CHAPTER 7: True Meaning Of Friendship
The main canteen of Hakuho Academy—where just moments ago a suffocating terror had been floating—was now engulfed in a graveyard-like silence.
Amidst the swirling dust at the doors stood Raizen Kurotsuki.
His stark white spiky hair and blood-red hoodie, screaming the words
"I HATE TOXIC",
had completely drawn the attention of the entire canteen.
After a long, terrifying silence, hushed whispers began among the surrounding students.
One boy whispered:
"Hey... who is this?
And where did he come from all of a sudden?
I swear, I am seeing him for the first time."
Another said:
"Bro, there's going to be an even bigger uproar here now..."
Meanwhile, a group of girls standing a little distance away were staring at Raizen.
"Wow, he is so hot!"
one girl whispered.
"But is he here to beat up this fat guy too?"
"I feel like he's definitely Akuro's rival!" a second girl replied.
Such whispers were going on everywhere in the entire canteen.
But the atmosphere at Kenta Ishida's table in the back was completely different.
His three friends were trembling like dry leaves out of fear.
Shoji Murakami pulled at his hair in panic and said,
"Oh man! Why is he scaring us?
We're already scared shitless just looking at this Akuro!"
Ryu Takeda stared at the door without blinking and asked,
"Who exactly is this red hoodie guy?
We've never seen him in school. And there hasn't been any new admission in school today either."
Tears of fear began floating in Reo Hayashi's eyes.
"Just looking at all this makes me want to go home,
man... I should just run away from here.
We might get beaten up too!
If we survive Akuro's hands, this new guy will kill us!"
Kenta Ishida placed his trembling hands firmly on the table and whispered in a low, yet extremely excited voice,
"Now shut your nonsense, you three!
He's not some ordinary thug...
That is Raizen Kurotsuki !
The Karate Black Belt Champion of Kurogami High School!"
The three friends gasped in shock in unison.
"What?
What nonsense are you talking about?"
**Ryo Takeda** held his breath and said,
"Bro, I've heard that there hasn't been a single guy in Kurogami High to date who has ever gotten beaten up by anyone.
The gangs there are even more dangerous and powerful than our academy, bro!"
Shoji Murakami's face turned completely white with fear.
"Then what the hell has this demon come here to do?!"
Just then, a strange, wicked smirk appeared on Kenta Ishida's lips.
"If I knew that, you idiots,
I wouldn't be this surprised! But now the fun begins,
friends... now the entire story is going to change.
When Akuro and Raizen clash with each other,
their explosion will shake the very foundation of the entire school!"
Standing at the door,
Raizen slowly began to walk towards the exact center of the canteen with cold steps.
Just then, Kaito Arashima came in his way.
This was the same lower-rank lackey that Meiko had sent to fetch ice cream for Renjiro.
Kaito still had that strawberry ice cream in his hand, which was melting due to fear.
"Hey you!" Kaito yelled, filling his voice with fake arrogance and thrusting the hand with the ice cream forward.
"Can't you see the Black Blazers are having a meeting here?
Step back or else—"
Raizen didn't even consider it necessary to raise his eyes to look at him.
Without decreasing his walking speed,
Raizen slightly lifted his left hand and delivered a casual,
yet terrifyingly high-impact palm strike to Kaito's chest.
BAM!
All the air was knocked out of Kaito's chest in a single jolt.
Like a lifeless mannequin,
he flew backward through the air,
crashed into a heavy steel table, and collapsed to the ground.
The strawberry ice cream flew into the air and spread across the floor in a blood-red color.
Raizen's footsteps didn't stop for even a second.
At the most premium corner table of the canteen,
Meiko Fujiwara was seated on her chair like a queen.
When Raizen swatted Kaito away like a fly,
a strange gleam appeared in Meiko's beautiful, blood-red eyes.
She elegantly crossed her legs and brought an 'Entertainment'-filled mocking smile to her lips.
"Oh my..."
Meiko purred in her soft,
sweet voice, every word filled with venom.
"A new guest? And look at his eyes... they are so cold.
It seems as if there are no emotions left inside him at all. Fascinating."
Raizen walked straight and stood right in front of Akuro,
Toma, and Daizen.
He cast a cold glance at the half-dead Renjiro lying on the ground and the naked,
fearfully weeping Kenchon, and then his emotionless eyes locked onto Akuro.
"Now..." Raizen's voice was completely soft,
yet as sharp as the edge of a knife.
"...Tell me, which of you four beat up Akira-kun?"
Toma Kagetsu (The Strategic Enforcer) put his hands in his pants pockets and glared at Raizen with his 'dead eyes'.
"Who is Akira?
We don't know any Akira."
Daizen Mori (The Predatory Fighter), whose hair was blood-red and who was habitually gnawing on his thumbnail, stepped forward with a dangerous smile.
"Well now... why don't you tell me who you are first."
There was a zero-degree coldness in Raizen's eyes.
"Keep your garbage to yourself.
Tell me clearly, which of you four beat Akira-kun in this very canteen."
And what will you do if we don't, you bastard?!
Daizen growled right in his face.
Toma added in his lifeless, monotone voice,
"So are you going to beat us up now?
Little chick, you think you're some hero,
bastard."
Piercing through this heavy silence,
Akuro Yoshibe stepped forward.
He casually adjusted his white leather jacket.
His face still held that same Calm and Dangerous smile.
"Yes... I beat him,"
Akuro confessed in an incredibly slow, soft voice.
Then he suddenly started laughing loudly like a psycho.
"I did... I did... I did! I beat him while laughing!"
Hearing this, Raizen Kurotsuki's hands suddenly clenched tightly into fists.
He tilted his head down slightly, causing a deep shadow from his white hair to fall over his eyes.
" Why..."
For the first time, a dangerous, suppressed vibration was felt in Raizen's voice.
"...Why exactly did you beat him?
What mistake did he make that you beat him so much that the bones of his ribs cracked?
Just because of you, he is still lying in the ICU like a living corpse! "
Toma Kagetsu took a heavy step forward.
" Hey, stay in your limits, you pigeon.
Or else we'll refer you to the exact same hospital along with your friend."
Daizen Mori laughed loudly.
"Are you playing with your death now, boy?!
You don't know us... have you ever even heard the name Black Blazers, dog?! "
Daizen couldn't even finish his sentence before—WHOOSH.
Without any warning, without even moving his shoulder,
Raizen suddenly vanished from his spot.
In the very next fraction of a second,
Raizen's terrifying, explosive
Yoko Geri (Side Kick) connected straight onto Daizen Mori's face.
CRACK!
Daizen's head jerked backward, and a fountain of blood erupted from his mouth.
Toma Kagetsu tried to react, but Raizen was now completely in a flow state.
Even before placing his foot back down,
Raizen spun in the air and planted a lightning-fast
Ura Mawashi Geri (Hook Kick) straight onto Toma's jaw.
BAM!
Toma's monolithic body lost its balance.
Before either of them could even stabilize,
Raizen initiated a brutal Karate Fist + Leg combo. Punch, punch, knee strike, sweep!
In the blink of an eye, both of the Black Blazers' top enforcers
, Daizen and Toma, collapsed to the ground like discarded trash cans.
[STUDENTS' REACTION]
Seeing this beatdown, an uproar broke out among the surrounding students.
Voices started emerging from the crowd:
"Everyone, get your phones out quickly!"
"Go live quickly bro, go live quickly!"
Smartphones came out from everywhere in the entire canteen, and everyone started recording a video of this terrifying violence.
No one cared about Renjiro or these beaten-up thugs; to them, this had merely become the school's biggest entertainment.
Seeing this spectacle firsthand, Meiko Fujiwara softly clapped her hands.
Pure entertainment was reflecting in her red eyes.
"Bravo,"
Meiko said smoothly.
"This is even more fun than watching that fat pig get beaten. Your control is exquisite, white-haired boy."
Amidst this pure chaos and camera flashlights,
Kenchon sat on the floor naked, trembling with fear.
There's still time!
Kenchon thought in his mind, crying.
Quickly...
I have to run away from here!
I have to run right now or else this Akuro will kill me, bastard!*
Kenchon slowly grabbed his pants and began making a desperate attempt to scoot across the ground toward the door.
But Akuro's predatory gaze was right there.
"Oh, Kenchon..."
Akuro's voice echoed right behind him, causing Kenchon's soul to shudder.
"Are you leaving me here?
Won't you help me...
my traitorous friend?"
Akuro grabbed him by his collar and, with a brutal throw, slammed the massive giant onto the ground.
THUD!
The moment Kenchon fell, Akuro struck Kenchon's spine with his full-power
Kudo Elbow Strike .
CRACK.
Kenchon's breath hitched right there, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Lying on the floor some distance away,
Renjiro Hoshino was watching all this spectacle with blurry eyes.
Is... is this boy here to kill me too?
The first thought crossed Renjiro's mind.
Why is everyone after my life?
Why just me?
But when Renjiro looked at Raizen Kurotsuki's face in that dim light, he felt something different.
There was no 'Bully Type' arrogance or cruel laugh on that white-haired boy's face like the other kids.
There was a deep pain, the fire of friendship in his eyes.
He looked like a 'Friend's face',
who had come to remind this demon of his place and take revenge for his injured friend Akira.
This boy wasn't any messiah (savior), but at the very least,
he definitely wasn't a demon either.
Akuro Yoshibe casually dusted his white leather jacket and gave Raizen a wide smile.
"**Ahhh...
you really impressed me,
bro," Akuro said, a strange psycho joy in his voice.
"You have a lot of life in you.
If you want to join my gang...
I will make you my 'Left Hand'.
In Kenchon's place. Just think about what the two of us couldn't achieve together."
Raizen Kurotsuki stood immovable in his place..
"I don't want to be your pet dog.
Give me a clear answer to my one question...
why did you beat Akira-kun?"
Akuro casually shrugged his shoulders.
"Sooo... I can't seem to remember, bro. Give me a minute... let me remember..."
Suddenly, pure madness danced in Akuro's cyan eyes.
"Ah... I remember!
He ruined my jacket.
That's why... I beat him.
I beat him until his face was swollen shut.
And to tell you the truth?
The fun I had beating him, breaking his bones...
I've never had that kind of fun beating anyone else ! "
At that exact moment, Akuro's two 'pet dogs'—Daizen Mori and Toma Kagetsu—who had fallen to the ground from Raizen's terrifying combo, slowly regained consciousness.
Their faces were drenched in blood, and their bones were screaming in pain.
The two of them gritted their teeth in anger and started to get up to attack Raizen again.
But as soon as they fully stood up, their eyes fell on Akuro, who was enjoying provoking Raizen.
Their feet froze right there on the ground.
They remembered that deadly order Akuro had given just a while ago:
"If anyone gets between me and him...
I will kill you right here."
Despite their terrifying humiliation and flowing blood,
Daizen and Toma quietly lowered their hands.
Filled with fear, they stood to one side like pet dogs.
They didn't have the courage to take even a single step forward.
Now, their only place was to stand there and simply 'observe' this horrifying fight.
The Boss's order was absolute.
Meiko Fujiwara leaned forward in her seat, resting her delicate chin on her hand.
Her eyes were absorbing that heavy, suffocating tension between these two alpha males.
Let's see, Akuro...
Meiko thought in her cunning mind,
will you be able to control this new toy,
or will he completely tear your system apart?
In either case, the victory will be mine.
On the other side, Raizen Kurotsuki's 'Control is Everything' principle wavered for a single second.
Seeing his friend's brutal suffering being mocked, all the kinetic energy in his body suddenly pooled into his legs.
Without uttering a single word, Raizen rushed towards Akuro.
His speed was so immense that the screeching sound of his shoes echoed loudly across the canteen's tiles.
Reaching right in front of Akuro, Raizen spun in the air and fired a running strike
Ushiro Geri (Back Kick)
toward Akuro's chest with all his might.
Akuro smiled, lifted his leg, and countered Raizen's incoming kick with a high-speed
Kudo Roundhouse Kick.
BAMMMMMM!
Both of their kicks collided right against each other in the air.
The impact was so horrifying and raw that a sharp shockwave erupted in the air around them.
The heavy steel tables of the canteen shook from their places.
Both boys had their legs locked in the air.
Raizen's cold, emotionless eyes and Akuro's psycho, cyan eyes were directly facing each other.
This was no ordinary school fight—this was a war of survival and dominance between two apex predators.
Lying on the blood-soaked floor, Renjiro Hoshino's eyes went completely wide open seeing this spectacle.
On that day, that storm in the red hoodie had awakened such a spark (hope) inside that fat, defeated boy,
which would go on to burn down the terrifying system of Hakuho Academy to ashes.