"Hurry up guys! The store's not gonna wait for us you bums!"
"It's not my fault he's slowing us down! Get a move on already!"
"Sorry guys it's just- I don't get why everybody's so worried about Space Warriors 5. It's not a limited edition release I'm sure we'll get a copy each."
Both Toro and Joreishi looked at the trembling boy in front of them with a scrutinizing look on their faces. The larger and towering boy Toro raised an eyebrow at Itsu. "Don't give me that crap. Space Warriors 5 is on high demand only losers get left behind. Let's go guys!"
Gulping nervously, Itsu frantically followed after the group of boys running down the street. "Wait up. I'm coming with you guys!"
Yushiro who happened to be standing near the school gate overheard their conversation. About time the highly-anticipated sequel came out. Toro and his friends weren't giving anybody chances, so he had to keep a close lookout for them at the store. All five of them could be waiting for their next victim whilst waiting to get their hands on that game.
"Those douchebags don't scare me." Quietly sprinting in the same direction, Yushiro saw the silhouettes of Toro's group disappear down a few blocks.
Toro and his friends were known for being the merciless bullies in Yushiro's cohort. The number of times they got suspended was abysmal. Nothing could wipe the smirk off Toro's face whenever a kid at school got punched by those brutal fists of his. Someone almost lost a finger during their brawl with Toro. Yushiro's last encounter with Toro didn't go well, he almost got knocked out by that tough elbow. They were supposed to work together as a team but Yushiro and Toro were met with disagreements and a stalling session instead.
In all honesty, Yushiro didn't care if Toro contributed or not, there was minimal effort put into his work. How could someone be so unmotivated? Yushiro had his own problems but he wouldn't go all out and bash someone in the head because of them.
"School can be a turmoil sometimes." Yushiro said to himself quietly as he continued running.
"Hey what's your problem?!" Toro shouted at the green-haired boy who accidentally knocked over the bottle of paint on his table.
"What are you talking about-" Smudged, the green apple that Toro painted turned into a blob of random colors because of the paint from that bottle. Yushiro widened his eyes at the realization, the orange paint slowly washed away the vibrant color tones and background on Toro's hard work.
Admittedly, the painting was visually stunning. Toro had the skills of an artist. It was impressive coming from someone like him.
A splatter of paint landed on Yushiro's face giving him a shock. The green-haired boy nervously watched the towering figure approach him, holding the bottle in his large hands.
"Keep your dirty hands off my table next time! Or there won't be a next time you got that?!"
Yushiro looked around him to see his classmates backing away from the commotion in class, their art teacher had to beg Toro to leave the green-haired boy alone and let her deal with the matter. But Toro insisted on teaching Yushiro a lesson that he'll never forget.
A pair of hands grabbed Yushiro by the collar, lifting him up from the floor. "Maybe I should start by breaking that jaw of yours. How would you like that prick?"
"Put me down!"
"Oh yeah? Than why don't you start by fixing my painting over there? You RUINED it! Don't you understand how much time I spent on that artwork? Just for you to selfishly topple this bottle of paint because you think you're better than me?" Toro clenched his fists, the fingers wrapped around the bottle in his hand crushed it.
"Look I-"
"Because you can't!"
Everybody in the classroom screamed when Toro threw Yushiro at the tables behind him. The green-haired boy crashed into both tables including the seats. He sat up from the floor and held his aching head in pain. Toro lacked the sensibility to even think of the effects such a rowdy decision could inflict on someone, at least Yushiro was still sitting upright, imagine if Toro did that to someone else who didn't have the same level of endurance and strength.
"Toro! Outside now!"
"I warned you twerp."
Yushiro hid behind the stack of crates when he got to the line of stores. Standing right outside the videogame store was Toro and his friends including Itsu who nodded at every word that came out of Toro's mouth.
"Listen up. Keep your voices low, someone might hear us."
"Well there's a possibility that our peers might have already heard our conversation at the school gate just now." One of Toro's friend responded, his teeth were huge and that voice of his wasn't going to do his intentions justice.
Toro stomped towards this friend of his. "That's why I told you guys to keep your voices low. You're not helping. Not at all you think you are but you're not."
"Oh sorry my bad! What was I thinking when I said that? I'd never doubt you boss."
"So are we all in agreement here? We're doing this in order. I'll get a copy first. The rest of you can decide among yourselves."
The storekeeper placed a note on the glass door. Everyone including Itsu turned around and gasped.
"There's only 1 copy left?!" Two of Toro's henchmen yelled in unison.
Joreishi watched Toro take a step towards the glass door. There was nothing he could do to negotiate with Toro, he had already made his decision. It's best not to interfere given what Toro was capable of doing to even the most intimidating of people, the troublemakers of these streets were scared of him too.
And that's why every fight that happens around this part of town always results in either a suspension or weekly after-school detention for Toro's group.
"Yeah that's mine alright."
"Wait-"
Toro stopped in his tracks, he looked at Itsu with an eyebrow raised. The timid boy behind him stepped away when he saw Toro's displeased expression.
"You think this is all about you ain't that right?"
Peeping from the box of crates outside the fruit stall, Yushiro watched Toro and Itsu's confrontation. Things were escalating rather quickly and it wasn't looking good for Itsu. The rest of the boys will do anything Toro tells them to and Itsu was no fighter.
"No it's not what you think- Itsu couldn't get the words out as Toro's huge shadow loomed over him.
"Oh yeah? You're just tagging along. That copy isn't just some miniscule item to you. Itsu you're very good at hiding things, you've been wanting that copy to yourself the whole time!" Toro chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. "Someone's greedy."
Admittedly, Itsu wanted that copy. He too was eager to have the latest sequel of Space Warriors in his possession. Toro unfortunately, was in the way.
"Step aside or you'll be sorry!" A voice spat from behind Itsu. He didn't dare turn around.
"Back off." Toro threatened him.
Itsu continued walking backwards, Toro slowly approached him, curling his fingers into fists. "I said back off!" The large teen yelled.
"Hey leave him alone you dorks!"
Toro and his friends spun around. Itsu froze when he heard that voice.
"Oh look who we have here." Toro sneered.
Yushiro ran over to Itsu and pulled him away from Toro and his friends. They laughed at him and mocked him for stepping into their lane. Toro rambled about Yushiro's stubbornness among his group; The green-haired boy was asking for trouble again, he was so persistent on it. All the five boys found it hilarious since Yushiro and Itsu stood no chance if they wanted to have another brawl.
"This is getting interesting. You made a terrible mistake." Clenching his fists, Toro stood right in front of Yushiro and Itsu with that familiar smirk on his face. Yushiro grit his teeth, he couldn't blink these guys were sneaky.
"Oh seems like this guy wants this new game too." The boy with the shades dangling from his collar sneered.
"He's not getting it not ever. It rightfully belongs to boss!"
Yushiro glanced at Toro's friends standing behind their leader. "You're right about that." He replied cooly to the boy with the shades.
The veins on Toro's forehead and fists were about to pop out of his skin. "Oh think you're tough huh?"
Itsu noticed Yushiro gesturing for him to get ready.
Toro dashed towards them, raising his fist high up in the air. "HAVE A LOAD'A THIS!"
Keeping his balance, Yushiro shoved Itsu to the side and leaped away from the spot where he stood as Toro's fist bashed through the concrete leaving a huge crack in the middle of the street.
The rest of the boys started throwing fists and punches at Yushiro who ducked down at every attempt of theirs to knock him to the ground, shoving a fist in their direction consecutively as a form of retaliation. With how fast their punches kept coming, the green-haired boy was surprised that he managed to keep up with the pace.
When Joreishi and two others started closing in on him, Yushiro punched one of them directly at the side of the face leaving the others pressured by the weight of their efforts. Yushiro and Itsu were outnumbered but they still managed to get through this.
A blurry figure appeared in front of Yushiro, taking over their fallen teammate's place. Toro was about to crush Yushiro with both hands when the green-haired boy hopped in the air and stepped on Joreishi's head, causing him to stumble and fall in between Toro's clawed hands.
"Dammit stay out of my way!" Toro yelled, accidentally crushing Joreishi with his hands. The teen fell to the ground in a dizzy state while Toro and the others continued duking it out with Yushiro who had the upper hand now that two of Toro's henchmen were down.
"He's sneaky!"
Toro hissed at his friend, "Who cares go get him you numbskulls!"
A large group of people started gathering around them, screaming and whispering among themselves. Some even tried warning the boys to stop the fight but none of the boys listened to them, they just carried on with the fight.
While Toro and his friends were distracted by their ongoing argument, Yushiro used this chance to deal a final blow that will teach them for good.
"Itsu stay here. Don't go anywhere." Yushiro told the frightened boy who nodded with a confused look on his face. "We gotta get out of here before any teacher sees us."
Yushiro sprang up and twist his body in the air. He stuck out his leg once he was a few inches away from Toro's neck.
Just when Toro was about to turn around and swing his fist at the incoming figure, Yushiro struck the side of his neck with his foot, sending the larger teen flying to the ground. His two friends scurried over to where he laid in panic.
"Boss are you alright?!"
"Say something boss! We won't let him get away with this!"
Grabbing Itsu's arm, Yushiro pulled him away from the scene. The people who were gathering outside the video game store watched as the two boys got away before anyone could identify who they were.
"What are you guys doing?!" Toro yelled at his two friends. "Don't just stand there go after them!"
At that very instance, the two boys started running after Yushiro and Itsu, with Toro getting up from the floor and catching up with his friends.
Meanwhile, Yushiro and Itsu were talking about the new game and Itsu's decision to hangout with Toro and his group of all people. Itsu wasn't sure why he made such an absurd choice but he really wanted to get that game as well.
"Yeah I don't know what got to me, I guess I'm really looking forward to playing the new sequel. Who would've thought Toro had such a short temper, it must be hard being friends with the guy." Itsu continued on.
"Really Itsu? Everybody knows Toro has anger issues. Yet you still decided to hangout with him."
"Toro isn't the type of person to change is he?"
"Good question. He hasn't learned his lesson, so I guess it'll take more than that to get him to change."
"He's filled with rage. That's what's getting him into a lot of trouble."
Yushiro fell silent when he heard footsteps approaching behind them.
"Itsu follow me they're gaining on us."
The two boys saw a narrow alleyway at the side of the street, they immediately made a right turn and hid against the wall while Toro and his friends continued running ahead. Passing by the quiet alleyway where Yushiro and Itsu were hiding.
"Phew that was close." Yushiro said quietly.
Both he and Itsu peeped from the wall to see if the coast was clear. Since there were no signs of Toro and his friends returning to the spot, both Yushiro and Itsu quietly walked out and ran across the street to a different part of town.
This part of town was busier during this time of the day. Yushiro made sure to keep a lookout for Toro and his friends they could be just about anywhere.
Standing outside the large cinema was a violet-haired girl looking at the movie posters on the wall. "Hmmm which movie should I watch this weekend? It's hard to choose."
Footsteps started approaching her direction, Shinobu glanced over her shoulder and saw Yushiro and Itsu running towards her. They seemed troubled by something.
"Let's hope we don't bump into them here!" Yushiro shrieked, stopping right in front of Shinobu who crossed her arms, displeased by this behavior of theirs.
"Yeah well you almost bumped into me! Just what exactly are you guys trying to do here? Stop asking for trouble." Shinobu replied firmly. This isn't the first time she crossed paths with Yushiro while he and his friends were attempting to escape from some dispute.
Yushiro stepped away, he wasn't expecting to see Shinobu during their escape from Toro's wrath. Luckily, the person they stumbled upon was the violet-haired girl and not a teacher. She probably wouldn't care about their problems but it's best if he convinced her not to tell anyone about what happened, moreover their whereabouts since Toro was still on the loose.
Looking away sheepishly, Yushiro spoke, "Well you see... we got ourselves into a fight with Toro and he's not happy with the outcome."
"Of course he isn't if something terrible happened along the way, what did you do Yushiro?"
"I kicked him in the neck really hard, like face to the ground hard."
Shinobu was speechless, who would've thought Yushiro would be able to do such a thing. But still, this was Toro we're talking about. No wonder he and Itsu were running for their lives.
"At least he finally learned his lesson!" Itsu piped up.
"Hopefully." Yushiro responded in an annoyed tone. Itsu was too naive for his own good.
"You guys are such a pain in the neck!" Shinobu shrieked.
"Say all you want Shinobu at least we defeated our school's renowned psycho." Yushiro approached the row of movie posters on the wall while Itsu shrugged and followed him.
The violet-haired girl watched the two boys admiring the posters in front of them.
"Hey Battle for the Cosmos is back!" Yushiro gleamed at the spaceships, blasters, and planets on the poster.
"About time!" Itsu added.
"We've got Rise of the Mesozoic and Plutoman too." The two boys stared at both posters for a while, one featuring a picture of a jeep and a green tyrannosaurus rex in a jungle and the other a man in a superhero costume flying over the city.
"These movies sound interesting." Shinobu added, standing beside the two boys who nodded in agreement. "I can't wait to watch the new Cosmos movie. It's been a while. The last movie left us on a huge cliffhanger."
"Yeah they've got some explaining to do." Yushiro made a poker face.
Putting up a smile afterwards, Yushiro turned around with a hint of excitement. "I'll see you guys during the weekend!" He chimed to which both Shinobu and Itsu nodded. It was settled. They were delving into the Cosmos, Mesozoic, and Heroic Adventures this weekend.