Our Invincible Protagonist (3)

The group of delinquents stood in stunned silence at the appearance of this strange new arrival, his helmet gleaming in the sunlight. Kotaka noticed that he seemed somewhat different from the cold, distant person he had met in class. He seemed more relaxed and happy somehow, like he had discovered he'd won a free ice-cream from a popsicle he just ate...

"Not even your first day here and already you're taking on challenges.", he laughed as he walked towards his classmate, ignoring the astonished looks of the gang members "As I expected from a guy of your caliber."

He paused in front of the blonde, taking a moment to size him up. "…or perhaps these are just some dumb punks who don't know their place."

At this the entire gang erupted into peals of laughter. Kotaka on the other hand could only stand there dumbstruck. Where the heck did he come from? Onimaru had shown absolutely zero interest in him before, so why was he interfering? And why was he so relaxed? Kotaka figured that Onimaru was strong, but he didn't see how he could take on so many guys all by himself.

"This guy…" Kotaka thought to himself, "What the hell is he planning?"

"What's with that ridiculous helmet?" the blond could barely control his laughter "This one of your friends? He some kind of cosplay freak?"

Onimaru didn't even flinch at that remark, only stepping forward and placing his hand on Kotaka's shoulder.

"As I thought." Onimaru chuckled, "I got it boss. You've got better things to do then deal with small fry like these, let me handle this for you."

"Ha ha! You? What kind of a joke is…"

"Shut the hell up you worthless scum!" yelled Onimaru, his voice returning to the same frustrated tone Kotaka had heard back in class. "Someone like you isn't even worth a millisecond of my time, let alone the boss'"

For the second time that period the gang's tempers flared. First some cocky freshman had insulted them, and now some nobody in a stupid mask was treating them like they were nothing. Kotaka could feel the tension rising in the area and his heart sank. This was it; they were going to get their asses kicked. Though he could probably try to defuse the situation as long as Onimaru didn't provoke them further…

"So why don't you just run along back to whatever rathole you crawled out of," said Onimaru, the pattern on his helmet seeming to give a mocking expression, "Before you embarrass yourselves"

"You…BASTARD!"

Kotaka sighed as one of the gang members rushed towards Onimaru, fists clenched and screaming bloody murder, his plan was about to fail before it even begun. As he was silently saying goodbye to his dream of a quiet high school life, Kotaka barely saw the masked student move before the thug was on the ground lying completely still. The entire group recoiled in shock and horror as a small pool of blood started forming around the latter's mouth.

"Hmm…as I thought." Said Onimaru, staring at his fallen foe with mild intrigue, "10% is a bit too much."

"I think 1% should be enough." Onimaru sniggered, the demonic design of his helmet all of a sudden becoming more apt and terrifying to everyone around him.

"What are you idiots standing around for?!" the blonde yelled, "He's just one guy! Get him!"

With a loud cry the other gang members charged Onimaru Godou. One by one as they came towards him he swiftly dispatched them with a brutal backhand across the face or a lightning fast punch to the stomach, effortlessly dodging any of their attempts to retaliate like they were moving in slow motion. Each blow sent them flying in all directions, clutching their guts and writhing in agony or knocked unconscious and bleeding profusely. Soon only the blonde leader remained. "What's the matter?" Onimaru laughed, cracking his knuckles, "I'm just one guy right?"

The blond could only stand frozen in abject terror at the demon that had just taken down twelve of his best men without breaking a sweat. The desire to put some freshman in their place quickly gave way to one for self-preservation. He needed to get away, but his body wouldn't move under Onimaru's pitch black gaze.

Meanwhile Kotaka was trying to edge backwards as quietly as he could. Onimaru was even more monstrous than he thought. The guy was outnumbered 12 to 1, and he took every single one of them down with one blow. Now that the others had been knocked out this was the perfect opportunity for him to…

"Over here! Come quick!" came a faint shout from behind the corner.

"Huh?" Onimaru turned for a brief second toward the source of the shout, and turned back to see that his last opponent had gone.

"Tch," Onimaru grumbled, grabbing Kotaka by the collar, "Come on boss! We gotta go!"

Before Kotaka could protest he felt himself being dragged away at incredible speed, the mass of fallen students rapidly becoming a distant blur behind them.

SSS

"Ah that was refreshing!"

The two classmates had somehow or other made their way to the rooftop of one of the school's many annexes. Onimaru was standing on top of a bench enjoying the breeze while Kotaka lay on the ground next to it, panting heavily.

"I was beginning to think today would be a total drag," Onimaru laughed, "good thing I ran into you when I did huh?"

"Seriously. What's up with this guy?!'", Kotaka thought as he struggled to catch his breath, his mind reeling from the fight he had just been a part of (though it was actually more of a massacre). He couldn't wrap his head around why Onimaru had decided to step in when he did. Onimaru had no reason to be helping out a fellow delinquent.

"You…"Kotaka sat up, struggling to catch his breath, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey hey, is that something you should say to someone who saved your ass?" Onimaru cocked his head to one side, "When you see someone in a pinch it's only natural to lend a hand right?"

Kotaka felt a mixture of shock and confusion at this response, the first came from implication that Onimaru might have seen through his ruse as Kotaka had feared. The second was from the disbelief that Onimaru had such benevolent motivations. Quickly, Kotaka put his usual scowl back on his face.

"Like hell I needed saving," Kotaka grumbled, turning away, "I had them right where I wanted them."

"Sure you did…", Onimaru chuckled, "But you weren't interested in fighting a bunch of amateurs right?"

Onimaru's reply caught Kotaka off guard. He was expecting Onimaru to call him out on the ruse. It was pretty much impossible to read his facial expressions for obvious reasons; however Kotaka couldn't hear a hint of sarcasm or mockery in his voice.

"Hmph," Kotaka frowned, "it goes without saying that fighting weaklings is a waste of time."

"I know right?" Onimaru squatted down and slapped Kotaka on the back, "You didn't even raise your fists and those wimps were just about to piss themselves. It was pathetic!"

"Me on the other hand," said Onimaru, lying down on the bench, "I was itching to blow off some steam, this morning was such a bore."

Kotaka bit his lip. Onimaru's responses were confusing him more and more. He couldn't tell if Onimaru actually bought into the crap he was feeding him or just playing along with the ruse to watch him squirm. He didn't dare ask for a straight answer for fear of potentially blowing his cover. Onimaru blackmailing him into doing his bidding in exchange for keeping his secret was a situation he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Say Boss," Kotaka jumped as Onimaru sat up again, "How about we ditch this place."

"Eh?"

"They aren't going to be teaching anything really important on the first day anyway." Onimaru reasoned, standing up and extending his hand to Kotaka, "Come on, I'll take you somewhere cool."

"Are you crazy? Ditching school on the first day is…"

"Oh? I'd thought you'd be all for the idea Mr. Badass Delinquent…" Onimaru sniggered, "Or are you not as hardcore as you make yourself out to be?"

Kotaka stared at Onimaru's outstretched arm and groaned inwardly. Onimaru was more crafty than he looked. Kotaka knew that if he took up Onimaru's offer, he would be playing right into the latter's hands. Yet somehow, he felt compelled to do just that. Something about Onimaru made him different from the delinquents he was used to. However, he was not about to drop his guard. In any case this following him was still probably his best chance at figuring out Onimaru's true intentions.

"Fine." Kotaka got up, slapping Onimaru's hand aside," This place sucks anyway."

"Heh," Onimaru withdrew his hand, seeming not at all bothered by Kotaka's attitude, "Then let's go."

SSS