The sky was darkening again, grey clouds swallowing the evening sun as Paulo walked home.
The streets were half-empty, painted in the orange haze of the streetlights.
His footsteps were slow, steady.
No music in his ears, no messages on his phone. Just silence.
It had become his only companion lately.
He took the same shortcut, the narrow alley between the convenience store and the old bookstore. The one that always smelled faintly of wet concrete and dust.
But halfway through, he heard it.
Footsteps behind him.
Quick. Heavy. Getting closer.
He turned just as two figures stepped into the mouth of the alley.
Takeo.
And Ozawa.
Their faces were half-shadowed, their voices echoing against the walls.
Takeo shouted and questioned, "Yo, Paulo. You got a second?"
Paulo did not stop walking, "No."
Takeo's smirk twitched, "That is rude. Especially since Kazumi asked us to talk to you."
Paulo froze mid-step. His pulse slowed, "Kazumi?"
Ozawa responded, "Yeah. She said you have been ignoring her. Said you have been acting… weird."
Takeo added, "We're just here to fix that."
Paulo turned around fully, the light catching his eyes, sharp and cold, "She didn't ask you to do this."
Takeo stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.
"Maybe not like this. But she is worried, man. And honestly—" He grinned darkly, "—you've been asking for it."
Paulo said nothing. His face did not even flicker. Ozawa moved first, shoving him hard against the wall, "C'mon, zombie-boy. Say something."
Paulo did not, Did not flinch. Did not fight back.
He just stared at Ozawa, dead calm, "You finished?"
Ozawa frowned, grabbed his collar, and shoved him again, "Don't get smart with me."
Paulo's hand snapped up, fast, catching Ozawa's wrist mid-swing.
For a second, the sound of the rain on the alley concrete was the only noise.
Paulo's grip tightened. His voice was low, cold, controlled, "You don't want to do that."
Ozawa yanked back, startled by the strength in that grip.
Takeo stepped in, grabbing Paulo by the shoulder, "What is wrong with you, huh? Playing tough now?"
Paulo turned slowly, eyes meeting Takeo's. There was no fear in them.
Just emptiness, "What is wrong with you? You had your fun. You got what you wanted. Why are you still here?"
Takeo scowled, "Because Kazumi still cares, you idiot! And somehow, you are still messing with her head."
Paulo tilted his head slightly, "Then why is it you who's chasing me into alleys?"
Takeo's jaw clenched. Then his fist came up fast.
It hit Paulo across the cheek, a solid, clean punch that echoed off the walls. Paulo's head snapped to the side, but he did not fall. He did not even stagger.
He just slowly turned back, wiped the blood from his lip, and smiled, a thin, quiet, terrifying smile, "Feel better now?"
Takeo stepped back instinctively. The rain started falling harder, slicking the pavement, streaking their faces.
Paulo stepped forward once, slow, deliberate, "You think you can break me again, Takeo?"
Takeo Scoffed, "You talk too much."
Takeo swung again. Paulo blocked it this time, his hand snapping up, stopping the blow midair.
The impact rang through both their arms.
Ozawa lunged in from the side, shouting, but Paulo twisted, shoulder-checking him hard into the wall.
The sound of impact cracked through the alley.
Ozawa shouting, "You— you psycho!"
Paulo turned his head toward him, eyes blank, "You don't even know what that word means."
Takeo swung again, furious now, but Paulo did not move this time.
The punch landed.
And still, Paulo did not budge.
He just stared at Takeo, rain dripping down his face, blood on his lip, expression cold as stone, "That all you've got?"
Takeo's breath hitched.
For the first time, he saw it, not the quiet boy from Rikako, not the broken kid from Keiko, but something else entirely.
Something that had stopped caring about pain.
The rain poured harder, thunder rolling in the distance.
Takeo's fists clenched again, Ozawa picking himself up.
The alley felt smaller now.
Tighter.
Like something terrible was about to happen, and no one was going to stop it.
Paulo took a step forward, his voice low, shaking with quiet rage, "You wanted a fight, right? Then hit me again. Let us see which one of us breaks first."
And then, silence.
The fight had not ended.
It had not even really begun.
But the air was heavy with it, the storm before the storm.
***
The alley was soaked with rain.
the freezing water mixing with the sweat and blood dripping down Paulo's face.
His lip was split, and his cheek stung fiercely from Takeo's last punch.
But Paulo's eyes, his eyes had changed.
They were no longer empty.
Flickers of something ancient and deep stirred within them.
Memories, like shards of broken glass, piercing the darkness of his mind.
He straightened, breathing heavy, voice low but burning with a new fire, "If you can't beat me now, when I haven't even broken my first limitation... then you're weak."
The words hung in the air like a challenge, icy, absolute.
Takeo's scowl faltered as he took a step back. Ozawa struggled to stand, clutching his ribs where Paulo's shoulder had slammed him.
Suddenly, a chilling silence wrapped the alley.
Paulo's hand moved, fingers tracing intricate patterns in the rain-soaked air, as if pulling unseen strings, "You wanted to evaluate me? Fine. Now you will serve me."
Before either Takeo or Ozawa could react, a strange, shimmering light surrounded their bodies.
Their eyes widened in shock and terror as a cold, invisible force crushed their will, dragging their souls into a void only Paulo could command.
Their bodies just slumped limply, consciousness fading as they became something else.
Paulo's chest heaved, the storm inside him unleashed.
From thin air, a swirling portal opened at his side.
A glowing, ethereal rift that rippled with cosmic energy.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward.
Dragging the unconscious forms of Takeo and Ozawa into the shimmering gateway.
The portal snapped shut behind him.
Inside a vast, shadowy dimension, his personal storage space.
the two former bullies stood motionless.
Now transformed into his very first Cosmic Soldiers: loyal extensions of his will of cosmic energy.
They are bound by power far beyond their comprehension.
Paulo's voice echoed through the endless void, "You will remain here until I call you forth. Until then, obey."
Outside the alley, the rain began to ease. The storm had passed.