Chapter 04:

*School bell rings....

" What was up with today though?" Keisuke packed his bag.

" It felt like Sugawara-san's whole presence was disturbing to everyone." Makino said.

" Oye oye that makes me feel like a bad guy you know" I said blatantly.

They both of them laughed at me and we headed out of the classroom as school was over. Then suddenly, a white haired guy walked passed me. A faint danger sense came all over my body. It felt weird because this was the first time something like this had ever happened before. What felt more astonishing was that I felt a sense of nostalgia from him. He almost had the same height as mine. I caught his shoulder and stopped him. He turned and I looked at his eyes. They were worn out and had dark circles under them.

"What?" He asked with an emotionless face.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

He stood silently for a while and somehow I felt anger through his eyes. I removed my hand from his shoulder.

"Who knows? My face is really common." He replied and walked away.

"Who was that?" Makino asked me.

"No idea, but I feel like I had met him long back"

"Your long lost twin or something?" Keisuke laughed.

"That might be true." I looked at the white haired guy's figure fading away in the distance.

" Do you guys live close to each other?" Keisuke asked me and Makino.

" Not sure, because today we meet on our way to school." I unlocked the lock on my cycle," Wanna get a ride till where you parked your bike?" I asked Makino.

"If it's not a problem for you."

" You wanna get on too?" I asked Keisuke .

"Unfortunately, my house is in the opposite direction of where you're going. And there's only room for two people on a bike. I'll see you tomorrow then."

As soon as we were about to exit the school gates, a bunch of seniors blocked our way. I knew where this was going.

" Hey" one of the guys called out to me and smirked at us.

" You're meeting a lot of acquaintances aren't you? Someone you know?" Keisuke asked me.

"No, but they might be related to the guy I destroyed in class."

" We want you to hang out with us a little bit. Someone wants to see you." He smirked.

It would be easy to finish these guys up now and here. But the problem is.... Keisuke and Makino. They won't be safe if I don't handle this properly.

" Sorry Makino, I think you'll need to head home on your own." I said.

" No no no, that would be a problem. Boss needs all three of you."

I sighed and told him to lead the way.

" Keisuke, Makino. Don't do anything. Just leave it to me."

" But this seems a bit troubling more than before." Makino looked worried.

" Don't worry, this'll be over before you know it."

" Hey hey, are you gonna fight???" I could literally see stars in Keisuke's eyes.

I ignored him and we reached the gymnasium where I played basketball with the PE teacher Matsudaira.

There were a lot of people there. I could count up to at least 20. But there seemed to be something off with one guy. His shirt was unbuttoned and he held a metal bat in his hand. He had a side haircut and was taller than me. It felt like he had the power to take down 5-6 people in a minute. He felt strong.

" Narukami san, I've brought them." They bowed at him.

"Ehhhh.... Does he think he's king or something?" I thought.

" Hoh? So it's you who beat up Akihito huh?" He got up.

So that guy's name was Akihito huh. Akihito came from behind the boss and had a bruise on his eye.

"Hey did I miss the part where you punched him?" Keisuke knew something was wrong.

" I missed that part too." I said sarcastically.

I spoke to the boss named Narukami.

" And what if I did beat him up?"

" Hey hey watch your mouth"

" Yeah yeah, don't speak to the boss in a rude way"

" This guy is pissing me off"

The people on the sidelines were yelling at me. Narukami hit his bat on the ground and there was a loud noise. Everyone had quieted down.

" Why did you do that to him?"

" You know you're supposed to ask the victim what happened first."

" I heard that you were getting on your high horse in the classroom and he tried stopping you. But then you hit him for no reason"

"Well the story's not wrong but the way he said it is wrong."

He glared at me and asked me," Name yourself."

" Sugawara. Sugawara Daichi. So what am I supposed to do now? Go home?" I said.

" I can't let you get away with this. My reputation will get ruined you know?" He swung his bat and leaped towards me.

" Get back." I pushed Makino and Keisuke .

" Woah" both of them staggered and walked back.

At the Same time Narukami's bat reached me in a split second and I kicked it away. My idea was to send the bat flying but his grip was stronger than I thought. I felt the danger sense on my head.

He took a full swing upwards and brought it down like lightning. I jumped back before it hit me and the floor once where I stood cracked because of the impact.

" You dodged that well huh."

"Oyyyyee who's gonna pay for the floor??" I complained.

" You've got a lot of confidence in saying that. You're underestimating me".

" Yeah and you've got some nerve to just walk away after destroying public property."

He swung repeatedly and wasn't just attacking randomly. My danger sense was showing up near my elbows, knees and neck.

He threw his bat in an odd way. The throw wasn't really strong and I dodged it with no difficulty. But then,

HIISSSSS.....

I felt a danger sense on the back of my head. I thought some other guy joined in to take me down. I ducked immediately and felt the bat returning to Narukami.

I looked behind and saw no one standing there, and even if someone was there, I'd notice it easily.

" How'd he dodge that? It was flawless." Narukami thought.

" Impossible. How did he do that?" I thought.

" Yo Sugawara. Why don't you attack?"

He smirked at my confused face with a cold sweat dripping from his face.

" Sorry but I'm trying to end this without anyone getting hurt."

" The only one who's gonna get hurt is you if you don't take this seriously."

He threw his bat with a strong spin on the ground beside me.

" What is this guy thinking?" Then suddenly, I got the danger sense again at the side of my head. I bent my face backwards and the bat passed my face without hurting me. I looked at the ground and then I understood his way of attacking. The reason why he threw his bat with an odd spin was to make the bat bounce back. Like how some football players kick the ball in the air with a spin and when it lands, it takes a different direction.

" Judging from your reaction you've seemed to understand my trick. But that doesn't mean you've won." He picked up his bat and did the same attack. This time, the bat reached the right side of my face, but what was surprising was that Narukami punched from the left. But it was pointless because I had the danger sense. I moved back and Narukami jerked his body to stop himself from getting hut by his own bat. I didn't want to do this but I grabbed the bat before it hit him. He was surprised and stole the bat away from me.

" You do like toying with your opponents huh." He looked frustrated.

" Narukami san is losing?"

" It must be a fluke"

" Yeah yeah Narukami san never loses."

The sidelines got noisy and I looked Makino and Keisuke. They looked astonished at my skills.

"Keep quiet you fools." Narukami yelled. This guy looked frightened. It was probably because he never met someone stronger than him. I knew that without attacking him, this fight would never end. He leaped forward and pulled the bat real hard to swing it with full force. I stood there without dodging and he was surprised. He swung his bat and...

THWAAKKK