Students sat in the high school classroom, their uniforms so similar that it was hard to tell the difference between them. Every single pupil had black hair. Those who had brown, blue, green, or other hair colors that were natural in anime worlds were forced to dye them black.

A girl sat by a window in one corner of the room. She gazed out listlessly with cyan eyes. Her naturally short dark blue hair was dyed black, the same as the other students with non-black hair.

There was a sea of black on the ground she gazed at. Students walked to class. They looked more like worker ants than teenagers.

The girl wiped sweat off her brow. A sweltering heat welled up throughout the school. Yet, every student wore a jacket. With a sigh, the girl tried to adjust her uniform to slightly relieve the heat.

"I wish someone would turn on the air conditioning," she muttered. "Judo club's going to be hell."

Another student scoffed.

"The teachers say we need to feel the heat to toughen up. If they say we need it, it must be true, Hojo-chan," he said.

"I guess so," the girl replied.

More students flooded into the room. Soon enough, there was just one empty seat. It was right next to where Hojo was sitting. As the teacher entered the room, Hojo glanced at the vacant chair.

"Someone's late for the first day of class. I hope there wasn't an accident," Hojo thought.

The teacher walked to the head of the classroom.

"Good morning, class," she said. "I hope..."

Before the teacher could continue, the door swung open.

A boy marched in. The first thing everyone in class noticed was that he was taller than the teacher. He had a head of blonde hair, his uniform was scuffed up, and his face sent shivers down the spines of the students. It looked like something a young gangster would have.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said.

"Young man!" the teacher glared. "What happened to your uniform? It's a mess!"

"It's none of your damn business what happened to it. I'll fix it when I get home."

Shock covered every student in the room.

"What kind of student talks to a teacher like that? He must be some kind of violent delinquent," Hojo thought.

She glared at the newcomer.

"Why is your hair blonde?" the teacher shouted.

"I'm only half Japanese," the boy explained. "My hair comes from my dad."

"Dye it black, right now!" she ordered.

The boy slammed his hand into the wall. A crater formed with the collision. Silence overtook the room.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do," he said. "If I wanted people to do that, I'd join the army."

Then, the boy held his right hand over his head. The fingers faced downward. He puffed out his chest and put his other hand on his hip.

"I don't care if they're my parents, my teachers, the cops, or anyone else. No one tells me what to do," the boy declared.

He marched over to his chair and sat down, planting his sleeves on the desk. Hojo kept her glare. Then, she saw that his left sleeve was wet and red.

"There's blood on your uniform," shock covered her face.

"Don't worry," the boy said. "It isn't my blood."

"That just makes me worry more!" she thought.

Classes ended, and Hojo walked into the judo club. She changed into her uniform. Then, a really short girl in a gi ran over and hugged her.

"Reina-chan!" the girl smiled.

"Hey, there, Aoi-chan," Hojo Reina said.

The new girl stepped back. She walked on the mats and got in a judo stance.

"Let's have a match!" she stated. "I want to throw you!"

Five seconds later, Aoi was flat on her back.

"Owwwwww, I lost," the girl sighed.

"You did better. Last time, you lasted three seconds," Reina said.

Aoi bounced back up.

"That's right! I'm getting better! Soon enough, I'll throw you for sure, Reina-chan!" she declared.

There was a massive smile on her face.

"Train hard!" Reina encouraged her. "Now, where's Isogai-kun? I want to have a match with him."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him yet," Aoi stated.

"You haven't? He's usually here earlier than us."

Then, the door to the judo club opened. A boy with glasses stepped inside. There were bandages around his right leg. Reina and Aoi ran over to him right away.

"You're hurt, Isogai-kun!" pure panic flashed through Aoi.

"It's fine," the boy replied. "The nurses bandaged me up. I won't be able to do judo today, but I can still watch."

"What happened?" Reina asked.

She looked around.

"Did someone hurt you? Are you still in danger?"

"No. I fell off my bike going to school and cut my leg on a rock. Another student came by and carried me to the infirmary," Isogai said. "He got some of my blood on his sleeve. I hope that didn't cause him any trouble. He probably ended up getting to class late because of me."

Guilt crossed over his face.

Reina's memories flashed back to that morning.

"What was this student like?" she asked.

"Well, he was really tall. He was also strong. He picked me up like it was nothing. I asked him if he wanted to join the judo club, but he said learning judo was pointless for him. I can't blame him for thinking that way. I'm not sure if any of us could beat him, considering how strong he is," Isogai answered.

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"Did he have blonde hair and a scary face?" Reina wondered.

"Yes, he did."

She pondered.

"That doesn't make sense. Someone disrespected a teacher wouldn't normally go out of their way to help someone like that," Reina contemplated. "There might be more to him than I thought."

Aoi looked at the girl.

"Reina, what are you thinking?" she asked.

"Just about someone. I won't attend judo club tomorrow. I have something else to do," the Hojo girl answered.

"It can't be helped," Isogai said. "There's no talking you down when you get an idea in your head."

Reina made sure she left class before anyone else did the next day. She waited by the school gates, hiding behind a bush. The blonde student exited the building and started walking. Making sure to stay out of sight, Reina followed him.

The boy walked through the city streets. Reina followed him at a distance. Then, he suddenly stopped.

"Did he realize I'm following him?" Reina thought.

She ducked behind some bushes and looked outside of them. The boy wasn't looking at her. His gaze was fixed on the street. Reina looked as well, and fear pulsed through her.

A little child had wandered into the road. There was a truck careening around it, coming right at him.

"There's no way the truck driver can stop in time, and the kid didn't even notice it!" Reina thought.

The girl moved on instinct. She rushed out to tackle the child out of the way.

But the blonde boy had already moved. He ran in front of the truck. Shock blasted over Reina.

"What is he doing? If he doesn't get that kid out of the way, they'll both die!" she thought.

The truck got closer and closer. Reina leaped forward in a tackle, trying to tackle both the boy and the child out of the way. She saw the headlights of the truck.

"I was too slow! It's here! We're all going to die!" Reina's sense of reason was overwhelmed and replaced with pure panic.

She instinctively placed her arms over her eyes. Then, Reina remained still and waited for death. Seconds passed. Nothing happened.

Reina pulled her arms down. The truck had stopped dead in its tracks. There was a confused expression on the driver's face. She turned to the boy, who was leaning down to the child.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

The child nodded.

"Don't play on roads. It's dangerous out here."

"My baby!" a woman ran over and hugged the child. "Thank you so much for saving him."

The boy pointed at Reina.

"You can thank her for that. She got the truck to stop moving," he said.

"W-What?" Reina shook her head. "No, I didn't..."

The woman hugged Reina.

"Thank you so much!"

"I didn't..." Reina looked out.

The boy was walking away, stepping into an alley.

"I'd love to talk to you more," Reina said. "But I have somewhere to go now."

She wiggled out of the woman's hold and ran into the alley. Reina looked around. There were two paths at the end of the passage, one to the left and one to the right.

"Which one did he go down?" Reina wondered.

The girl ran to the end of the alley to try to see him. Then, a voice called out from behind her.

"Hey, girlie! Whatchu' doin' here?"

Reina turned around. Five people with baseball bats were behind her. They wore school uniform pants and jackets, but the front of the jackets were open. Bandages were wrapped around their chests.

"I'm looking for someone," Reina said.

Her danger senses blared on high alert.

"If you wanna find someone, we can help you," the head bat wielder stated. "Of course, you'll have to give us somethin' in return."

He reached forward to grab Reina's breasts. She stepped back, moving out of the way.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't need any help," Reina said.

"What?" one of the other people glared. "You're refusin' the boss' help?"

"There's too many of them for me to take on. I need to talk my way out of this," she thought before speaking. "I'm afraid so. Even if I needed help, the price is too much to pay."

The boss grinned.

"Let me put it to ya' this way, girlie. You'z payin' the price, whether we help ya' or not. In fact, why don't we take you back to our place? We'll make you feel like a woman," he suggested.

The blonde boy stepped out of the alley behind them.

"That's not a good idea. If you attack her, you'll end up dead," he said.

Every member of the gang turned around to face him.

"Who do ya' think ya' are, threatenin' me?" the gang leader asked.

"I'm not threatening you. I'm warning you."

The boy placed his left hand in his pocket and pointed his right hand forward in a dramatic gesture.

"I'll give you a chance. Leave now, and I'll accept you as weird pranksters. Otherwise, I'll break your faces," he said.

"You'z gonna threaten the boss like that? I'z gonna fuck you up!" one of the thugs shouted.

He swung his baseball bat. It snapped in two midair. At the same time, something invisible hit the punk's face. The baseball bat wielder collapsed to the ground, his head a broken mess.

"What the hell just happened? That thug collapsed, but blondie didn't even move," Reina thought.

"Don't worry. He'll live," the boy said. "But he'll have to spend at least three months in the hospital."

He then looked at the thug.

"No, wait. Make that four."

"You bastard!" another punk shouted.

The four remaining thugs ran forward, baseball bats in hand. Splinters of wood flew through the air as the weapons shattered. Countless invisible hits slammed into the punks.

"Far, far, far, far, far, far, far..." the boy said. "Farvel!"

With that last word, the punks went flying. They crashed into the walls behind Reina. She noticed that the boy hadn't stopped pointing all this time.

"I'd say it's 10 months in the hospital for you guys," he said.

Then, he pulled his right hand back and brushed his hair up.

"Then again, considering how far you flew, maybe you'll be there for a full year?"

Reina stood in stunned silence. The boy's gaze turned to her. She broke out of her trance.

"What just happened?" Reina asked.

She then shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I'm being impolite. You can never forget your manners, no matter how strange the situation. Thank you for saving me," the Hojo girl said.

"Follow me."

The boy's voice caught her attention.

"What?" she asked.

"I know why you followed me. We'll need to settle things," he said.

A pulse of fear flowed through Reina.

"Oh. I was hoping you wouldn't see me," she stated.

The boy pointed to a nearby rooftop.

"This place is a bit used," he said. "Let's go up there."

Wind blew over Reina and the boy. The bottoms of Reina's skirt fluttered while the boy's hair blew back. They stood in the center of the rooftop. There was a large guard rail around the edge.

"You said that you know why I'm following you?" Reina asked.

She hid the fear flowing through her.

"He took out four thugs without even touching them. If he wanted to kill me, he could. I...everything's going so fast. I can hardly believe it," she thought.

"That's right," the boy nodded. "You can see it, can't you? My Sabaton?"

He stood in silence. Reina looked around.

"What's a sabaton?" she wondered.

"It's a type of armored shoe that knights wore," the boy said.

Reina gazed at his feet.

"Your shoes don't look armored to me," she stated.

The boy grimaced.

"It's no use playing dumb. I know you saw it in class yesterday," he said.

"I didn't look at your shoes. And why would I follow someone around just because they had armored shoes?" Reina asked.

"Why would you follow me in secret unless you're an enemy?"

Reina held up her hands so fast it could give you whiplash.

"I'm not an enemy. I promise," she said. "I was just following you to make sure you weren't one."

The boy stood in silence for a moment. Then, he spoke.

"I guess you really can't see him. Now, explain exactly why you're following me," the boy ordered.

"You didn't exactly give a good impression when you disrespected the teacher. But you know the boy you carried to the infirmary yesterday? He's the president of the judo club, and I'm a member. I wanted to see for myself if you're a good or a bad person," Reina explained.

She then took a deep breath.

"After all, I am an ally of justice."

"So, you're working for someone?" the boy asked.

"No. At least, not yet. I want to carry out true justice, justice for the innocent," Reina answered. "When I first heard you say that you wouldn't let anyone tell you what to do, I thought you were an ass. But now, I realize that we might have more in common than I thought. You see, I have a dream."

The boy listened intently. Reina placed her right hand over her heart.

"I want to become a defense attorney! I know that I'll barely win any cases, but too many prosecutors care more about winning than convicting actual criminals! Too many people get thrown in jail for crimes they didn't commit! I want to protect those people!" she declared.

A smile crossed the boy's face.

"That's all I needed to hear. You can go now," he said.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not just leaving!" Reina stated.

"Why not?" the boy asked.

"I just saw you beat up five guys without even touching them! How did you do that?"

The boy waved his hand.

"Explaining things to you would be pointless. You can't see Sabaton," he stated.

"Try me," Reina said. "Even if I don't understand anything you're talking about, I want to know."

"It's not about understanding. It just won't matter if you know."

"I don't care if it doesn't matter! If you saw someone beating someone up without touching them, wouldn't you want to know how they did it?" she asked.

The boy pondered a moment.

"Maybe," he said.

"So, what are you?" Reina questioned.

She circled around the boy. Reina looked at his eyes, his shoulders, his hips, and his arms.

"Are you an esper, a magician, some sort of ki user, what?"

The boy sighed.

"Fine, I'll explain things to you. But not here," he said.

"Why not?" Reina asked.

"Because I'm getting hungry. Let's go to a restaurant, and I'll explain over food," the boy answered.

Reina nodded.

"Alright. But first..."

She bowed.

"My name is Hojo Reina. That's in the Japanese style where the family name is first," she said.

"My name's in the Dutch style where the personal name is first," the boy replied. "It's Joestar. Johan Joestar."