Chapter 26: Battle Crazy and Bubblegum
(Or: That Time the Berserker Was Just the Sidekick)
The arcade lights glowed like a battlefield under a disco ball.
Reina's three fighters froze the moment they locked eyes with Shōgo Kitsukawa—a.k.a. Berserker.
And not the cool anime kind.
No.
This was the real-world version: a bubblegum-chewing, muscle-packed menace who fought like the universe owed him an apology.
Tōma Igarashi paled slightly, already shifting his stance like his judo training was a security blanket.
Ryōhei Sakamoto tensed, his jaw tightening around that eternally cool blade of grass.
Even carefree Sora Minazuki, who usually walked into fights like he was arriving at a beach party, straightened immediately.
It wasn't just bad memories.
It was survival instinct.
The last time Shōgo had decided to fight them, things had gone so badly that all three had spent days recovering, and somebody still claimed one of the arcade machines had a dent shaped suspiciously like Tōma's shoulder.
Everyone in the local fighting scene knew Berserker.
Tall.
Ripped.
Quiet.
Always chewing gum.
And possessing an unnatural love for any fight difficult enough to actually entertain him.
If Shōgo walked into a room, you either hoped you weren't his target—
or offered him snacks.
Reina Tachibana's emerald eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?" she asked, planting one boot firmly against the dance platform.
Clearly, she thought Shōgo was leading our little squad of destruction.
Shōgo casually blew a pink bubble.
Pop.
"Me?"
He smirked.
"Nah. I'm just here for the show."
Then he tilted his head toward me.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Kaito Hoshino.
Well.
Kaito Hoshino's body.
Ren Kisaragi driving.
Close enough.
That got a reaction.
Ryōhei frowned.
"Wait."
He pointed at me.
"You're following him?"
Shōgo shrugged.
"Yep."
Tōma stared.
"Seriously?"
Sora looked me up and down.
Then nodded thoughtfully.
"He's handsome."
Silence.
"That's suspicious."
I stared at him.
"What does that even mean?"
"No idea."
Fair enough.
Reina studied me more carefully.
And yeah, Kaito wasn't a bad-looking guy.
But what she was really noticing wasn't his face.
It was the way I stood.
Balanced.
Relaxed.
Weight ready to shift in any direction.
No wasted tension.
The kind of posture that came from years of fighting rather than a few karate classes.
There was something else too.
That spark.
The same hunger she'd seen in Shōgo.
Except Shōgo carried his battle obsession quietly.
I smiled.
Which apparently made mine more disturbing.
What Reina didn't know—what none of them knew—was that Kaito's body had been seriously training for less than a month.
My mind had years of combat experience.
This body?
It was still trying to catch up.
But hey.
When you were Ren Kisaragi, less than a month of obsessive training was basically a miniature timeskip.
Reina crossed her arms.
"Alright, hotshot."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Why do you want to fight me?"
I smiled.
"Because I want to challenge the strongest fighters around here."
Nobody interrupted.
"And when I beat them…"
I pointed at her.
"…I'm planning to bring their gangs into mine."
Silence.
Heavy silence.
The kind where you suddenly become aware of every arcade machine beeping in the background.
Then—
Reina burst out laughing.
Not a chuckle.
Not a polite giggle.
Full laughter.
"Oh, wow."
She wiped beneath one eye.
"You seriously think you're some anime protagonist?"
"Kinda."
"You're going to beat everyone up and become king of the local gangs?"
"That's the plan."
"What next? You transform and start glowing?"
I shrugged.
"Not yet."
Shōgo snorted.
Haruki covered his face.
"Why did I come here?"
Reina finally stopped laughing.
"You're insane."
"I've been told."
"But confident."
"Also been told."
Her smile became sharper.
"Fine."
She pointed toward the three guys beside her.
"But you don't get me immediately."
I glanced at them.
"They're my main fighters," Reina continued. "If you want to challenge Nemesis, you go through them first."
Ah.
There it was.
Nemesis.
Her street name.
Honestly?
Cool name.
A little dramatic.
But then again, I was hanging out with a guy called Berserker and another called Hermes.
I had no right to judge.
I nodded.
"Sounds fair."
Reina raised an eyebrow.
"You're seriously okay fighting all three?"
I rolled my shoulders.
Cracked my knuckles.
"Why not?"
Haruki made a distressed noise behind me.
Reina pointed toward the exit.
"Outside."
"Lead the way."
She smirked.
"Alright, battle maniac."
As we headed toward the doors, Shōgo blew another bubble and looked over at Haruki.
"Told you this would be fun."
Haruki groaned.
"I should've stayed home."
The arcade doors swung shut behind us.
Neon light gave way to the dim glow of the alley outside.
Traffic hummed somewhere beyond the buildings.
Reina leaned against the graffiti-covered wall with her arms crossed.
Shōgo stood nearby chewing gum like somebody had bought him front-row tickets.
Haruki lingered near the entrance, nervously watching for pedestrians.
Or police.
Probably both.
And in the center of the alley stood me.
Facing Reina's three main fighters.
Tōma Igarashi — Judo.
Ryōhei Sakamoto — Boxing.
Sora Minazuki — Capoeira.
They weren't random street punks.
They were legitimate martial artists.
Good ones.
People who could probably do extremely well in tournaments if they were interested in trophies instead of delinquent politics.
More importantly, they knew how to fight together.
And thanks to their previous experience with Shōgo, they weren't stupid enough to underestimate somebody simply because he looked smaller.
Good.
That would've been boring.
Tōma rolled his shoulders.
Ryōhei raised his guard.
Sora shifted onto the balls of his feet.
I smiled.
Then the fight began.
Tōma moved first.
Straight in.
No hesitation.
Classic grappler mentality.
Close distance.
Grab.
Throw.
Finish.
I met him halfway.
My knee snapped upward.
THUMP!
Tōma crossed both arms and absorbed the strike.
Strong guard.
He barely moved.
But I didn't need him to.
I just needed half a second.
Ryōhei came in from my side.
Fast.
Much faster than Tōma.
His straight punch shot toward my face.
At almost the same moment, Sora's leg rose from the opposite side, heel cutting downward in a high axe kick.
Three directions.
Nice.
I ducked forward—
—and slammed my forehead under Tōma's chin.
CRACK!
"Gah!"
His head snapped back.
Sorry.
Ninja rules.
Nobody said headbutts weren't allowed.
I dropped backward before Ryōhei could correct his punch, planted one hand against the pavement, and swept my leg low.
My heel struck his lead ankle.
His stance broke.
His punch went wide.
Sora's kick came down.
I wasn't there.
I pushed off the pavement and drove myself directly into Sora while he was still balancing on one leg.
His eyes widened.
"Wait—"
Too late.
I caught him around the waist.
His own momentum did the rest.
WHAM!
We hit the ground.
Hard.
Sora wheezed.
I rolled off him and sprang back onto my feet.
Less than ten seconds.
Silence.
Haruki stared.
"…You tackled him out of the air."
Shōgo grinned.
Reina stopped leaning against the wall.
Now I had her attention.
Good.
The first exchange was over.
Now came the actual fight.
I cracked my fingers.
Not because it looked intimidating.
Okay.
Partly because it looked intimidating.
But mostly because I needed to loosen up.
If these guys wanted me to prove something?
Fine.
I'd prove it.
This was a statement.
Tōma and Ryōhei moved differently now.
No testing.
No casual confidence.
Tōma circled toward my right.
Ryōhei took the left.
Sora stayed farther back, rubbing his side and looking significantly less cheerful than before.
Smart.
A grappler.
A boxer.
A mobile kicker.
Pretty decent combination.
Tōma attacked first.
Again.
He charged in, arms reaching for my upper body.
Ryōhei moved at the same moment, using Tōma's larger frame to hide his approach.
Nice.
I didn't retreat.
Tōma grabbed for my shoulder.
I caught his wrist.
Pivoted.
Dropped my weight.
And used his own momentum to send him stumbling across my hip.
I wasn't strong enough to casually throw somebody his size through brute force.
Luckily?
Judo didn't require me to be.
Tōma went exactly where his momentum wanted to go.
Straight into Ryōhei.
"Whoa—!"
They collided.
Both staggered.
I reset my stance.
"Don't move like you're fighting separately," I said.
They stared at me.
"This is three-on-one."
Ryōhei's eye twitched.
Maybe I shouldn't coach my enemies.
Then again—
fun.
Tōma attacked again.
Ryōhei slipped around my flank.
Punch.
Duck.
Another punch.
Slip.
Tōma closed in.
I raised my elbow.
THUD!
Right under the jaw.
Tōma reeled.
Then—
WHAM!
Ryōhei finally got me.
His fist buried itself in my side.
Pain shot through Kaito's ribs.
"Guh!"
Good punch.
Really good punch.
But he'd committed.
I rotated with the hit instead of fighting it.
My palm drove straight into his stomach.
THUMP!
His breath exploded out.
"Ghk!"
I caught his wrist before he could pull away.
Turned.
My heel swept into his supporting ankle.
Ryōhei crashed sideways—
right into Tōma's legs.
Both went down.
Human bowling.
Still funny.
Then my instincts screamed.
Behind me.
I dropped.
Sora's spinning heel passed directly over my head.
Called it.
I drove an elbow sharply into the inside of his thigh as the leg passed.
Not enough to break anything.
Enough to make the muscle stop cooperating.
"AAGH!"
His leg buckled.
I rose.
Knee to the stomach.
THUMP!
Sora folded.
I caught his shoulder, turned him with his own movement, and sent him tumbling into the side of a trash can.
CLANG!
The alley went silent.
Somewhere inside the bin, Sora groaned.
"I'm okay…"
Good.
Would've been awkward otherwise.
I turned back.
Tōma and Ryōhei were already standing again.
Bruised.
Breathing harder.
Angry.
But standing.
Respect.
Ryōhei wiped blood from his lip.
His expression had changed completely.
No more casual arrogance.
"You…"
He raised his fists.
"…you're a monster."
I grinned.
"Nah."
I shifted forward.
"I'm just having fun."
Then I moved.
Ryōhei jabbed.
I blocked with my forearm.
Counter to the collarbone.
Tōma swung from the side.
I ducked.
Wrapped one arm around his neck.
Suddenly, I had myself a very large human shield.
Ryōhei hesitated.
Exactly what I wanted.
"Sorry, Tōma."
"What—"
I shifted my hip beneath him.
Pulled.
Turned.
And threw him directly toward Ryōhei.
"OH, COME ON—!"
CRASH!
They hit the pavement together.
Dust rose.
Silence followed.
I straightened.
Breathed out.
Then looked around.
Sora was still sitting beside the trash can holding his thigh.
Tōma was flat on his back.
Ryōhei had managed to sit up but apparently wasn't enthusiastic about doing anything beyond that.
Nobody was unconscious.
Nobody was seriously injured.
But the fight?
Finished.
I turned toward Reina.
She was staring at me.
Her arms were no longer crossed.
Good sign.
I smiled.
"Still think I need transformation powers?"
Reina didn't answer.
There was something different in her expression now.
Not fear.
Definitely not.
Interest.
Recognition.
That same spark I'd seen when Shōgo found an opponent he actually wanted to fight.
Behind her—
Pop.
Shōgo's bubble burst.
He chuckled.
Oh yeah.
This was about to get fun.