May 17, 2013…

As night fell in the Aoi country, a nearby city close to downtown awakened. Lampposts lit up the sidewalks as drunken men and women dressed in revealing clothing roamed the streets. Cigars and alcohol lingered in the air as adults cheered and laughed throughout the night. Women stood next to brothels, persuading and seducing men for their services.

Although only adults were present, some teenagers tried to act rebellious and join in those activities.

A young couple strolled down the street after leaving the cinema.

“That movie was so good! Don’t you think babe?”

The movie they watched was Tales of Two, a romantic story about a young couple who were forced to separate during childhood and reunited after many challenges and hardships.

“It was good. Thanks again ‘bae for taking on this date.”

The young man flustered from her appreciation. Inspired by the seductive environment and watching the movie, the young man felt comfortable.

While walking through the street, he spotted an empty alley nearby.

“Come over here.” The young man suggested. He quickly grabbed the girl’s wrist, dragging her into the alley to a more private area.

“Hey, wait!” she jokingly said, unaware of where he was taking her. The girl didn’t have a choice but to follow him.

After entering the dark alley, the boy smoothly pressed his girl against the stone wall. He slowly closed in on her, puckering his lips and closing his eyes.

His girl was caught off guard as his lips touched hers. She felt the warm sensation from the kiss and allowed it to continue as they got intimate.

The boy’s hand slowly made its way under her shirt.

As they were enjoying themselves, a cunning voice stopped them in their track.

“Must be nice… doing that with your partner,” The figure nagged with a sinister chuckle. Their voice was raspy and male. He lurked in the shadows, unable to see his figure.

The mysterious man looked down at the boy’s waist. Strapped along the boy’s waist, a sword dangled on the boy’s waist. He further inspected the boy, seeing a Noye marking on the boy’s arm.

“Nice weapon you got there. Hehe. Hopefully, you can make this entertaining.”

Suddenly, the figure’s eyes emerged from the darkness, glowing orange.

“Ahh!”

The sounds of flesh slashing covered the area as the couple screamed in despair as the night went on.

___

The following morning, as the sun began to peek over the horizon, Surata and Koroki made their way back to school.

During their homeroom class, Ishio arrived at the campus and headed to the principal's office. As he walked towards the door, he heard many noises.

He opened the door and stumbled upon a grown woman, panicking.

“Crap. Crap. Crap.” Her tanned skin showed her darker complexion. The one strand that fell from her wavy, thin black hair with ocean-blue highlights blocked her vision. The other side of her head was clipped by hairclips, letting her clumsy yet somewhat professional personality shine.

The principal's office was extremely messy, filled with scrunched-up pieces of paper and documents scattered around.

That’s how it normally looked like. Ishio always caught her knocking something over or causing a mess. And every time it happened, Ishio was always disappointed, like a big brother-little sister relationship.

The pile of documents was most likely her fault. Ishio looked disgusted towards the principal at the sight of the mess.

Hearing the door open, she tried to think of a response to the mess, “Ishio! Listen, I can explain. You see, I was in the middle of…”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” responded Ishio, agitated.

She pouted at his rude response. Afterwards, her face relaxed as she regained her composure. “So Ishio, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Principal Tsume, can you-”

Principal Tsume immediately cut Ishio off. “I told you already. You don’t have to be so formal, idiot.”

Ishio let out a sigh, trying to respect her title. “Alright… Tsume.”

Principal Tsume grinned happily, feeling a warm sensation in her body from hearing Ishio addressing her correctly.

Ishio continued. “Could it be possible if I could be a teacher again?”

Ishio wasn’t an official teacher. He showed up yesterday to act as a substitute. Since it was him who requested it, the school allowed it. However, he knew he couldn’t just keep doing that. Principal Tsume sat to think about Ishio's offer.

She exclaims, “Ishio, your family is one of the 3 strongest clans in this world. You shouldn’t be a teacher anymore ever since that incident. That’s what you told me, and that’s also why you left, right?”

“…” Ishio chose not to answer, standing in silence, quietly glancing away from her.

“After losing many of your comrades and past students, you strayed away to put anyone else in danger. What made you change your mind?

Ishio momentarily recalled the students he once taught and the comrades he fought alongside. Many of his past comrades were childhood friends.

Afterwards, Ishio cleared his mind, determined. He smiled softly, exposing his dimples, and responded with these simple words: “It’s because I have hope.”

Principal Tsume was left there, dazed. With his adoring gaze, Tsume stood there, pushing up her glasses, wondering if she had heard correctly. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Ishio refused to respond as he stood in deep thought, with his eyes closed and exposing a faint smile. It was like his soul had traveled to a different world, his body an empty vessel.

Feeling left out with no explanation, Tsume was flustered. Her childish side showed as she tugged on his top, bugging Ishio to explain his answer, pouting.

Constantly whining and bugging wasn’t enough to wipe away Ishio’s expression. In the end, she never got the answer she wanted.

Tsume then let out a sigh. “Alright, Ishio. I don’t know why you want to be a teacher again, but you seem to have a reason to. Since you're asking, I’ll let you teach again.”

Ishio’s face rose with joy in his eyes. “Thank you, Tsume. I really appreciate it.”

Tsume calmly smiled, trying not to blush from his appreciation towards her.

Ishio faced the door and headed towards it, eager to prepare for his class as a teacher. “I’ll see you later, Tsume. I look forward to working with you again.”

“That’s my line.”

___

At the same time as this interaction, the students were talking amongst each other in their classrooms. Surata sat talking amongst his friends who invaded his seat.

“Did you finally ask Karla out, Ichiro?” asked Daiki as he bumped Ichiro’s shoulders, raising his eyebrow with a smirk.

“I did, but she rejected me! She told me that she had a boyfriend.” Ichiro blubbered, feeling heartbroken for the millionth time. “But that’s a lie! I haven’t seen her around any guy in school.”

Daiki comforted Ichiro, mentioning, “Yeah, man, she just used that excuse so you can stop bothering her. She doesn’t have a boyfriend. She tried asking me out a couple of days ago, but I rejected her.”

Ichiro eyes almost popped out of his socket, in shock. He blurted out, “Huh, why!?”

“Because I’m not looking for a girl right now.”

Ichiro gritted his teeth, clenching his fist angrily. “You’re so lucky!”

Surata chuckled at Ichiro’s anger as Daiki continued to tease Ichiro.

After teasing Ichiro long enough, Daiki looked towards Koroki. Koroki sat at the windowsill, alone, staring off into the distance. “Hey Surata, how come Koroki is sitting over there and not at his desk?”

Surata replied, with an assumption in mind. “He isn’t used to being around so many people. He probably saw you guys surround my desk and went to get some space. He did get a lot of attention yesterday, so he probably wants to be alone for a bit.”

Daiki and Ichiro glanced at each other, their eyes darkening with sadness. “Dang, I wanted to be friends with him.”

Surata quickly noted, “Don’t worry, he’s just a little shy.”

Minutes went by, and Ms. Shirai arrived at class.

“Good morning class. Before class starts, I want to inform you that there will be an assembly later today.” She said strolling to her desk with her hand filled with paper.

The students' curiosity was piqued. It was the first assembly of the new school year, and everyone in the class was a first-year student, so they didn’t know what to expect. They gossiped with each other, trying to gather ideas about the reason for the assembly.

“Oh man, I wonder what this assembly’s about.” exclaimed a student.

“It’s probably going to be about an upcoming test.” Another replied.

The student spoke so loudly that the entire class overheard it. The word “test” triggered a change in the room’s aura, making the area gloomy. Nobody liked to take tests. They were the worst part of school, next to homework.

Ms. Shirai stared at her students, closing her eyes with a forced grin, unable to change their mood. She then noticed Koroki sitting alone at the windowsill. He continued to stare outside, blocking out the noise in the room.

Looking worried, she walked up to him. “Hey, Koroki. Class is about to start. You should go back to your seat.”

Koroki nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know.”

Ms. Shirai smiled awkwardly at Koroki. “Listen, I know you’re still new here, but try to get along with everyone else.”

Koroki refused to engage in social activities as he wasted his time staring off into the distance or just sleeping.

“Alright, Mom. I’ll be sure to do the dishes later too.” Koroki replied using sarcasm as his way to end the conversation, still looking away from her.

Ms. Shirai half-heartedly chuckled, trying to keep her composure. “Ha, I’m not your mother, I’m your teacher.”

It wasn’t long until the bell rang, and class had started.

___

After their classes had finished, the students gathered outside on the school’s ground floor, waiting for the assembly to start.

Surata stood in front of the crowd with his friends, anticipating what was to come.

“So Surata, what do you think this is about?” Daiki curiously whispered with his hand.

“I don’t know, but it has to be something important,” Surata exclaimed.

As Surata chatted with his friends, he slowly glanced over his shoulder to Koroki.

Koroki stood next to Surata, with his dead eyes, looking uninterested as he leaned back with his crossed arms behind his head. His constant yawning showed his boredom with the assembly.

A few minutes later, the teachers arrived at the assembly. The idling stopped as the students felt the powerful energy in the air.

The teachers, each with a different personality and appearance, headed towards the large fountain and lined up in front of it, facing the students. Shortly following them, Principal Tsume marched towards the fountain. She stood in front of the teachers, enforcing her status. Since everyone was present, Principal Tsume cleared her throat and proceeded to shout. “Hello, everyone! I am the principal of this school, Principal Tsume. Thank you for coming!”

The students cheer sarcastically, wary of the assembly being about exams. Tsume tilts her head, catching on to their expressions. “What’s with the gloomy mood here? What did your teacher tell you guys?”

The students refused to respond. Their slouched and frowned expressions alerted Tsume. The standstill crowd made the air uncomfortable.

“Wow, what a dead crowd,” she mumbled. “Anyways, today we have a special announcement! The annual “Tournament of Heart” is coming up.”

“Tournament of Heart?”

The students stood there bewildered, scratching their heads and fidgeting around. They were first years, so it made sense that they were confused. However, Surata couldn’t contain his excitement.

Tsume explained herself. “For those that don’t know, it’s a tournament organized by every Noye school in the world. This means that you lovely children will be battling it out against the other schools to find out which school is the strongest. And based on your performance, you could be granted with your very own Noye License.”

The students clapped and shouted with uncontainable excitement. They would be able to show off and improve their skills before becoming future Shikaris.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“The Tournament of Heart? The same one which Father had won before? If I win this tournament, I can be one step closer to my goal!” Surata’s determination had reinforced his mindset, fixating on winning this tournament.

On the other hand, Koroki smacked his lips, looking away from Principal Tsume. He frowned, displeased by the whole thing. “A tournament? Really? Doesn’t anyone have anything else better to do than waste their time on something like that?”

“This tournament will be held in 3 months.” Principal Tsume turned her attention to the teachers behind her. “To help you train, you will be assigned to groups of 3 with a teacher. The teachers will be the ones to determine the groups, so look forward to that in the next couple of days.”

The students chattered excitedly amongst themselves, their voices filling the atmosphere with a lively buzz.

“Our own personal teacher,” Daiki cheerfully exclaimed. “I hope I don’t get Mr. Latro.”

“I want Nurse Hapi as my teacher.” Ichiro blushed, as his face flustered.

Daiki exasperated, holding the urge to facepalm. “You idiot. She isn’t a teacher.”

Principal Tsume’s speech was concluding as she suggested, “So, make sure you practice and beat the living crap out of the other schools.” Her voice suddenly deepened, the aura emanating around her turning dark and serious. "If you don't, expect a whole month's worth of exams." The students were visibly scared, their apprehension showing as they dreaded the thought of upcoming exams.

“Just kidding! Ha-ha,” Principal Tsume laughed, reverting to her usual persona.

Just like that, the assembly ended, and the boys continued attending school until the final bell rang.

___

After finishing their classes, the sound of the final bell echoed throughout the building. The students cheered loudly, ready to return home.

They hurriedly walked through the gym’s door, chatting. Surata stayed longer to help clean the class and put the gym equipment away. His heart was pumping with excitement, and he couldn't stand still.

“The Heart of Tournament! A tournament where the strongest compete to become a Shikari! I wonder what kind of guys I’m going to be fighting against! Wow! I’m so excited, I can’t relax! I need to train harder!”

While cleaning, he spotted Koroki heading towards the door. “Hey, Koroki. I’m going to stay and train some more. Do you want to stay and help me?”

“I’m good. Yesterday was enough. What more do you need?”

“Huh? You barely trained me!” Surata quickly recollected his memory of their training yesterday. “We sparred only twice! You easily won both times… and then you went back to sleep!”

“Well… you know the saying. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Surata began to get angry, his nerves ticked from catching those strays. “What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“Listen, you’re better off training the way you are. I’m not a good teacher, so I can’t help much.” Koroki waved Surata goodbye, leaving the gym. “I’ll see you home.”

Surata’s nerves calmed down. “I don’t understand Koroki. How is someone that strong, but so weak-minded?”

Without help, Surata trained himself once again at school as Koroki headed home.

___

The sun shone across the city of Heiwa. It was before rush hour, so the streets weren’t flooding with pedestrians and cars.

Koroki strolled down the sidewalk, relaxed as usual, on his way home to relax and enjoy himself.

“Everyone looks excited about this tournament. I don’t see the point in it. Why is everyone trying to become stronger? Eh, whatever. It doesn’t matter. All I care about is hopping on that couch.”

During his stroll, he noticed police cars parked nearby, close to an alley. He overheard indistinct voices coming from the alley, which sparked his curiosity.

“What’s going on in there?”

Koroki proceeded to walk forward. He turned his head towards the suspicious alley.

The entrance to the alley appeared to be blocked by yellow "caution" tape. Inside, he stumbled upon a couple of men in suits who were writing in their small notebooks. Next to them, more men in police uniforms were examining a dead body.

In cases like that, that wasn’t Koroki’s business. It could just be a simple crime. Crime like that happened anywhere. He only wanted to peek.

“Oh, it’s just a normal murder scene. I thought it was something more interesting.”

He didn’t know anything and wanted no part in it, so he didn’t budge. That was his mindset. But he couldn’t help but overhear the loud police officers chatting.

“Poor kid. This is the seventh one this week.” A police officer noted, examining the body with one knee.

“I know. And every victim always has the same cut on their body.” Another added.

Koroki’s eyebrows squinted for a moment. “Huh? Same cut on their bodies? Why would they have the exact cuts?”

Maybe it was not an ordinary murder. Normally, killers kill their victims without worrying about where they cut them. However, this killer seemed to like killing them in the same spot.

Koroki’s interest piqued even more. “Maybe this is more interesting than I thought.” He slowly leaned against the alley’s wall, outside the entrance. He didn’t want the officers to see him.

The paramedics were nowhere in sight, so he hid in plain sight and waited until the officers left the scene.

“Alright, I’ll call the paramedics to get rid of the body.” The officer offered.

“With the amount of calls they’re getting, I don’t think they will arrive soon.”

Interrupting their small talk, another voice spoke raspy from the officer’s walkie-talkie. “Officer Willy. Officer James. We have another possible dead body located in the Tiron district. Repeat, another possible dead body located in the Tiron district. Requesting to bring the detectives as well, over.”

“Another one? We are really working overtime here.” The officers complained. “Come on detectives, we have another body to investigate.” The detectives obeyed their command and headed for the police cars.

It wasn’t long until the police officers and detectives chatted their way into their cars and drove off.

After they left, Koroki took the opportunity to investigate himself. He casually lifted the yellow tape and ducked underneath, entering the scene.

The alley got darker the more he entered it.

The surrounding buildings prevented light from entering. Trash fell from the overfilled dumpsters, while rats ran around, taking shelter. The lingering smell of flesh and garbage filled Koroki’s nostrils.

Despite the disgusting environment, Koroki ignored it, immune to the smell, as his eyes were fixated on the body.

He slowly approached the dead body. The dead young male body was covered in blood and swarmed by bugs. The man had his clothes removed, along with his accessories. There was a deep slash from his chest down to his waist, cutting through the tissue. Koroki inspected the man’s face, noticing a cut on his cheek. This victim had the letter “Y” carved into their skin.

Koroki spat on the ground, annoyed, uttering, “What a waste of time.”

“What’s a waste of time?” a voice responded. Its voice was flat, rid of any emotions.

“Huh?! Who said that!?” Koroki quickly put up his guard, wondering how he didn’t notice their presence.

Koroki carefully searched for the voice. He stumbled upon a girl sitting on the fire escape staircase in front of him, hiding herself with her knees.

The girl appeared to be about the same age as Koroki. Her clothes were dirty, including a black crop top, and baggy grey cargo pants. Her scent was disturbing.

Her wavy dark green hair, with bangs hanging over her eyebrows, was cut like a jellyfish. It stretched down, resting slightly above her chest. Her dark-brown eyes, dead, soulless, dark brown eyes glared at Koroki.

Why was this young girl sitting on the staircase, let alone around this crime scene? Did she know the deceased person? That would be the only reason Koroki can think of.

“What’s a waste of time?” She repeated, irritated like she was just ignored.

Noticing the young girl, he relaxed. She looked like she was harmless and had no ill intentions.

“This entire thing. Why’d they do this? To steal? Or have fun playing with people? That’s what I mean by waste of time.”

“What’s wrong with stealing?”

“I didn’t say that was wrong.”

“Huh?” Her brain couldn’t comprehend the words that came out of Koroki. She expected the natural response of someone saying stealing was bad. That’s what everyone was taught and was known to society as a bad thing. Maybe she heard him wrong. “So… what he did… isn’t wrong?”

Koroki deeply gazed at the dead body. “I don’t know. I don’t understand the whole carving fetish thing, but I can understand the stealing part.”

“Wh- What do you mean?”

“People steal for a lot of reasons. Some do it to survive, and some do it for just straight pleasure.” Koroki shifted his dull eyes to the girl. “I don’t know why they did it, but until I understand, I can’t say if it was wrong or not.” His eyes held no lies in them.

“…” The girl was left speechless. Her eyes dilated, glistening as though they saw light for the first time. She could feel the sincerity in his words.

After a moment of silence, Koroki turned around, casually waving his hand up. “Anyways, Imma head out. Just wasted my time. ‘Later.” Koroki, with his unique walk, strolled back to the street, leaving the girl behind.

The girl sat there in deep thought reminiscing what Koroki had said earlier:

(I don’t know why they did it, but until I understand, I can’t say whether it was wrong or not.)

___

Koroki would soon make it home. He quickly removed his boots and headed straight for the couch. He flopped onto the couch like how a tired man who worked a 12-hour shift returned home. He slacked off for a while, watching television and taking naps. As time went by, Surata returned from his after-school training. “I’m home!” Surata heard the television in the living room

“Yo,” murmured Koroki.

“Hey, so I was thinking. We should go shopping.” offers Surata.

“That’s so boring.” Koroki lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Why do you want me to go?”

Trying to avoid another kidnapping, bringing someone along would be safer. Also, this would be a great way to get closer to Koroki. With that in mind, Surata suggests, “We can get you some more popsicles.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot. A new limited-edition strawberry shortcake flavor came out. And it’s only out for today!” Koroki should have enough money from saving up the allowance money he got from Ishio.

Without hesitation, Koroki gave in to Surata’s bribing, his attitude completely changing: “You know what? Sure, why not.”

To attack a strong opponent is to find his weakness. Koroki’s self-discipline toward sweets was his weakness, and Surata was well aware of that.

Koroki’s thoughts watered with excitement. “Let me get my wallet.”

As Koroki reached into his pocket to get his wallet, his pocket was empty. He instantly patted down his entire body, then searched around the room desperately, through every crevice and cranny--but no luck.

The last time he remembered having it was after school. Using that knowledge, he realized he could have dropped it near the crime scene.

“I’ll be right back,” Koroki exclaimed, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To find my wallet! I’ll be back.” Without wasting a second, Koroki darted through the door and hurried out of the house to retrieve his wallet.

___

The sun was still shining across the city, but nightfall soon came.

Returning to the alley, Koroki retraced his steps and searched for any clues. Both the girl and the dead body were gone. The paramedics must have picked the body up.

So, he checked the empty alley, checking every corner, pile, and crevice. He searched and searched until he gave up. He had no luck.

“Damn it! This is my only chance to get this popsicle before it’s sold out. Where is it!?”

Koroki decided to go near the end of the alley, hoping his wallet was there. That was his last chance to find it.

While searching through the trash, a familiar voice interrupted him. “Um…what are you doing?”

The voice felt familiar, but he couldn’t match the face to the voice. Focused on searching, he replied, “I’m tryna to find my wallet.”

Koroki turned around and glanced at the voice. “It’s you.”

Somehow, not remembering the voice, he realized it was the girl from the alley.

Her voice and appearance were entirely different. Her melodic voice exuded a sense of smoothness and warmth, while her eyes glimmered with happiness, squinting slightly with the overflow of joy.

Her scent smelt fresher, and her clothes looked clean as if they had been recently bought. She had received a total makeover.

“Where did she get all of this from? She didn’t look like she had money earlier.” Surprised by her appearance, his suspicion grew. “What’s with the new clothes? Looks like you just stole them.”

“You like it? It was kinda expensive. By the way, I didn’t steal them. I bought them.”

Koroki subtly tilted his head. “Bought them? With what money?”

Bragging about her quote-on-quote “wealth”, she boasted, “With the money, you’re your wal-”

She quickly realized that her tongue slipped out. She instinctively covered her mouth with her hands. However, she had already exposed the truth.

On the bright side, at least Koroki found out where his wallet was. However, this slight sense of relief couldn’t contain the ticking anger building up in Koroki’s body. As a result, Koroki grew furious. His teeth clenched as he felt the heat rising in his face. “It was you! Give me back my money! I need it for the new limited-edition strawberry shortcake popsicle.”

“What, no way! Finders’ keepers.”

Koroki’s blood boiled, feeling irritated by her mocking comment. “Give it back, or I’m gonna take it by force.”

Koroki was a laid-back individual who preferred not to waste his energy unless of an emergency. And to get his sweets, this was an emergency.

“Take it? You’re going to undress a girl?” provoked the girl, intimately covering her body.

Koroki’s minimal interaction with females showed as his face quickly blushed red out of embarrassment, avoiding eye contact with her. “Huh!? No, I wouldn’t do that-”

Thump!

With a swift motion, she aimed a high kick at Koroki, hoping to catch him off guard. Koroki’s eyes widened, but his body reacted instinctively. He lifted his left hand just in time, feeling the powerful impact of her kick resonate through his arm. The force of it nearly made him stagger, but he held his ground, locking eyes with her.

His eyes narrowed as he lifted his head up. “Woah, hold on. You wanna fight me?”

“Yeah. I’m not giving this back to you.” The girl replied, her voice becoming firmer, and her unwavering eyes fixated on Koroki.

The tension escalated among the kids, creating the feeling that a battle was about to erupt.

“That money better have been important.”

“Better with me than with you.”

Koroki’s grip on her leg weakened. She quickly retracted her foot and leapt back, creating a gap between herself and Koroki. After pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she gathered her strength and charged toward Koroki with determined focus.

His opponent was female, so he decided to go easy on her. Hurting her too badly would ruin his image. So, his plan was to play defense and make her tired.

Her fighting style was unlike anything he had ever seen. The way she struck repeatedly, with such power and speed, was almost mesmerizing, as if she was self-taught.

Each time Koroki managed to block a kick or a punch, the girl swiftly countered with a quick and relentless attack, leaving Koroki with no time to gather his thoughts. Despite not having time to think, Koroki maintained his composure and continued to maneuver, appearing unfazed.

Her jaw clenched as her eyebrows furrowed lower than usual. “Ugh, why can I land a punch?!”

Out of pure frustration, realizing her disadvantage, her eyes suddenly glowed dark green.

Koroki's eyes widened in shock as he stood frozen in place, arms raised in a defensive block. The girl's aura expanded rapidly. The pressure from her Noye became almost palpable as it weighed down on him.

“A green Noye!? She uses it too?” Even though it was unexpected, he did not think highly of it. As long as he blocked her attacks, his plan would still work.

After activating her Noye, she threw another high kick. The weight of her attacks felt more powerful.

“Her attacks got stronger!” Koroki stepped back, feeling the effects of her attacks, trying to assess the situation.

The girl had no fighting experience, so her plan was to stay on the attack. She did not hold back; she was determined to win this fight.

She rushed Koroki and unleashed her barrage of strikes. Koroki’s stamina slowly depleted as his hands and legs bruised up from the blocks. His limbs grew tired.

Eventually, the girl managed to evade Koroki’s blocks and found an opening. She quickly spun around and extended her leg, delivering a heavy spinning side kick to Koroki’s stomach.

Koroki spat out blood as the force of the kick sent him stumbling backward.

“I wasn’t expecting this. Guess she was serious about the money.” He held his stomach, wiping the blood from his face. A half-smile sneakily leaked out of his face. “Things just got a little more interesting.”

Realizing how strong his opponent was, Koroki finally took it seriously. He took his stance, and the battle went from a one-sided battle to a straight brawl. They went back and forth, exchanging punches and kicks.

Koroki would deliver a fast punch to her stomach, and she would immediately counter with a kick of her own. The two spat out saliva, growing tired as the battle continued. As they engaged in combat, the young girl's mind continuously wandered.

She carefully examined every move of Koroki's body, attempting to discern any change in his eyes or locate any distinctive markings, yet even as they dodged and parried, she found no such sign.

“He can fight me without his Noye? Where is his mark? Why won’t he use it? Does he even have it? Who is this guy?”

After a few more blows, their energy level rapidly depletes. They charged at each other with all the strength they had left.

Bam!

They threw their final punch, which collided in a powerful clash. Their fists struck each other’s jaws simultaneously. The force sent them both sprawling to the ground, gasping for breath.

Both were exhausted, trying to catch their breath. While tired, the girl’s resonating green eyes pulsated back into her original dark-brown color. They had no more strength to continue, so their fight ended in a stalemate.

Koroki gasped while lying on the ground, propping himself up with his arms and gazing up at the sky. “You’re… pretty good… for a broke girl.”

The girl face-planted onto the ground, her hair partially covering her face. She slowly lifted her head to brush away the strands blocking her view. “And you’re… pretty good… for a pink-haired perv.”

Koroki’s face immediately turned red. “Huh… what did you call me?”

The two stare at each other for a moment. They could not take their situation seriously as they laughed.

Two children were brawling in an alley over some money, leaving them lying in the alley’s filth. What could be more absurd than that?

The girl kindly asked Koroki. “What’s your name?”

“Koroki, you?”

“Yorui.”

Their gasping stopped as their breathing returned to normal. Yorui gathered her strength to sit up. “Hey, sorry about the money. I would give it back, but I already gave the rest away.”

“It’s fine. I can deal without it. So, what made you want to live like this?” Koroki sarcastically asks.

“It isn’t really a choice. I’m just trying to survive. It’s eat or be eaten out here, and I prefer to eat. But I also let others eat too. I don’t like being selfish all the time.”

Her words were sincere and filled with sympathy. Koroki understood her situation. Seeing the person she was, Koroki picked himself back up with a faint smile. “Alright, I’m gonna head out.”

Yorui sat on the ground with her mouth widened, perplexed. “Huh, you’re actually letting me keep it?”

Koroki rotated his arm, stretching his sore muscles. “I already ate enough, so I don’t mind letting good people eat too. It looks like you need it more than me anyway, so keep it. Think of it as a gift.”

Koroki chuckled as he sarcastically added, “Probably should’ve bought food instead of clothes tho’.”

Yorui smacked her lips, annoyed by his comment.

Koroki turned his back as he walked away. “Just remember. Instead of stealing my money, you could have just asked.”

Yorui stood motionless, her gaze locked on Koroki. His words gripped her heart, causing it to skip a beat after another. It felt like someone confessing their love. Her cheeks puffed up as she blushed.

Koroki waved her goodbye and casually leaned his head on his lifted arms as he headed home.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he left Yorui alone in the alley. She couldn't stop thinking about Koroki's words on both occasions. Her heart fluttered at the thought of him. This was a first for her.

While she sat there in the alley, a shadow appeared to be lurking in the dark corner, overhearing their conversation. It stood there, its eyes suddenly lighting up orange in the darkness as it stared at Koroki and the girl. With unknown intent, it cockily laughed in the distance, scheming something that would soon be revealed.

___