The current time is 4:00 pm. It was getting late afternoon, with the sky turning golden-orange. Ken walked toward his house and arrived at a quiet residential area. Not long after, six junior high school boys with delinquent appearances and judging by their uniforms, they are not from the school the delinquent boys Ken met this morning. Seeing them, Ken stops in his tracks and recognizes these boys' uniforms and the face of two of them. Seeing Ken's arrival, these boys then walked over to Ken. One of these boys said
"You're Ken, right? The one who beat my friends the other day?”
Ken's expression was flat
"Yep, because they tried to ask me for money forcibly."
This delinquent boy replied
"Oh, I see? You will feel like you shouldn't do that today."
The delinquent boy clenched his fist while saying
"Today, we will teach you a lesson."
The six boys ran towards Ken and were ready to hit him. Ken dodges, parries, and manages to land punches on enemies. However, due to the number of enemies, Ken appeared a little overwhelmed; several times, he was hit on his body, but Ken was able to precisely maintain his stability despite enduring the pain of the enemy attacks managed to hit him. Even so, Ken is still agile by prioritizing to avoid his head from being hit. After a while of fighting, Ken could overthrow all his enemies, who were now unable to stand. Ken himself was breathing heavily.
"I warn you, if you are still looking for trouble with me, I will make you unable to walk next time."
Hearing that appeared to scare Ken's enemies, and Ken then walked away from there.
Ken arrived at his house; he then entered from the front door. Ken closed the door behind him and then took off his shoes.
"I am home."
There is no answer because Ken's mother and father have yet to arrive home. Ken thought to himself.
“Not home yet….”
Ken put his shoes on the shoe rack and then walked to his room on the second floor. Arriving in the room, Ken set his bag on the floor and was about to take off his clothes. Before long, Ken stopped because he felt pain in his body. Ken took off his clothes more carefully and then walked to the front of the mirror.
Ken has quite a lot of bruises on his body, which is also on his arms, the impact of the enemy's blows that have hit him so far, and when he fends off, the enemy attacks. Ken held several bruises on his body, and his face showed that Ken was holding back the pain of the bruises on his body when touched. Ken then walked to the bathroom. After bathing, Ken is now wearing a long-sleeved sweater, not only because it's cold but also to cover the bruises on his body. Ken walked out of his room towards the first floor.
The next day, Ken is now walking to his school. As he was passing through a quiet residential area, he was then intercepted by five male students, of which three were the boy who yesterday bullied another schoolboy who Ken had helped; Ken sighed wearily. Ken walked up to them, after which they also approached Ken. Ken said
“You guys again, even this time you increased your numbers. Isn't that a deterrent?"
One of them replied
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“Heh, you will regret that you underestimated us.”
The five of them ran towards Ken; this time, Ken entered a martial stance and fought his enemy more seriously. After some time of fighting, Ken, who was out of breath, won the fight again; he then just walked away from there.
After Ken's school, the time is now 4:16 pm. Arriving at a T-junction, Ken is intercepted by three male students in other school uniforms, with their facial expressions looking cynical. These three people are wearing maroon sweater vests and dressed neatly but elegantly, different from the boys who Ken previously opposed. They are also junior high school students and are about the same age as Ken. Ken's facial expression showed he was unfamiliar with these three people. Ken let out a long breath languidly.
"Okay, what do you guys want?"
One of them smiled sarcastically; he was Ryo Muramasa, a 2nd-grade junior high schooler like Ken. Ryo replied
“I've heard rumors about your prowess in fighting. That's why I'm here to meet you."
With a straight face, Ken replied
“So… you guys want to find trouble with me or something?”
Hearing that makes Ryo grin.
“Heh, of course not; it's just that you're a perfect match for my strength training. So, until I win, I will not let you go."
Ken's expression turned serious. Ryo smiled slyly
"First, let me introduce myself. I'm Ryo Muramasa; nice to meet you."
Ken replied
“Greetings, I'm Kenshubo Takeru; nice to meet you wait a minute! Don't be casual about it.”
Ryo chuckled with a sly expression
"Don't worry; I won't bore you."
Ken put his hand into his pants pocket.
“You know, I thought you were friends of those delinquents before. But… is it true that you don't know them?”
Ryo smiled
"I don't even know who they are, you mean."
Ken looked surprised
“Whatever, then come forward any time.”
Ryo's two friends moved away, and now only Ryo is dealing with Ken. Unlike Ken, who appeared normal, Ryo's expression turned serious; he entered the martial stance with both fists clenched and pointed forward. Ken looked surprised again.
"Didn't invite all your friends?"
Ryo smiled
"Of course not; they're just curious about you too. Don't compare me to anyone of the delinquents you fought before."
Not long after, Ryo ran forward toward Ken.
Ryo immediately aimed his fist at Ken's face, quickly making Ken surprised with his speed; Ken was lucky to have dodged, only one finger away from his face. Ken thought to himself.
"Very fast?"
Ryo continued his attack; he kicked Ken with his left foot. Ken immediately dodged, and before long, a fist shot towards Ken, surprising him. Ken didn't appear to have expected it. But luckily, with good reflexes, Ken was able to parry it. Ken thought to himself.
“He is different from my opponents so far….”
Ken doesn't want to be left behind. Ken immediately launches his attack while thinking of the next attack to overwhelm the enemy. Ken and Ryo's attacks now collide; they parry each other and launch attacks. They had yet to manage to land an attack.
Ken accelerates his attack movement, which makes Ryo unable to keep up. One blow finally landed on Ryo's face, making Ryo take a few steps back from his position. Ken immediately charged forward to continue his attack and launched kicks and punches. Ryo managed to fend it off, but it didn't last long. Attack after attack Ryo received, he tried to prioritize protecting his vital points. However, the attacks he received finally knocked him down, and now Ryo was crouched to his knees. They both appeared to be out of breath and tried to fix it. Ken said
“I'll admit you're great. With practice, you will surpass me.”
Ryo smiled but also looked annoyed. Ken started walking away from here. Ryo just sees him leaving.
"Today, I admit my defeat, but tomorrow, we'll see."
Ken waved his hand while still walking away and facing his back to Ryo.
The next day, the current time is 6:00 am. Ken just opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep. He was in his bedroom, illuminated by the yellow light from the night lamp on the nightstand beside his bed. Ken was silent, with a sleepy expression, and looked like he was about to fall back asleep. Before long, his alarm went off, causing him to open his eyes again. Ken turned off his alarm clock without looking at it.
“I woke up before the alarm clock again. It feels like I don't need an alarm clock.”
Ken decided to go back to sleep and closed his eyes again.
The time is now 6:30 am, Ken has fallen asleep in his bed, and the morning sun is starting to penetrate the gap in the curtain in the window. Not long after, there was a knock on the door of this room. Ken's mother said
"Wake up, Ken; today, we are going to the main house of the Takeru family."
Hearing that, Ken tried to get up from his sleep. Still lying on his bed, Ken replied
"Yes, Mom, I'm awake."
Ken got up and took a seat. He appeared still sleepy and was trying to gather his senses. After a while, Ken got out of bed and walked out of the room.