Protector

After he finally got back into his not-so new looking clothes, he looked over at his left shoulder, and saw the cut. Of course, the actual wound was patched up now, but the giant tear in his hoodie's sleeve wasn't...

He simply sighed, and tried to not pay any mind to it. He then went and knocked on his own door, from the inside, "I'm done. You can come in."

After that, he took a step back, and Layla came inside the room, and took one good look at him.

"Not gonna lie, your clothes look like shit."

He rubbed his eyes, and said in an annoyed voice, "Whose fault do you think it is?"

Layla did a light knock on her head, "Oops, it was me."

"What are you, seven...?"

He noticed that she was holding a paper bag in her other hand, so he hesitantly asked.

"What's that?"

Layla looked down, and had an expression like she just remembered something important.

"Ah, right. For you."

She threw him the paper bag, and he barely caught it, managing to avoid it falling to the ground.

"Smooth, Layla. Real smooth."

He then looked inside, and saw a pair of black gloves, alongside a black and orange wooden mask. It looked like a monster of some kind, close to an Oni, as it had sharp teeth and horns.

"...I get the gloves, but what's this?"

He held the mask up.

Layla looked over at him, and did a little "Oh."

"It's just a mask. Gotta keep your face hidden 'round here, y'know. Well, most of the time, anyways. And I think it'll suit ya'."

He sighed, and started turning it on all sides, "And you just happened to have one in black and orange, huh?"

She sighed as well, and put a hand on her hip.

"Shut up. You want it or not?"

He shrugged, and put it on. Surprisingly, he could see pretty well out of it... No, actually, perfectly. And no matter how he moved his head, it wouldn't fall off unless he himself put a hand on it. It was very light too...

"What kinda magic is this...?"

"Well, uhm, let's just say the trees down here have very interesting characteristics when touched by Killium, 'kay?"

He sighed.

"Well, sure. Are the gloves magic too? Gonna make me stick to walls, like a certain someone?"

"Huh? Who...? Whatever, no. They're just gloves."

"Oh. That's... Not as cool, then."

Nevertheless, he put them on, and tightened them, then proceeded to turn his hands around on all sides, "They feel nice."

When he looked up, Layla wasn't there anymore. Immediately, he looked behind and to the right.

"What are you doing behind me?"

Layla, who was there, froze in place.

"...You have very sharp ears, huh?"

He shrugged, then sighed as he looked forward again.

"Not at all. Call it, uh... Intuition. Now, you wanna answer my question?"

She sighed, and walked in front of him.

"You're no fun. Was gonna scare ya...~"

He rubbed his eyes, "No, you would've tried, and failed..."

As they were talking in his room, suddenly, someone burst through the door.

He jumped back a bit, scared, "Ever heard of knocking, dude?!"

Though, it wasn't a dude. It was Marry. She was panting, indicating she ran here, and also had an annoyed but scared look on her face.

"Layla, they're back again. In the lobby."

Layla scoffed, and put her hands on her hips.

"Who, Ronny and his dumb men again?"

Marry, still panting, responded.

"Yes! They came here earlier than last time... Shit! I don't have the money ready yet!"

He simply stood there, watching the two of them talk about this Ronny guy.

"Well, tell them to fuck off and wait another week or something like that!"

"I did that already, Layla! They wouldn't listen! They want the money, and they want it now! But I just don't frickin' have it!"

Finally, he spoke up, "Why? Why do they need your money?"

Marry sighed, and looked at him.

"They claim to "keep us safe"... Though they don't do a good job... I'm basically paying them for nothing, but if I don't..."

He put a finger on his chin, and started thinking, "Hmm, I see, I see. So basically, they're thugs?"

Marry just let her hands go limp, and sighed again, this time deeper.

"...Yes. They're thugs."

He tightened his gloves even more, and started walking out the door. He also put the mask back on.

"That's all I had to hear, then."

Marry ran out the door too, and started following him.

"W-Wait, you're hurt, aren't you!? How are you gonna take down five guys alone?!"

He shrugged, and continued walking.

"Who knows. Maybe I'll luck out or something."

Marry continued walking behind him.

"Luck ou– No way! You'll get killed!"

"Been there, done that. I'll be fine, 'kay?"

Marry stopped and watched him walk away, flabbergasted and in shock. She then regained her composure and started walking with him again.

"No, no, no! Absolutely not! I'm not gonna stand and watch a patient of mine get killed, just like that! In my own hospital!"

Layla then came sprinting out of the room, with the same pink light in her legs as before.

She went behind him, and pulled his hood up.

"There. As I said earlier, incognito."

Marry scoffed, "Layla, don't support this! He'll die! Just stop him already!"

Layla laughed, "Nope, I can't. Nobody can, I don't think so."

Marry's jaw dropped again, she stopped, and she looked at him as he was walking towards the lobby.

"You... Why would... Why would you want to help us...?"

He stopped, and had his back at her for a second. Then, he looked back at Marry, both the mask's and his hands glowing a bright blue.

"It's what I do."

Then he turned around, and continued walking towards the lobby.

As Marry watched his back as he was walking away, her knees gave out and she fell onto the floor.

"Ah... Wha... Why..."

Layla crouched down next to her, and proceeded to pat her back a bit.

"There, there. It's gonna be fine. Just watch."

She looked at Layla, with wide eyes, "How are you so sure...?"

Layla then smiled at her.

"I dunno. He's not exactly strong. Rather, he's weak as hell. But he seems... Confident... So I trust him, okay?"

As the two sat there, looking at him walking, from the floor, he finally reached the lobby. He looked around, and saw a group of four men pestering a nurse, with another sitting down in a nearby chair. She was wearing the usual white uniform and had black, long hair.

They were attempting to flirt with her, though at that point, "harassing her" is a better term to be used. That only pissed him off more, as he clenched his fists tighter.

One of the men spoke to her, "C'mon now, doll... Why're you working at this shitty hospital? Come with us, we'll give you a way better job...~"

"Yeah, yeah, come with us!~"

The nurse was trying her best not to anger the men, and not to bawl her eyes out right there and then.

"I-I'm s-sorry, but... I-I'll have to r-refuse..."

It didn't work, though. The men got angry at the denial. Very.

"What do you mean you'll refuse, bitch?! Who the hell gave you the right to!?"

"W-W-Well, nobody, b-but..."

"No but's! For fuck's sake! I'll show you denial, you little...!"

He raised his hand, and swung at her face full force, trying to slap her.

Mere inches from her face, something suddenly grabbed onto his wrist. Tight.

When he looked at what it was, he saw a man dressed in all black and orange.

"Huuuh?! The fuck are you doing here, punk!?"

He didn't say not a word, and only tightened his grip on his hand.

"Stop annoying her."

All the five men laughed, and one spoke up, "Annoying?! We were simply giving her the offer of her life! She'd make such a good little who–!"

Before he could finish his sentence, a glowing blue punch came flying at his face. The man stumbled and fell onto his butt, with a bloody nose.

"You bitch...! How dare you hit me! I'll make you pay...!"

He only got angrier, and readied his fist for another punch. He looked at the man straight in the eyes, the mask's glow growing brighter.

"Want more, asshole?"

Suddenly, a chair came flying at him. He just barely managed to dodge it, and it crashed somewhere into a wall behind him. He looked in the direction it came flying from, and chuckled.

"Oh. You too, then..."

A man with blue eyes and tightened fists stood there, angry. Very angry, actually.

He pointed at him, and laughed, "You have super strength too! I'll call you Bluey, then!"

Bluey then came running at him, punching aimlessly and with no thoughts whatsoever.

He managed to dodge them, and jumped back.

"I see, you're the big and dumb type. All muscle no brain?"

As he regained his balance from the jump, he looked around him. He was surrounded by almost all of the men. He smirked, "Ah. Gotcha, then."

Surrounded by four men, all with different eye colors, he began chuckling.

"All of you! Wow! You're all Killium users? Ain't that something..."

A punch came flying at him from behind, but he ducked under it and kicked the man in the stomach.

He then looked behind him, at his eyes. Though all the man could see was a mask with an angry expression and glowing blue eyes.

"You're... Yellowy!"

Yellowy stumbled back, and someone else threw another punch at him.

He blocked it with his left hand, and punched him with his right.

"And you're Greeny!"

Greeny fell on his back, and the man from before, with the bloody nose, the one who got punched first, helped him get up. Bluey then swung at him too.

He just barely blocked it, mere inches from his face.

"You're strong..."

Suddenly, a blue fist went into Bluey's face, full force.

"Meh, I'm stronger."

Bluey fell on his back, unconscious.

"One."

The man with the bloody nose and pink eyes then got a pink hue in his legs, and started running around him.

"Ohh, I see... Okay, Pinky, the problem is..."

He suddenly reached his hand out and caught Pinky by the throat, as he had a sinister smirk on his face.

"Layla was faster."

He threw him on the ground, and looked back at Greeny, "You next, okay?"

Greeny took a step back, terrified, "Y-You masked freak! You... You demon!!"

Then, a fist glowing blue came flying right in his face too, "Duh. That's what Oni's are."

Greeny fell again, but this time he wasn't getting back up. He was unconscious.

"Okay, that's two."

As Pinky was still on the ground, he went for Yellowy.

This time around, instead of a one hit K.O. he was gonna go for something more... Rapid.

He got into a boxer's stance, and ran at Yellowy. Then he started throwing punches at him, and although Yellowy blocked some, eventually he fell down.

A stomp to the face made sure he was unconscious as well.

"Make it three."

He turned his attention to Pinky.

"Yo, man. How ya' been, 'ey? Did I keep you waiting long?"

"Y-You! Demon! Stay away!"

He started laughing, and slightly pulled his mask down, revealing his blue eyes, though they looked empty and dead.

"Fuck off before my generosity runs out."

Pinky did as ordered, and without hesitation, his legs started shining pink and he took off running, right out the main doors.

He sighed, and pulled his hood down, and threw his mask into the nurse's hand the one from earlier, who was still watching in awe, and sent her off. He then turned around, and looked at the very middle of the room.

"...You've been standing there a while now, mate."

In the middle of a room, in a chair, was a man with red hair. He was clearly that Ronny guy. He looked like a relatively big guy, with even bigger muscles. His hair was not only red, but also looked like he used three bottles of conditioner on it a day. Maybe two on a good day.

But, truth be told, bigger and stronger enemies weren't anything new for him. Not at all.

Ronny let out a very heavy laugh before speaking, "No mask this time around, little friend?! How come!?"

He cracked his fingers, then spoke as he was also cracking his neck, "I want you to know who'll beat your ass."

Ronny smirked, and he got up, "I love the enthusiasm!"

His expression suddenly changed to a serious one, then he spoke again.

"But this is as far as you go, little friend."

He readied himself, and scoffed at Ronny.

"Sure thing, loser. Try me."

Ronny charged at him, then swung upwards. He managed to dodge it, but Ronny's hand left a trail of bright red fire behind it.

"Oh, right. Red was fire..."

He kicked Ronny in the stomach, then jumped back.

Ronny didn't even flinch to the kick, and let out a loud laugh again.

"You too, right?! The red hair! You must have fire too, little friend!"

He ran towards Ronny, his hands glowing a bright blue.

He punched him straight in the face, yet Ronny didn't even flinch yet again. He only laughed harder.

"C'mon, use your fire, little friend! You punch like that punk!"

He jumped back again, with a confused expression, "Punk...?"

Ronny steadily stopped laughing, then spoke up, "Yeah, yeah. What's his name... Protector or something... Ah, shit, right! The Guardian! Hahah! I fought him with a few buddies and won! Man was he weak as hell!"

The confused expression didn't change at all, it only grew larger.

"I did... I mean, did he fight you? Really?"

Ronny laughed hard once again, "Of course! And he lost, against the almighty Arson!"

His expression suddenly changed, and he looked in the ground. He started chuckling, then it slowly evolved into laughter.

"Eh? What'cha laughing for, little friend?"

When he looked up, his eyes had more killer intent than that of a hungry lion, and he didn't need the mask to look like a demon. A sinister smile was on his face.

"You... You're Arson...?"

Ronny laughed hard once again, "So you recognize me! Must be a fan, huh! Yeah, that's me! I'm the almighty Arson!"

He still had the same weird smile on his face, and chuckled a bit before talking, "Heh... You were there..."

Ronny looked a bit confused.

"There? There where,. little friend?"

"At the Guardian's death..."

Ronny suddenly realized, and a big smile appeared on his face as he laughed yet again, "Ohh, that! Yeah, little friend! I dealt some heavy punches to him! Too bad I couldn't get to burn him! Hehehe..."

Suddenly, he got in front of Ronny in an instant, and held up his fist high, "You helped in killing me."

Ronny took a step back.

"W-What?! S-So fast!"

His fist went full force into Ronny's face, and he went flying backwards. His fists were a raging orange as he spoke up, "You helped kill the Guardian."

Then, the familiar set of words started running in his head again, over and over again.

{Blue. The Guardian.}

He smirked as his fists were changing from blue to orange fast, before settling on a mix between the two.

"Ah... My power isn't fire."

Ronny slowly got up, shocked that his punches actually hurt him, the smile and laugher now gone, replaced by confusion.

"W-What?! What is it then!?"

He got close to him once more, and punched him in the face again, with his blue-orange fist.

"Fuck, not even I know, man."

Ronny went flying backwards again, but got up fast again, this time mad.

"You little...! I'll make you fucking fried chicken!"

Ronny punched the air hard, towards him, and fire started flying in his direction from his hand that had a red hue.

"Oh my."

He simply turned his whole body to the right, and the flame went right past him.

"That's hot, huh..."

He started sprinting towards Ronny, with his hand still glowing the weird mix of orange and blue.

"This is gonna hurt about twice as much as before. Get your ass ready."

Ronny stumbled back a bit, looking scared, "W-What! You little demon...!"

Ronny attempted his best to run again, but before he could even turn around, his fist went right into Ronny's face.

Ronny went flying backwards even more than before, and hit the ground with a loud "Thump!"

He stood over him with a warm, kind yet murderous smile.

"Stand up. I'll murder you~"

Ronny crawled back a bit, "Y-You're not human! You're not!

He got up, and started running away, just like Pinky did earlier.

He sighed, and went over to the three unconscious men, and one by one, he picked them up and threw each and every one of them outside, near or in a dumpster.

When he came back in, dusting himself off, the blue-orange light from his hands faded, and he was met by Layla and Marry right inside. He looked up at them and loosened his gloves slightly. They had red stains on them, but for once, it wasn't his. He wiped them on his pants.

"Oh. Hello."

Marry was dumbfounded, and Layla seemed pretty impressed.

"Haven't you evolved a bit too much in just a few days?"

He yawned, "Don't bring that up."

Marry just looked up at him, with her jaw still on the floor.

"You... How did you even... Why...?"

He simply put a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her, "Don't worry about it. I just did."

As he was walking back to his room, he saw the nurse from earlier. She had clearly cried a lot after she left the lobby and her hair was a mess, yet she was still holding onto his mask tightly.

He stopped, and turned towards her. They both did a little bow at exactly the same time, as she held the mask towards him, and he took it back.

After that, no words needed to be said, as both of them turned around and walked in different directions.

As he was walking towards his room, now that nobody was seeing him, he had the happiest expression on his face in all his years of life.

He finally... He finally managed to protect someone...!.

His heart was beating at about 140 beats per minute and he was barely containing himself from jumping up and down, in delight.

Suddenly, Layla appeared right besides him, with a smirk.

"Oho, so you actually can smile... Ain't that rare~"

He quickly put on his mask, and sighed, "Shut it."

The two walked all the way to his room, and right before he opened the door, he took off his mask and looked at her.

"...Why are you following me to my room?"

She then nonchalantly talked, with an expressionless face, "You mean our room?"

He paused, and stood there in silence for a second. He then finally spoke up, "...Come again?"

Layla, with no change of expression whatsoever, just repeated herself.

"It's our room."

He simply continued standing there, still flabbergasted and slightly in awe.

"...We share a room?"

"We share a room."

He sighed, contemplated punching a wall, but decided he didn't need any more debt. He simply opened the door.

"Whatever."

As he stepped inside, the realization hit him like a truck...

"...There's only one bed in here though."

He looked towards her, and she took on a cute pose, with her hands behind her back, and talked in an even cuter voice.

"...Please be gentle~"

"Like hell I will! You're sleeping on the floor!"