come see you right after I've reported this to my chief."

I nodded and ran towards the hospital. While running, I started laughing. Again an overwhelming sense of pleasure washed over me.

" So this was the criminal Haruno and Akira were scared of. This was a proper fight I've had in a few years. Sure I got hurt, but it feels good. A fight where you come out unscathed is just bullying the weak." I thought to myself.

Now I understood that I could take this monster one on one and I wasn't overestimating myself at all.

" That monster ran away this fight, next time I meet him, it'll be his final fight." I grinned in the darkness.