"Enough!" Kaito spoke, his fists clenched at his sides.
The world he lived in. Oh, right, I'd forgotten. Villains don't exist, they just... adapt. Kindness doesn't exist... it's just an investment.
Blood? Ha, do the strongest really care about that? Deaths? Neither do they. Naruto is a perfect example: He saw tens of thousands of ninjas die and suffered, yes, but after thousands of deaths, ah, but Neji dies and suffers more than all those deaths, and then you call him a "savior"? Hypocrisy.
"You," he pointed at the three children, "Either let her go or I'll be forced to act," he said, his eyes full of disgust at the three brats.
One of the boys just laughed, "You and who else? You think you can beat us alone?" he said, with a mocking smile.
The taller boy tried to push him, but all he received was an elbow to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Idiot! How dare you!" one of the boys barked, lunging at Kaito, the other two boys following suit.
Three against one, huh? Kaito mocked.
Kaito grabbed one of the boys' wrists, spun sharply, and swept his legs aside. The boy fell to the ground with a thud.
The taller boy tried to attack from a blind spot. Too predictably, Kaito ducked, dodging the attack, then spun about 90 degrees and punched the boy in the face, causing him to groan in pain.
"Oh, I thought you knew some dance moves," Kaito mocked.
The remaining boy was more agile. He grabbed Kaito from behind, wrapping his arms around him while he waited for the others to attack. "Quick! Attack, I've got him pinned down!" he shouted.
Kaito grunted, clearly irritated by the idiots' attempted attack. He exhaled, focusing on his lower body; a single stomp on the boy's foot and he squealed in pain. The grip loosened, allowing him to spin sharply and elbow him in the ribs.
They're too weak. Hmph, what did I expect? They're just weaklings ganging up to attack someone even weaker. He thought with disgust.
"Damn!" the boy who'd been punched in the face barked, his face red with anger.
Lunging forward with his fists raised, Kaito dismissed him with a disappointed sigh. He dodged, grabbed the boy by the wrist, and, with all his strength, threw him over his shoulder. The boy fell to the ground with a thud, crying in pain.
Pathetic, his weakness disgusts me... Kaito thought.
The boy who had earlier swept his legs up got up; his face covered in dirt from the fall. "I'll beat you up!" he spat angrily, wiping the dirt from his face.
He lunged at Kaito, trying to land blows. His attacks were inexperienced, weak, and very easy for Kaito to dodge.
Kaito swung his arm, his fist clenching as it slammed into the boy's stomach. The boy winced in pain, but Kaito wouldn't let him recover. His leg swung out, and a kick landed in the boy's neck, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him on the verge of fainting. He fell to the ground next to his bully friends.
"That's it? Three against one and they still lose? They're scum," Kaito said in disgust. "If I see you bullying anyone again, you'll have to stay in the hospital for several days." Kaito glared at them, threateningly.
The boys clumsily got to their feet, still feeling the stinging pain from the blows Kaito had given them. They hadn't expected such strength from a boy their age.
"F-Fine!" the tall boy spoke, the throbbing pain still lingering in his face and body. "We'll let her go, but you'll regret this!"
He waved his hand at the others, and they staggered away, throwing angry and scared glances over their shoulders.
The park fell silent, only heartbeats, labored breathing, and small sobs could be heard.
Kaito stood still, his chest heaving, the thrill of fighting slowly fading.
The girl he had saved looked at him with wide, tearful eyes.
Her voice trembled. "Thank you..." she said weakly, almost inaudibly.
Kaito looked at her with a smile on his face. "You're welcome," he spoke casually as he wiped the invisible dirt off his clothes. Oh, I wished I could do this like all the anime characters do, he thought.
The girl blinked in confusion at him doing that. "Why are you doing that? You're not dirty..." she asked, confused.
"Ah, it's nothing, I just wanted to prove something," Kaito said, laughing inwardly.
The girl nodded, still confused. "Why did you save me?" she asked, wiping away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks.
"Because you're not a monster," Kaito said, completely unconcerned.
The girl blinked in surprise. "Oh..." A smile tugged at her lips slightly.
"And a scar only makes you stronger. It means you've been through things other people haven't," Kaito finished with a smile, trying to encourage her.
The girl's eyes filled with tears of happiness, and Kaito was simply confused.
What's wrong? Why is she crying? Am I bad at cheering, or am I terrifying? Kaito thought, internally confused.
The girl sniffled a little and then gave Kaito a shy smile. "My name is Soka."
"Kaito," Kaito replied, with a smile of relief at seeing that she was happy and not sad. "Nice to meet you, Soka."
For a moment, silence filled the area; but then she laughed softly, shattering the silence.
Kaito helped her up with one hand. Soka accepted the help, standing up.
"Thank you again for helping me..." Soka said shyly.
"I already told you it's nothing," Kaito dismissed, gesturing for Soka to follow him.
"Do you have any money?" Kaito asked doubtfully.
"Oh, yeah, I have 500 ryō," Soka replied.
Kaito practically had stars in his eyes, then grabbed Soka's hand and led her to the ramen shop he'd visited earlier. "Come on, I'll take you to a place that sells the best ramen in the world!" Kaito spoke.
Soka blinked in confusion, but followed Kaito.
"Here!" Kaito said, pointing at the Aōsukanawa Ramen shop.
"Wow... smells good... there are a lot of customers," Soka said, surprised.
"Three bowls of Miso Chashū Ramen, please!" Kaito said, "stealing" 450 ryō from Soka to buy the three bowls.
"Hey! "But that money was mine!" Soka said, clearly not convinced.
"Relax, you won't regret it, I swear!" Kaito said.
Soka sighed, but then smiled slightly, amused.
"Done!" The girl arrived with three steaming bowls of broth with miso paste and extra braised pork.
Soka froze, almost drooling, and so did Kaito, as the bowls were placed on the table and-
Not even 7 seconds passed.
And the bowls were already devoured.
"Thanks for the food!" they smiled.
End of chapter.
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Thank you for reading the first chapter of this novel!
Please give me Power Stones and I'll put more effort into this story.
On weekends, I'll upload an extra chapter for every 5 Power Stones; I'll upload one chapter per day.
This story is my own.