The restaurant wasn't particularly luxurious, but it boasted an enviable atmosphere. The aroma of grilled meat and freshly steamed rice saturated the air, awakening the appetite of anyone nearby. At a table by the window, Derek ate with imperturbable calm, resting one arm on the tablecloth while distractedly watching the movement of the street.
Across from him, his two companions broke the peace of the table. Karura and Hitomi.
"Hehehe… this is a thousand times better than the food back at the mansion," Karura commented, savoring a bite with a mischievous grin.
Hitomi rolled her eyes, though she couldn't suppress a smirk.
"Don't exaggerate. You know perfectly well that the Kure Clan's kitchen is top-tier. You're only saying that because you're eating with my boyfriend."
"Hey, our boyfriend," Karura corrected, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Besides, I'm in a good mood because I don't have to hide him from my family anymore."
"Tch, whatever," Hitomi muttered. She was about to continue the banter when she noticed Derek had gone stony-still. He wasn't touching his plate. His eyes, previously relaxed, had sharpened like blades. "What's wrong, Derek? Don't tell me you lost your appetite all of a sudden."
Derek didn't respond. Instead, he narrowed his eyes toward the entrance of the establishment and licked his lips. It wasn't hunger for food; it was the hunter's instinct detecting a legendary-caliber prey.
Karura arched an eyebrow, but before she could ask, the door swung open.
The air in the restaurant turned thick.
A man of inhuman stature entered the place. He was a mass of compact muscle, blond hair, and a gaze that emanated a savage coldness. Jack Hanma. His mere presence caused several customers to feel a shiver down their spines—a primal fear commanding them to flee.
Jack's eyes scanned the room with mechanical contempt until they anchored on a single point: Derek. A slight, dangerous smile formed on his scarred face.
One step. Then another. The floorboards seemed to groan under his weight.
"Hey, you big idiot," Karura snapped with a gelid tone, her eyes flashing with a dark spark. "What do you want? Can't you see we're on a date?"
Jack ignored her completely. To him, women did not exist; only the figure in front of him did. He watched Derek as if he were standing before a phenomenon of nature.
Derek smirked. Jack's pressure, capable of breaking the will of an average man, felt like nothing more than a light breeze to him.
"Are you lost, or did you just come to admire the scenery?" he asked in a relaxed voice.
Jack finally spoke. His voice was deep and dry, as if his vocal cords were made of sandpaper.
"You look like him."
Derek arched both eyebrows, genuinely surprised. It wasn't what he expected to hear.
Hitomi, losing her patience, huffed: "Speak clearly, you animal. Who is my boyfriend supposed to look like?"
Jack bared his teeth in a predatory grin and uttered a single word, loaded with a strange mixture of hatred and respect:
"Pickle."
In that instant, Derek released his own aura. BOOM. It was as if an invisible sledgehammer had struck the chests of everyone present. The restaurant fell into a sepulchral silence. The customers didn't dare breathe, feeling as if they were trapped in a cage with a prehistoric monster.
However, Jack did not flinch. On the contrary, his pupils dilated and his body vibrated with excitement. "Interesting," the Hanma thought, tilting his head and taking one more step, invading the table's personal space.
Karura leaned back in her chair, her anger transforming into dangerous amusement.
"Oh… so you came looking for a free beating."
Jack didn't even blink at the Kure girl's provocation. He looked Derek in the eye and sentenced:
"Fight me."
Minutes later... the back alley.
Jack stretched his neck. CRACK. CRACK. His muscle fibers tensed like steel cables about to snap under the pressure. Derek stood before him, hands in his pockets, projecting total indifference.
Jack wasn't offended; he was euphoric. His body leaned forward into a charging stance.
BOOM!
Jack vanished from human sight. His fist, a mass of hardened knuckles, flew like a projectile toward Derek's face.
THUD!
The impact shook the alley. The concrete floor cracked under Derek's feet, who had blocked the blow with his forearm without moving the rest of his body a single millimeter.
"Fast…" Jack muttered, his eyes gleaming.
Derek responded with a straight punch to the abdomen. BOOM! The blow buried itself into Jack's abdominal muscles, sending him back a step. The Hanma spat a bit of saliva, but his grin only widened.
The fight exploded into a symphony of violence. Punches, kicks, and blocks that made the walls of the surrounding buildings vibrate. From a distance, Hitomi watched with her arms crossed, a confident smile on her face.
"Hehehe…" Hitomi chuckled.
Karura, however, frowned with a hint of caution.
"It looks… fairly even. That guy isn't normal."
"Nah," Hitomi replied in a relaxed voice. "Derek is just having fun. He's taking it easy so the party doesn't end too soon."
In the center of the conflict, Jack pressed with manic ferocity. His hooks were monstrous, capable of shattering elephant bones. But Derek dodged and countered with surgical precision.
Suddenly, a brutal hook from Jack grazed Derek's cheek, cutting the air with a whistle. Jack paused for a second, his face transforming into a mask of pure competitive rage.
"I see… You're holding back."
Derek sighed, like someone forced to stop playing with a child.
"Damn fighter instincts," he thought.
Jack spat a trail of blood, and his aura turned purely savage.
"You look like him and it sickens me!" he roared in a gravelly tone. "Stop playing and come at me with everything!"
Silence reigned once more. Derek lowered his head slightly, wondering if Jack was referring to his brother or someone else. "I doubt it's my brother; that idiot has barely awakened in this era," he thought.
Derek relaxed his shoulders. A playful smile, yet charged with murderous intent, appeared on his face.
"Since you asked for it…"
When he looked up, Jack Hanma's instincts—forged through thousands of hours of pain and surgeries—screamed a single word: DANGER.
Derek vanished.
BOOM!
A punch buried in Jack's stomach emptied his lungs instantly. Before the Hanma could process the pain, the second blow arrived.
CRACK!
The impact on his jaw lifted his 440-pound frame off the ground. The third was a side-kick that sent him flying against the brick wall.
CRASH!
The concrete shattered. Jack fell to his knees, his vision blurred and his muscles trembling from the hydraulic shock of the impact. Derek stopped in front of him, impeccable, as if he had just taken a stroll through the park.
Jack slowly raised his head… and began to laugh hysterically.
"Hahaha… I get it now."
He spat a blood clot and stood up with superhuman will. His eyes burned with renewed madness.
"You're another monster."
Derek shrugged, walked up to the blond behemoth, and gave him a couple of friendly pats on the shoulder.
"Come on, brother. Next time, don't interrupt a man's meal. It's sacred."
Derek turned around and began walking toward the girls. Karura clapped enthusiastically, jumping on him.
"That was incredible, Derek!"
Jack watched the back of the man who had just humbled him. There was no resignation in his gaze, only absolute determination.
"I will fight you again," Jack declared. "After I get stronger."
Derek smiled without stopping, shaking his head.
"Interesting… But it's a shame. By the time you get stronger, I'll be on a completely different level."
As Jack limped away through the alley, a single idea crossed his mind.
"If this guy is this strong…
'Then Pickle…'
His smile widened.
'This will be fun.'