Chapter 8: Fight Against A Giant

I looked back to see Shuichi holding a person's arm. Their hand was still touching Harumi's shoulder but I don't think that mattered because the strength Shuichi held the person's arm made the person's arm numb. What surprised me was that the person's arm hadn't broken yet.

The person wore a long dark trench coat which reached below their knees and a hood covered their face.

The person leapt back and got into a stance: Their left hand was in front of them with their palms exposed; Their right hand was just behind their left hand also with its palm exposed; They had their left foot in front of their right foot so which meant their dominant hand was their right hand.

"To break out from my grip isn't easy. Who are you?" Shuichi asked but unsurprisingly they didn't answer. "Will you not speak?"

Again, the person didn't answer and stayed silent. Shuichi then cast a glance at me from the corner of his eye. He then nodded at me before looking back at the person. He then pulled Harumi behind him and pushed her towards me.

I recognised the stance. It was a stance used in the training I went through which meant that this person also came from that place or they were taught by someone who survived that place. Nevertheless, this person wasn't any ordinary person as they were able to withstand and escape Shuichi's grip.

Shuichi's grip strength far exceeds the normal human. He could crush the average human bone with his grip strength alone however this person escaped with almost no difficulty.

"Wait Ikeda-senpai." I said. "This person isn't weak."

"I can see that, Tsukamoto-san."

The person then almost seemed as if they flinched after hearing my name. This wasn't good. If someone had even the slightest of a relationship with anyone from the 'Institute' then I wouldn't be able to live in peace.

"Forget that, Ikeda-senpai, I'm going to kill this person myself."

Everything was still. Nothing moved. I slowly walked towards my target. I could see their vital points and the beating of their heart. I could pinpoint exactly where all their vital points were and exactly where their heart was.

I came close enough to the person and when I did I placed my two fingers on the person's heart.

To live is to survive.

I pushed my fingers in for a split second and then got them out. This stopped the person's heartbeat. I slowly walked back to where I was standing before.

"Shuichi, take care of him." I said.

The person then collapsed to the ground while holding their heart. Harumi stared at the dead body while Shuichi stared at it with anger.

"Let's continue." I said as I turned around and headed into the streets ahead. Harumi followed me and left her brother with the body.

* * * * * *

"Kishimoto-san!" I called out to Kishimoto but I didn't get any answers from him.

It has been some time since I had seen him and now I was getting worried because I have had reports from others but not from Kishimoto yet.

I walked through the streets and found a silhouette resembling Kishimoto's physique so I went towards it. Suddenly, a larger silhouette appeared behind Kishimoto.

"KISHIMOTO!" I called out. I then ran towards him. The silhouette then grabbed Kishimoto and threw him towards me. I caught Kishimoto in the air but for some reason, even I couldn't carry him and we both fell to the ground. "Kishimoto-san…you're so heavy."

"Nakamoto-san, that man isn't any ordinary person. He lifted me with a single hand and threw me to you." Kishimoto said.

"But you can't just attack students."

"It didn't say anything about attacking students in the student handbook." Kishimoto explained. "In other words, you are allowed to fight."

"Kishimoto-san, this man could be from a different school."

"He is."

We both stared at the giant who slowly walked towards us. A giant who stood around eight feet and had an extremely muscular build.

"You two seem to be younger than the brown-haired guy." The man spoke. His voice was deep and husky but it didn't sound pleasant. He sounded like a person who wanted to kill.

Brown-haired guy?

"He's talking about Harumi's older brother, Ikeda Shuichi."

Ikeda Shuichi? Was he always that strong?

* * * * * *

All I could do was stare at this giant slowly walking towards me and Nakamoto. He seems to have fought Ikeda-senpai and he most definitely lost.

The question that I repetitively asked myself was if I was even capable of fighting this beast. Even with Nakamoto-san with me, I'm sure that we would still lose even if we both worked together. This beast of a giant just seemed to be that strong.

I normally wouldn't feel intimidated by people twice my size but this time it was different. I knew he was faster than me even though he was large.

If he did something little as grabbing me then my bones would not be strong enough to withstand the pressure of his grip.

"What are you doing on the ground?"

The man's face was now clear as day. He had short and messy dark brown hair and bright emerald eyes. He wore a white t-shirt which looked like it stuck to his abnormal abdomen and black shorts which exposed his unnatural calves. His clothes didn't seem to be dirty although he did just come from a dumpster.

"Who are you?" Nakamoto asked. Her face didn't seem to show any fear but I knew she was scared.

I'm sure Tadashi would want me to protect Nakamoto and I'm sure he would protect Harumi so I should fulfil my job of protecting her.

"Defeat me first."

The man didn't seem to be the negotiating type.

How could I protect Nakamoto like this? I would die the moment he lands a hit on me and he's much faster than me so I wouldn't be able to just dodge all his attacks.

"There were three people here before weren't there?" I said.

"Do you know them?" The man said as a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Yes, we know them. They are the ones who put you in that dumpster didn't they?" Nakamoto spoke with a shaky voice.

"I'm gonna judge you two and see if you're anywhere close to that brown-haired kid and the red-eyed kid." The man said as he pointed to us.

We are nowhere close to Tadashi-kun and Ikeda-senpai and we cannot defeat this beast.

The man suddenly threw a punch towards me but it wasn't as fast as I expected it. It was insanely quick but I could still see it so I dodged it. I leapt to the side of his arm and then grabbed it and threw him while kicking his left foot off balance. As the man fell, he threw a punch which almost landed but I dodged it. I punched his face however my punch landed on his forehead and it didn't even make him flinch or react.

What the f**k?!

He smiled at me before leapt back and before I could react he charged towards me. I watched as the man charged towards me at a speed I couldn't even see however he stopped as Nakamoto tried to kick him from behind him.

"NAKAMOTO!" I yelled.

The man dodged Nakamoto's kick and held Nakamoto's body in the air. I got up from the floor and kicked his leg however it didn't do anything to him. He then threw Nakamoto towards me and I successfully grabbed her however the impact sent us back a few meters.

"Kishimoto-kun, he's on par with the president." Nakamoto said.

On par with Shimoda Yoshido. He's one of the strongest students in the entire academy.

"He might be stronger."

"Stronger?" I said. "How are we supposed to defeat him then?"

"We can't, Kishimoto-kun." Nakamoto said softly.

We had no chance against this giant.

I couldn't see what was going on and then I realised. I was in the hands of a beast.

The man had grabbed me at a speed Nakamoto and I couldn't even see. All we saw was probably an afterimage before I realised that I was in his hands.

"KISHIMOTO-KUN!" Nakamoto yelled my name but I couldn't answer no matter how hard I tried.

"Kishimoto?" The man repeated my name as if he was familiar with it. "Are you Kishimoto Akito?"

My eyes widened as I heard the man say my name.

"This makes things more interesting!" The man yelled as he smiled at me. It wasn't a pleasant smile, more like what you would expect from a psychopath.

I felt my blood boil and my mind becoming blank. I felt nothing.

I couldn't see anymore. My consciousness was gone.

* * * * * *

Everything went silent. Even the giant who was now holding Kishimoto-kun was silent. He glared at Kishimoto's face in what I could only describe as fear.

I then looked at Kishimoto. His eyes weren't the same as before and he didn't move. He didn't speak nor was there any expressions on his face

Red eyes? Like Tadashi-kun?

Kishimoto's eyes were now blood-red. They almost seemed to glow in the darkness. Somehow the colour of his eyes had changed but I couldn't find any explanation for this.

Kishimoto then moved. His arm was holding the man's wrist and then twisted the man's wrist. The man had no choice but to let go of Kishimoto. As soon as Kishimoto landed on the ground he instantly dashed towards the man's leg like a bullet.

I couldn't even see what Kishimoto did, all I could see was multiple afterimages attacking the man's body before he fell to the ground with blood dripping from his nose and mouth. Kishimoto had also fallen to the ground.

"Kishimoto-kun!" I called to see if he could answer. I then ran towards Kishimoto.

* * * * * *

Huh…this bloodlust…this feeling isn't normal.

"Tsukamoto-san, do you also feel that?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah…"

I could tell just from the feeling that it wasn't anyone on the level of those bastards but whoever the person was he could be on par with those who were taught by those bastards.

Akito.

Without a doubt it is Akito but how could he also have it? Could he also be one of us?

"Harumi, Shuichi-san, we're going back."

We walked back to where we were before. Ochiyama Kazuo was must definitely also there.

We then found one person crouching over another person and one large person laying down on the ground unconscious.

"Ryoko-san?" I called out. The person then whipped their head around and looked towards our direction. The person then ran towards us and then hugged me. "What happened, Ryoko-san?"

"Harumi, look away." Shuichi whispered to Harumi.

"That's Akito, isn't it?" Harumi asked Ryoko.

"Oh Ikeda-chan, you're here as well." Ryoko said. "His eyes changed and after that, he defeated that man without any difficulty."

"His eyes changed?" Shuichi asked. He must've been thinking what I was thinking.

"His eyes are normally blue but they suddenly changed to a deep blood-red colour." She said as she then looked at me from the corner of her eyes.

"I assure you I have nothing to do with the colour of his eyes, Ryoko-san."

"Sorry, it's just you also have the same colour eyes." Ryoko admitted. "I thought there would be some sort of connection."

"Let's wait till he's conscious first." Shuichi suggested.

We all then walked towards the two unconscious bodies. Ochiyama didn't seem to be dead only unconscious however Akito seemed to be conscious while also unconscious.

I crouched down and flicked his forehead with my middle finger.

Usually, this would make someone unconscious or kill them entirely however in the state Akito is currently in, there was a chance it would do the opposite.

Akito then opened his eyes. His eyes were indeed blood-red however they suddenly changed back to his original eye colour. Akito then sat up panting heavily.

"Tadashi-kun? What are you doing here?" He said as he panted. He then looked behind me and saw Harumi and her brother, Shuichi as well as a worried Ryoko. "Harumi-san, you're here as well."

"Aki-chan!" Harumi yelled.

"We heard your eye colour changed and then you started to beat the living shit out of this guy here." I said. Akito then looked behind him to see Ochiyama unconscious behind him.

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did and you also lasted longer than two minutes."

Shuichi then started to slap Ochiyama's face.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Ryoko yelled at Shuichi. Shuichi then looked at her from the corner of his eyes and then continued to slap Ochiyama.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT RED-EYED BASTARD!" Ochiyama yelled as he sat up. He then turned his head to see all of us. His head was turned in my direction as he glared at me. He then turned his head to Akito and stared at him. He then turned his head rapidly between us almost as if he was confused. "But…"

Ochiyama held his head in his hands. He shook his head as if he couldn't accept something. He then pointed at Akito but he didn't look towards us.

"You can't have those eyes!" Ochiyama yelled.

The others soon found us because of Ochiyama however Ochiyama's eyes were locked on Akito.

"What's going on?" I heard Kaori's voice. "How comes you guys are here?"

"ASAGIRI!" Ochiyama yelled. "YOU BASTARD! YOU TOLD ME HE WAS WEAK! YOU DECEIVED ME!"

"What do you mean, Ochiyama?" Kaori asked however Ochiyama didn't say anything.

Everyone looked at Kaori with judgemental eyes. There wasn't a worser situation than this for Kaori. Her plans seemed to have failed or have they working?

"Sorry for that, Ochiyama-san."

We all looked to where we heard a man speak. The man had short and messy hair. His hair was a bright red colour and his eyes were a bright turquoise. He was wearing the school uniform however they were clean and didn't seem to have any dirt on them although it was raining. He had a large grin on his face as he glared at Ochiyama.

"Nii-san, what are you doing here?" Kaori asked the man.

"Oh, Kaori-chan, I didn't see you there."

Kaori had fear written all over her face. This was the first time I had seen her so scared. Her body was trembling and her voice was shaky.

"Are these your friends?" The man said as we then scanned us all. He then looked at Akito who was also glaring at the man. "Are you the one who defeated, Kazuo-san?"

I looked around for Shuichi who had suddenly disappeared. It was to be expected because he couldn't have someone from the same year group as him know about his strength and other things he had kept hidden for the past two years.

"I guess so." Akito muttered.

"Is that a yes or a no?" The man asked Akito as he grew impatient.

"Yeah, I was the one who beat the living shit out of your friend!"

I looked at Ochiyama who was also trembling however it wasn't trembling with fear. It was more as if he wanted to kill the man but he couldn't.

That's not what you say to a man you just met, Kishimoto Akito.

"Who are you?" Ryoko suddenly asked.

"Who am I? Why don't you ask Kaori-chan over there." The man said as he smiled. This time it seemed almost pleasant.

We all looked at Kaori expecting an answer. She averted her eyes from us and looked down at the ground while playing with her hands.

"He's…he's my brother…" Kaori mumbled under her breath.

"We couldn't hear you, Kaori!" The man yelled.

"He's my brother."

No one spoke simply because they couldn't. They were too scared and feared this man who we now know as Kaori's brother, Asagiri Kenji.