Chapter 3 – Killer Instinct
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The bruises were worse today.
Riku sat in silence as the class went through another lesson he'd already mastered. His pen scribbled notes with robotic precision, but his mind was drifting—replaying every angle, every breath of last night's fight.
Step-in jab, faint shoulder. Duck the overhand. Inside trip. Elbow, elbow, finish.
He hadn't wanted to fight. But they'd cornered him.
Three against one.
Didn't matter.
---
When lunch break came, he moved toward the back stairs—the one nobody used. Quiet. Private.
Except this time… she followed him.
She paused two steps below, holding a juice box and a small rice bun wrapped in napkin. Her brown ponytail swayed as she looked up.
"Mind if I sit?"
Riku didn't answer. But he didn't move either.
She sat beside him.
"You didn't eat again," she said softly, offering him the bun. "You always hold your stomach in class. Are you injured?"
He looked at her with blank eyes. "Why do you keep following me?"
She took a sip of her juice. "I don't know. I guess I just think… you look lonelier than you pretend to be."
His fingers clenched slightly.
He looked away. "That's dangerous."
She tilted her head. "What is?"
"Getting close."
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That night, Riku walked alone again—hood up, eyes low.
He knew the alley near the corner store too well. It always reeked of cheap smoke, ramen, and blood.
He passed it anyway.
Three figures stepped out. One had dyed blue hair. Another wore fingerless gloves. The third was taller—older. All of them smiled the same way: fake confidence hiding fear.
"You're the kid from the Cage Club, right?" the tall one said, cracking his neck.
Riku didn't respond.
"We bet 50k on your last fight. You made us lose. You owe."
Still silence.
Then—CLACK—the tall one grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey—don't ignore—"
CRACK!
In one fluid motion, Riku's elbow snapped back into the man's jaw. A sickening pop echoed through the alley as the man's teeth shattered against the wall.
The others jumped—too slow.
THUD! A sweep kick dropped the second to his knees. WHAM! A knee crushed into his temple before he even fell.
The last one turned to run.
Riku caught him mid-sprint. Slammed his head into the wall. Then again.
CRACK. CRACK.
His breath came slow. Calm. Eyes like ice.
Blood trickled from his knuckles.
This is what I am, he thought.
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Across the street, hidden behind a vending machine… she stood.
Umbrella in hand. Mouth slightly open. Trembling.
She had followed him again, hoping to give him a new scarf she made.
Now the scarf dropped from her hand. Her eyes locked with his.
His hand, dripping blood.
His face… expressionless.
---
Later that night, she sat on her bed, hugging her knees.
Her phone buzzed with a message from a classmate:
"Did you hear? Three guys hospitalized near the ramen alley. Skull fractures. One in a coma."
Her hands shook.
But even then, she whispered under her breath—
"I don't think… he wanted to hurt them."
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To be continued…