Standing over them was Yuto with eyes burning, a feral grin twisting and forming on his face. His crimson and black hair framed a face carved from fury and thrill. His uniform was half undone, the sleeves rolled up like he was always just seconds away from a fight. He looked more like a stray dog that had learned to enjoy the taste of blood.
"You'll what? " His voice was low, but the air around him warped with an intimidating pressure. "You'll beat Hasegawa?"
Yuto tilted his head, a slow, mocking smile spreading across his face. "You really think you can take him on?
"Hahaha... You can't even beat me!"
Shiinichiro was the first to react to as he quickly scrambled to his feet his hands up. "Whoa, whoa, let's not do this here! You'll get us all suspended!"
Yuto didn't even look at him even once. His attention was fully locked on Ren like a predator that had spotted his runaway prey.
Ren stood slowly, his chair screeching back across the tiles. "I don't want to fight you," he said, his voice steady despite the adrenaline racing through him.
Yuto tilted his head, smirk deepening. "Too bad."
Before anyone could react Yuto's hand shot out fast and grabbed a nearby chair before slamming it down on their table.
The table shattered with a deafening bang, plates and trays flying away in all directions. Milk splashed across Hana's uniform with the rest of it scattering over the floor.
Around them the crowd began to swell, students forming, chanting, gasping, their phones out and recording.
"Yo, that's Yuto Ishida!"
"Mad Dog's gonna kill that guy!"
"First day and he's already dead!"
Ren's knuckles tingled. Every instinct screamed to walk away but every part of him refused to back down.
"You started this. " His mind whispering to him. "You said you'd confront Hasegawa. This is where that road begins. "
"Ren! " Hana shouted, pulling Fubuki back as the crowd began to form a circle around them. "Get away from him!"
"I can't just leave him!" Fubuki protested, voice trembling. Her eyes darted between Yuto and Ren. "He doesn't know what Yuto's capable of!"
"Exactly why we're stepping back," Hana snapped, pulling her further into the crowd. "We can't stop him now. No one can."
Shiinchiro tried to push through the circle, voice desperate "Stop! He's serious, Ren, don't! Yuto's insane! You don't understand he fights like he's got nothing to lose!"
But Ren's eyes didn't leave Yuto's. His pulse pounded in his ears, but his breathing steadied his muscle memory starting to kick in.
He remembered Kaito's training in his head—observe first, then move.
Yuto's boots squeaked against the tile as he stepped forward, shoulders rolling, neck cracking. His grin never left his face. "You talk big for a newbie. I'll make sure you eat your words. "
One blink and Yuto vanished from sight... a blur of motion so fast it blurred the edges of Ren's vision.
Gasps rippled through the onlookers. But Ren saw it, just barely a flash of red and black. With a shift of weight onto his left foot, he ducked and the punch tore through the air where his head had been a second before.
"WHAM." The wind of the strike rattled trays on the floor.
"He's fast. " Ren thought, his adrenaline spiking to an all time high. "Too fast. "
Yuto straightened up his eyes gleaming with something between amusement and respect.
"You dodged that? " he said, tone low and dangerous. "Good reflexes."
Ren didn't answer. His stance shifted, left foot forward, hands up, posture balanced.
Kaito's voice echoing in his mind. "Don't look at the hands. Look at the shoulders. Read the rhythm, not the attack. "
Yuto lunged again with a fist first, then a knee and then a feint into a right hook. The hits came to Ren like a storm.
Ren parried the first one, sidestepped the next, his body moving before his brain could catch up. He wasn't thinking about winning, he was just surviving the onslaught.
The crowd's roars rose to an all time high.
"Holy shit. "
"He blocked that?!"
"No way a first-year's lasting this long!"
Shiinchiro's voice cracked from somewhere near the edge of the crowd still trying to get in. "REN! GET OUT OF THERE!"
Fubuki had her hands clasped over her mouth, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Hana stood beside her, her arms folded tight.
"He is trained. " She muttered under her breath. "He is not just some hothead. "
Yuto grinned wider, his teeth flashing now. "You're not bad, Ryūhara," he spat out, pronouncing the name with mocking precision. "But you're too damn calm. Let's see how long that lasts!"
Ren's eyes widened as Yuto's fist cut through the air toward him amidst The Mad Dog's widening grin.
Ren blocked with his forearm, but the impact sent pain dancing through his arm, forcing him back a step. His shoes slid against the wet floor as he barely kept his footing.
Yuto laughed, breathless, almost exhilarated. "That's more like it! Come on! Don't hold back!"
Ren's breathing quickened, his mind flashing back to his sparring sessions with his brother Kaito.
"You don't fight because you want to hurt someone, Ren. You only fight when walking away costs more. "
His resolve hardened and Yuto noticed it.
And in that split moment, both of them moved with no hesitation, no sound just pure instincts.
Yuto's right hook came wide. Ren ducked, countering it with a sharp elbow toward the ribs. It connected squarely causing Yuto to falter just for a second.
Ren followed through with another punch taking hold of the fight's rhythm and pushing Yuto backwards but Yuto only laughed.
"Finally. " the Mad Dog breathed. "And here I was thinking you didn't have any bite in you."
Then Yuto surged forward, faster, fiercer, something wild lighting up in his eyes. He caught Ren by the collar and yanked him down into a brutal knee strike.
Ren blocked the worst of it with his forearm but it still rocked him. Pain burst across his senses, the taste of blood and sweat and adrenaline flooding his mouth.
The crowd exploded again half of them cheering, the other half horrified.
Shiinchiro shoved through the bodies again, voice hoarse. "STOP IT! SOMEBODY CALL A TEACHER!"
But no one moved, all of them were all watching the fight.
Yuto cracked his knuckles, blood on his lip, eyes bright with an animalist like joy. "You have got guts. " he said, tone low, almost like he was approving. "I like people like that.
Ren straightened, chest heaving, sweat running down his neck. "You're fast. " he replied, voice rough. "But very predictable. "
For the first time in their fighr, Ren noticed Yuto's grin falter just a little.
The two of them locked eyes again as the crowd held its breath before they both lunged at each other.
Trays hit the floor.
A table was toppled over and the crowd roared loudly.
Yuto's fist met Ren's arm again, but this time Ren didn't back down. He caught it and redirected one of his own back that hit Yuto squarely.
And in that single instant before impact, Ren thought to himself.
So this is what it feels like to stand in a monster's path.