Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a peaceful night. No bustling chatter in the neighborhood. No dogs barking. Not even a single cricket chirping. And all the stars were shining beautifully in the night sky.

Just like the first night after the world was born…

A man had been walking down the empty street. This older male had short green hair and a light stubble. He was on his way home from his day of work at the school he worked at. He changed paths from the route he normally took, in order to admire this very tranquil night and kept on walking. That was, until something had caught his attention.

There, on the side of the street, illuminated only by a dim street light, was a boy. Simply laying there, bruised and broken, as if simply waiting for death to take hold of him.

The man, named Vaugh, stared at this young child with nothing but pity and remorse in his eyes. He worked at a school, everyday he saw children and the bright glow of youth that accompanied them. But this boy…this child, the look in his eyes, the emptiness in them…

It deeply unsettled the man.

“Hey boy!” The man called as he crouched down to eye level with the child before him. Said boy looked up slightly to see the man who had called out to him. The look in the child’s eyes had made the man flinch.

No child should ever have that kind of look….

The man grit his teeth, “Has the world knocked you down?” He questioned with a booming voice, trying desperately to see some sort of life in the boy. “Well I’ve got good news for you!” With that proclamation he could see the young boy’s eyes widen slightly, he saw something within that boy, a small light that was hidden within the deep depths of darkness this child had experienced.

This man knew what he had to say next.

“Listen up.” He announced as he stood up to his full height. The boy looked up as he arose, the dim light slowly getting wider and wider along with his eyes. The childlike wonder that should be present in every boy started to arise in the young child’s eyes once more. Vaughn, a man who would later become the headmaster of one of the most prestigious schools in the nation, gave the most heartfelt and genuine smile he could muster up, the same one he gave towards any one of his students.

Behind him, the stars shined brightly as if illuminating his words…

“All of these stars are shining just for you!” This young child who had known nothing but pain and suffering up until this point, looked on with amazement as the man seemed to literally glow before him in the night sky.

The man had left the child with these parting words:

“Some day, when you’re old enough, come to my school and I will gladly accept you. When you’re at the very top….BOY!”

K, the most legendary and known person in the boxing world. A former veteran in the military who rose up to the highest of positions taking mission after mission and leading his own team to success time and time again. A man who after being discharged from direct combat due to his growing age, went on to find and train the most powerful and famous boxers to date. Boxers who even in a world ruled by strength, came out on top time and time again. Nothing but the absolute best would ever begin to satisfy a man like K, hence, here he is now, in some run down gym looking at this new up and coming prodigy.

He watched carefully as a kid with very messy white hair was casually toying around with a seasoned boxing pro, with no difficulty whatsoever. It didn’t even look like he was using any ability at the moment, simply overcoming his opponent with sheer agility and flexibility coupled with perfect timing on his moves.

“So what did I tell you?” The coach who informed him of the kid’s existence asked him, “Isn’t this Ryu kid good or what?”

“Hmm.” K said nothing as he continued to study the boy in front of him. He certainly got talent, he knew that just from a glance. But he would never be able to access his full abilities with him practicing with garbage. “Bring out the strongest fighter here.”

The coach looked shocked for just a moment, but nonetheless he knew not to question K’s motives. So he went in and brought Steel who happened to rank third in the boxing middleweight championships. The two people stared down at each other, Steel glaring thanks to the cocky smile on Ryu’s face. Then the bell rang.

And just like that, the battle began in earnest. Unlike the boxing of before, abilities were allowed here, not all kinds of abilities could be used of course, but more often than not you could get by with adding a little extra zang to your moves. Steel immediately tried to overpower the kid with fast paced movements, letting his experience and hard work speak for itself to the rookie before him. However, just like before, the kid would only sway from side to side and casually knock back and avoid Steel’s blows, while throwing in counters with absolutely no loss in momentum at all.

This alone had K interested since usually when throwing a punch like that, it was almost pointless to move your body at such an angle thanks to the loss in momentum one would receive from such an action. But this kid was so fluid that even without his ability, there was no momentum loss in his counters.

Getting frustrated and angered by the thought of this kid outshining him, Steel now activated his ability. His eyes began to glow and his body began to bulge thanks to the increased strength he received. K’s attention suddenly shot up, now things finally seemed to get interesting. Steel’s ability was nothing too special, an overall stat enhancer with a solid level of 4.5, but in the world of boxing, an enhancer to the body was something truly valuable.

“Hmpf!” Steel’s fist came at Ryu faster than the eye could see, Ryu simply smirked and bent all the way back to avoid the blow once before, but Steel had caught onto Ryu’s tactics and quickly threw another punch straight towards the kid once more before he could recover from his previous dodge.

“This was it!” The moment of truth which would determine how talented this boy truly was. He stared carefully as the fist came closer and closer to the boy’s face, surely being able to knock him out if he was cornered. But once again, the boy simply smirked, and his eyes glowed red.

And just like that, the fist that was coming towards Ryu, hit its mark. K narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Because even though such a powerful blow landed, Ryu had not budged a single inch.

“That all?” Ryu questioned as he raised an eyebrow while he straightened himself out. Steel started to sweat slightly. How? How could he have just shrugged off such a powerful blow like that with no issue?

“Come on.” The kid said, this time getting nice and close to Steel as he gave him a taunting grin. “Come and try again if you’d like.” This began to infuriate him, who the hell did this kid think he was? He was a professional who made it straight to the top after all!

Giving the kid what he asked for, he sent blow after blow towards Ryu, and unlike before, he made no effort to dodge them at all. Eventually Steel had just exhausted himself out from trying to do any meaningful damage to him.

“What the hell…” Steel thought as he was panting now. “How is he just tanking all the hits I give him?” No, it didn’t feel like this kid was tanking anything. It felt more like his blows lost all power the moment he made contact with him!

“Is that what this kid’s ability is?” Steel questioned as a look of realization appeared on his features.

Ryu, noticing this, smirked to himself once more. “Oh, finally figured it out, have you?” He tauntingly questioned as he continued his assault on Steel. This time, he could do nothing to defend himself from the onslaught as any counter blow he attempted to get through would either get perfectly dodged, leaving him open for a counter, or simply nullified, which also left him wide open.

There was simply….nothing he could do to win in this type of situation…

“So this must be it, This must be what’s called ‘God-given Talent.’” K thought to himself as he watched the boy walk down with the same confident grin he came in with.

“Incredible right?” The coach said before him. “Even I was surprised by how well he’s been doing. But I guess what can you expect from a prodigy with an ability level of 6.0 after all.” The coach laughed as he finished his explanation.

K looked off to the side where the coach was, perked by the window. He had to agree with him, an ability to nullify the power of others was an incredibly useful move and to have such a high ability level of 6 at such a young age too, along with his own naturally gifted physical body…K knew he could make him a world champion boxer, no doubt about it.

“Hmm?” K thought as something caught his attention. On the alleyway right outside the window, a boy looked to be surrounded by some other older classmates. However, there was a certain…look the boy had in his eyes.

“How…peculiar.” K noted as he watched the kid who cornered the boy throw a punch at him.
Cecile sighed as she watched the juvenile actions of the boys before her. Some kid she didn’t know was pressed against the wall while her “friends” were busy having their fun with him.

“You still don’t get it do you.” The boy who held the kid’s collar practically spat at him.

“Dude, just kill him already.” The other boy next to him called out, trying to appear as threatening as possible. The kid however simply said nothing and continued to stare off in space with that same, blank look he had when they confronted him.

Cecile sighed once more as she watched the boy who had him by the collar throw a punch at the kid. The kid didn’t even budge an inch and took the hit head on. Honestly, she could hardly even figure out why she put up with these guys in the first place. It was only for the purposes of getting close to their leader, a kid she knew had a high level and extreme talent, but these guys were practically worthless. Their levels are all below hers. Mid tiers at best, while she was approaching the elite tier.

In this world it was important to have connections with people in high places. And she knew for a fact that their leader Ryu was definitely going very high places. So when she confronted the boys in hopes of talking with him, they told her to stick by them and eventually she would get what she asked for.

Of course the boys were just giddy on hoping they could “get some action” as they liked to whisper when they thought she was out of hearing range.

….Freaking pigs….

She rubbed her temples this time, she just needed to put up with them until she could meet their leader and hopefully build a strong connection with a fellow high tier. At least, that’s what she thought as she continued to watch these boys harass this other kid…

It was strange though….that look in the kid’s eyes. It was as if he hardly cared about anything at all-

“All right, that’s enough.” She heard a voice call over to the side. She turned her head to find some old guy with white hair along with what looked to be a gym coach staring them down. She gave a questioning look at the people before her.

“What the hell?” The boy with a buzz cut said as he let go of the kid, aggressively approaching the older males with the backing of his two other friends. “Get lost unless you want a piece of this too.” He threatened while Cecile only raised an eyebrow in return.

….Two seconds later…

“You were saying?” The coach said as all three boys were forced to kneel before him after he beat them up. Cecile only looked on with utter disappointment, since she wasn’t stupid enough to randomly attack adults. “I have no idea where you kids learn all this crap, when I was your age…” The coach continued to prattle on and on about his past and ethics and all that useless crap.

Deciding to tune out the unimportant dribble, Cecile’s attention turned towards the older male who approached the kid they had been beating up on beforehand.

K studied the kid before him, something was strange about this kid alright. And he knew it, no, he could feel it.

He felt the shivers run down his spine as he stared down at the kid from before.

“Why didn’t you dodge them?” K asked. Cecile raised a questioning eyebrow at that while the kid simply stared at the man before him. “To me it looked like you could have easily ducked those worthless punches.” K continued to stare and examine the kid, while Cecile became ever more interested in the conversation. Even though those punches were indeed worthless, it didn’t seem like the kid could fight at all. So what’s the interest for?

But even still, what the kid had said next only further increased Cecile’s confusion.

“Meh.” The kid said disinterestedly, “I couldn’t be bothered.” He answered matter of factly.

“Couldn’t be bothered-” Cecile had absolutely no idea what to make of that response. She had no idea what one could possibly say to such a ridiculous thing. Couldn’t be bothered to what? Defend yourself from being hit?

But this man, K, it was as if an electric spark had just hit him. But before he could utter his next words, the kid simply bowed and went on his way. The same look still ever present on his features.

“You should have stayed out of it.” The kid with the buzzcut who she couldn’t remember the name of (nor did she care to), started. “He didn’t show his seniors any respect.” Cecile scoffed at that and it seemed like the coach agreed as he proceeded to continue to torment the kids he had held down. She had just about enough lunacy today and decided to head off her own way.

However K simply continued to stare at the retreating form of the kid…he felt it within his very being, a driving force telling him to not let that kid go. That this had been the one he had been looking for! And so, with fists clenched he knew what he had to try and do.

“Hey kid.” Cecile heard the old man say as she turned around, thinking he had been addressing her. Only to look on with utter shock to see a punch flying right by her, aimed square at the kid a little ways ahead of her. He had also turned to look just as the fist was mere inches away from his face. Cecile could barely see how fast the fist was flying, and so braced herself to see what she expected, the smacking sound of a full grown male’s bare knuckle bash down on the skull of a 15 year old boy.

But instead….just as the fist was but centimeters away from landing, what she saw was the boy tilt his head just in the knick of time…

The shockwave from the blow blew her hair to the side as she was left stunned at what she just witnessed.

“You…” The man began after a moment’s pause, “wanna learn how to box?”

The boy simply stared dead ahead of the old man before him. This time, Cecile made sure to note all the details about the kid who she just brushed by a second ago. She saw his quite frankly lanky figure and meager looking wrists and legs and wondered how he possibly could have avoided that blow from before, let alone be asked if he knew how to fight?

But, the more she examined him, the more puzzling he seemed to be to her. Especially his eyes, they always looked creepy to her before, but even as she just watched this man blatantly assault him, this kid still looked on with the exact same expression as before.

It was as if his eyes were simply devoid of all life..

“Is it fun?” The boy said after a moment’s pause. His voice, dry and slightly hoarse, but it had a chilling effect on it as well.

“Is hitting people fun?” He asked once more.

The man, K, simply continued to stare. Thinking to himself about all the possible things that could be said to him. He could feel it, this kid before him didn’t have it. The desire for struggle, fame and dominance….he doesn’t have the same hunger for superiority that every human being has.

He was the complete polar opposite from the boy from before. K knew there were only two possibilities that could lead a human to such an emotional state. Either he grew up rich, with a very pampered upbringing. K narrowed his eyes once more.

….Or in the worst environment imaginable….

“Is hitting people fun?” K finally was ready to give his answer. All the while, Cecile watched off to the side, left utterly confused at the conversation before her, but at the same time she struggled to walk away from it.

She wanted to know the answer to that question as well.

“Isn’t it obvious?” K continued on as the boy continued to watch him from the side of his gaze. “Do you really think those dirtbags over there beat you because they actually care about showing some respect to elders?” Cecile slightly flinched at that, considering she was watching those guys beat up the kid in question.

K then smiled, a wide smile showing all his teeth. “Of course it's fun! You hit people because it feels good!” Cecile furrowed her eyebrows, but didn’t say anything as she continued to watch the boy stare at this man with the same lifeless gaze. “Humans are weak creatures that hunger for meaning in their lives!”

“There’s nothing as simple and clear as a fist. Just like in nature, brute force is the very easiest way to prove your dominance.” Cecile began to feel a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t know why though, it’s not like she couldn't understand these things, nor could she even say the man was wrong in his assessment.

…It was simply the way he said those things that gave her a bad feeling…

But before she could think further on the matter, the man suddenly raised his voice very loudly. The tone startling Cecile out of her thoughts. “IT’S EXHILARATING! PEOPLE GO WILD JUST FOR THE THRILL TO SHOW THEIR STRENGTH!”

He suddenly raised his voice further to a full on yell at this point as he stared at the boy with nothing but determination and conviction in his eyes.

“YOU’RE HUMAN TOO AREN’T YOU!”
“THEN FIND OUT WHAT YOU’RE WORTH!”
“SEE HOW FAR YOU CAN GO!”
REACH AS HIGH AS YOU CAN!”
“SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY STRAIGHT INTO THE SUN UNTIL IT BURNS YOU UP!”
“GRIND YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR HEEL!”

“That’s what it really means to be alive!” K finished off as his eyes began to glow with life in them, all the while the boy never took his eyes off the man before him.

Cecile shivered once more as he finished off his tirade. She was left speechless at that proclamation. What was one even to say to such a thing? Who the hell was this senile old man and why was he seemingly so interested in this no name kid in front of him?

“Watch carefully?” The man said to the boy before getting into a stance and throwing a couple of quick punches in succession. “This is the ‘one-two punch.’ You’ve got one month, that’s how long I’ll be at this gym. Come and see me when you’re ready to begin.” The man finished off with crossed arms.

The boy said nothing, only continued to stare at the older male for a moment, before finally turning around and heading on his way. Cecile was left rooted where she was, completely confused and bewildered at the events that had just transpired. But just like the man before her, she couldn’t take her eyes off the retreating form of the boy who had just been here.

Though before she left, the final words of the old man reached her ears.

“Hehe, that boy…” The man began as he hugged his body. To quench the shivers that had run down his spine. “He’s no human, that boy is a monster. Pure and straight.”

“What a weird old man.” Cecile said to herself as she furrowed her hair.

“...Yeah, I guess…” The boy replied back as he gave her a look back while Cecile slightly jumped at the noise, not realizing she had been walking slightly beside him. The two continued to walk down their respective paths, until eventually it was time for them to part ways, which they did without another word.

Although brief, the exchange had been….oddly nice…

In this world, there are two types of people.

The weak. And the Strong.

Cecile watched off to the side as she saw that same kid from yesterday sitting beside some other no-name loser in class. She watched as the same kids she was with yesterday walked up to the boy’s desk.

SMACK. She watched as the one with the buzzcut hit him on the side of the head.

“Remember your place worm. You got us in trouble for nothing.” The kid said as he loomed over the boy, whose expression has still yet to change. She sighed to herself as she truly wondered if what she saw yesterday with the boy was nothing more than a fluke. I mean, who would willingly let themself get tormented like that if they could really fight?

She watched as the one she was really interested in, Ryu, walked up to the group of kids as well. “I heard my coach gave you guys a hard time the other day. Haha! Don’t bother the little guy.” The group followed his instructions and then turned to the other kid sitting beside Mr.Doom and gloom as she liked to call him.

“What are you doing Jay? It’s lunchtime. You know we get so bored without you.” Buzz cut said to the other weak looking kid, Jay seemed to be his name. Honestly she couldn’t bother to care for their petty little squabbles, but in order to get in close with Ryu, she needed to associate with these people. So it looked like she was going to be joining them for lunch.

It turned out “lunch time” just seemed to be another bullying session. She watched as the boys, Ryu especially, practically forced this Jay kid to eat some noodles they filled with disgusting crap like spit and pickle. She could hardly watch as they did it, and didn’t feel so hungry anymore after the fact.

“Thanks for joining us Cecile.” Ryu suddenly said to her as she watched Jay run to wash off his mouth from the disgusting dribble he had to swallow down.

“Oh!” She flushed slightly as Ryu addressed her. “Thanks, it’s no problem at all really.” Ryu gave a sly smile towards her which only further increased her flush since she had long since noticed that Ryu, along with his naturally strong power, was also naturally handsome as well.

“So I heard you’re pretty strong too.” He idly commented. “What’s your level at?”

“Oh, uh, it's at 3.5.” She commented as she twirled her hair around her finger.

Ryu’s eyes widened as his smile increased. “Nice! That’s a hell of a lot better than these losers right here huh?” He laughed as the other guys sputtered at the fact that she was a good bit stronger than them.

“Th-thank you. It’s nothing much really, at least not compared to you” She flushed as she looked down. It seemed like she was being successful in associating with someone so strong. Ryu’s smile only further widened.

…All the while, Jay had been trying to wash off the disgusting taste from his mouth…

It was gym time and currently the class was doing a full on game of soccer, regulated abilities of course. Cecile had opted to sit on the side since she didn’t feel like working up more of a sweat than she already had to. She watched as Ryu successfully maneuvered around all the people before him, regardless of their ability and perfectly scored a goal on a defender with a freaking barrier ability no less too.

“Figures he’d be really good at sports too, huh.” Cecile thought to herself as she rested her head on her hand. She turned her gaze slightly to the side and saw that both that Jay kid from before and that other kid from yesterday were also sitting off to the side. Pretty close to each other too, she wasn’t too far away from them either.

“Hey, Yu. Why aren’t you playing? You seemed pretty good at sports during the PE test.” She heard the blonde say to him. Huh, so Yu was his name, interesting. Though she didn’t fully know why she was taking note of him. He just seemed kind of like an enigma to her, and she honestly couldn’t help her curiosity.

It was why she wanted to be a journalist. Though she never brought it up out of worry of being made fun of by her peers. She simply wasn’t strong enough to push all the critics away. Not yet at least.

“I just find it boring.” Yu had answered back, the same dry tone accompanied by the same bland and dead expression.

“Oh, uh, same here….” Jay nervously said back. “Is there something else you like to do, then? Or something you wanna become?”

Yu seemed to pause for a moment as he seemed lost in thought. Though ultimately he didn’t give a real answer. Cecile was beginning to wonder why she was even paying attention to this conversation again.

“Do you have something you wanna become?” He asked in return.

“Me?” Jay seemed surprised that someone would even take any interest in him. He put his hand on his head as he gave a nervous smile, a little embarrassed about what he was gonna say next. “I….how should I put it? I kind of wanna be like my dad. Haha!” Yu’s expression did not change, however it seemed like everything around him darkened slightly.

“Oh yeah!” Jay suddenly said with a wide smile on his face, the tone of his voice jumping in tandem. It was almost cute, in an innocent kind of way, Cecile thought to herself. “I bought a new game yesterday. You wanna come over and try it out?” He invited as it seemed like Yu finally shifted his gaze to face Jay. “It would be kind of great to hang out and get to know you better.” Neither of them had noticed that Ryu’s own gaze shifted towards the pair.

“How about after school?-” Jay had been cut off by the sound of a ball whipping past in the air, aimed squarely at his head.

GRAB. Yu had caught the ball dead on as it was about to hit Jay. Cecile was somewhat stunned at the sudden move. She didn’t even see-

Her train of thought was cut off as she watched Ryu slowly walk over to Yu with a very pissed off expression on his face. Jay was left shivering, the innocent smile that had touched his features had been replaced with one with nothing but fear and anxiety as he stared at the ground. Too afraid to look Ryu in the eyes.

Ryu had finally stopped in front of Yu. He stared down at him while Yu stared up at him as well.

SLAP. The sound of hand meeting flesh resonated across the open area as both Cecile and Jay were shocked at what he had just done.

Ryu then roughly grabbed Yu by the hair. Even with the mark of the slap on his cheek, and his hair being grabbed to forcely look at Ryu in the eyes, still his expression did not shift.

“I was just messing with him, you little turd.” Ryu commented with a deep threatening voice. “You can’t take a joke?” He said as he pulled Yu closer to get a better look at him. “Get in the way again...and you’re dead.” He threatened with an intense gaze. However Yu simply stared on with no emotion in his eyes whatsoever.

All the while, Jay was shivering on the side….resenting himself for being so powerless and not defending his friend.

“I’m such a loser.” He thought to himself as he was filled with nothing but remorse for not stepping up to defend Yu from his bully. This was his fight, no one else’s. No one else needed to be dragged along on this torment. But how was he supposed to when Ryu was so much stronger than himself?

“...I need to ask dad what to do.” Jay once again thought to himself.

All the while, Cecile simply stared on at Yu as he hardly moved from the spot he was sitting in.
“Hey Ryu.” Cecile began as she walked up to the boy in question. “Mind if I walk home with you?” She asked as she noticed he was heading off in the same direction as her. Building a connection with Ryu was important and it was better to do it without those other losers around.

Ryu stared at her for a moment. “Oh, I’m not heading home right now.” He responded as she raised an eyebrow at that. He then smiled towards her, “But I am heading somewhere down the road. You can wait with me if you’d like, it’d be pretty boring if I just gotta wait by myself, ya know?” He said as he pointed a thumb towards the direction he was heading at.

She gave a curious gaze to that answer. What was he planning on waiting for? Oh well, he shrugged and decided to agree. It’s not like she had much to do anyway. She walked alongside Ryu until they reached the top of a staircase, where suddenly, Ryu sat on the last step. She gave a questioning gaze as he prompted her to sit beside him. But once more she simply shrugged and plopped right down beside him.

“So, what are you waiting for?” She asked as she attempted to start some kind of small talk.

“Oh you know, nothing much.” He said as he continued to stare ahead. “Just someone I’m supposed to meet.” She raised an eyebrow but said nothing to that. From then on, they continued their idle chatter. Ryu was unsurprisingly pretty charismatic and fun to be around, so time seemed to fly by pretty quick. And it seemed like he was taking a liking to her as well, if his constant compliments to her and her ability were anything to go by. They talked and showed off their abilities to one another which continued to spark their conversations. All the way until night time had finally come before either of them knew it.

“Damn, it’s pretty late already.” She commented as she stared at the starry night sky above her.

“Yeah, it seems like that bastard is sure taking his sweet ass time.” Ryu said as a tick mark appeared on his forehead. She was about to question what he meant by that, before she saw his expression quickly change to a wide smile. She looked at where he was staring at and was left shocked to find none other than Yu walking up the same staircase they had earlier that afternoon.

….The same dead expression still on his face….

What was he? Some kind of robot? Cecile thought to herself as she felt unnerved at the complete lack of emotion this kid seemed to give off. I mean, what kind of person can just perpetually keep an expression like that on?

“School’s been over for hours.” Ryu commented, his smile widened as he watched Yu continue to walk up the stairs. “You’re late. I’ve been waiting for you, you know.” He said as Cecile quickly turned her head towards Ryu. So that’s what he’s been waiting for this entire time? But why?

“Our homeroom teacher was kind enough to give me your address.” Now Cecile was left slightly confused since that seemed pretty unethical for a homeroom teacher to just be randomly giving out student’s addresses to anyone who asks. But she supposed since Ryu was a very big deal, he was granted some special privileges in the school.

Instead of responding however, he simply walked right by Ryu without another word. Cecile was left flabbergast at the prospect.

Ryu gave a long sigh as Yu passed by him. “...Where are your manners you fucker?” He said before he promptly got back up and kicked Yu from behind, who stumbled as he fell on his knees. Ryu then proceeded to roughly grab him by the hair, Cecile didn’t know quite what to make of the situation. “Hey, you know how to throw a punch? Don’t you?” Cecile’s eyes widened at that. Why would Ryu of all people think this no named kid knew how to fight? But whatever the reason may be, Cecile was getting an ominous feeling from it.

“It kind of seemed like you did earlier this afternoon.” Ryu said as he put his fist tauntingly towards his cheek, who made no move to even look at the tormentor before him. “How about we have a go? Right here, right now.”

“So that’s what this was all about.” Cecile thought to herself. A simple fight of dominance, to prove one’s dominance over the other. For some reason, a shiver ran down Cecile’s spine as she recalled the words from that old man from earlier. His statement bearing a striking resemblance to the current situation at hand.

But even as Ryu continued to taunt him, Yu made no move whatsoever. Those simple, cold, dead eyes simply bore a hole at the ground he was staring at.

This seemed to further anger Ryu as he clenched his teeth and slammed Yu’s head onto the ground. Cecile slightly winced at the action, though she didn’t fully know why. “Say something you douchebag!” He called out as he did so. “Come on, you’ve got to at least have some unique ability to pull off the shit you do.”

“I don’t have one.” Yu finally said after a moment of silence, blood trickled down his head from the hit he just received.

“Huh?” The two other kids simultaneously said.

“I don’t have any ability or aura or whatever.” Yu said with the same flat tone he’s always had. Ryu narrowed his eyes as he stared into the dark depths of Yu’s own, before finally sighing to himself as he got up from a crouched position, though still holding Yu’s head down.

“From now on I’m gonna make your life a living hell.” He angrily told the boy beneath him. “Your first duty is to bring me 150 bucks by tomorrow. Or else.” He threatened, but not before spitting on the side of Yu’s cheek as a final insult on his way out.

“Fucking loser.” He called for the final time as he walked away from the scene. “What a waste of time.”

Cecile looked on as she watched Ryu move down the stairs they had traveled earlier, and decided it was best to follow him. But not before giving one final look behind her towards the kid one last time. He had gotten up to his knees as he stared ahead of him, blood dripping down his forehead from the blow.

Nothing, no emotion or reaction whatsoever to what had just transpired. It was as if he was a dead man walking….

She didn’t know why, but something compelled her to say what had been on her mind since she first took notice of the kid.

“Why won’t you do something?” Cecile said as she continued to stare at the boy ahead of her, he barely gave her a look to acknowledge what she said. “Do you just not care about anything at all?” She asked as she bit the bottom of her lip, waiting for his answer.

But it never came…he simply stared at her and said nothing.

Under the starry night sky, there were just the two of them trying to understand one another. Looking for something, something in each of their eyes.

Though nothing was ever found.

Cecile gulped before hurrying down the stairs to where Ryu was at. She caught up to him and was about to say something….that was until she got a good look at his eyes.

Pure malice was the only way to describe it. Unbridled rage that had all the hairs on the back of Cecile’s neck stand on edge. Was he that mad about what just transpired?

“Are you Baeksan Ryu?” Cecile could no longer dwell on those thoughts as a voice cut her off from them. Standing in front of them was a large man with a group of other people. If she had been paying any more attention, she probably would’ve noticed how Ryu’s expression shifted from malice to pure delight….

“I’m here to find out if you’re as strong as they say you are.” The man announced as Cecile let out a slight sweatdrop. There were a large number of them and they seemed pretty confident in their abilities. So they were likely at least mid tiers. But none of these concerns seemed to bother Ryu in the slightest, as he casually walked up to the apparent leader with no hesitation at all.

“H-hey!” Was all the man could let out before he was knocked clean out cold by a single blow from Ryu. His body landed on the ground with a hard THUD. Cecile was left awestruck.

“Hi there.” Ryu said as a demented smile formed on his face. A smile of madness that sent a wave of chills down her spine.

Was…allying with Ryu really the best option for her? Sure he was strong….but that didn’t seem to make him any less unhinged.

And before she knew it, she was watching the systematic beating of a group of people who ignorantly thought they could take on someone with a way higher level than them. She watched as Ryu took them down, one by one, all with an honest to god smile on his face as he did it.

“Yesss, that’s it.” Ryu said as he was twisting the finger of one of the poor saps, to the point where it broke.” “That’s the face I want to see.”

“I-I’m sorry! I was wrong! I-I’ll never bother you again! Please!” The kid cried out as Ryu looked on with delight.

All the while, Cecile stood rooted in the ground. Unable to move or process all that was going on around her. Even if she may have seen the crazed side of Ryu now, it still didn’t change the fact that whoever crossed him would be made to live in pure hell.

I mean…what other choice was there than to try and stand with the strong?...

Chapter Text

The next day started out a little brighter for Jay. He got himself cleaned up and had a little extra food this morning. He had a long, impactful talk with his father yesterday, and he decided that starting today would be the beginning of a whole new Jay! And there was no better test than sitting in class and waiting for his bullies to arrive. After a moment, he saw that one girl with short hair from class walked in. Only she seemed to have a distasteful expression on her features as she did so. 

“Man, I feel so much better after beating the crap out of that shitface.” One of his tormentors commented as he also walked into class not too long after. Jay visibly flinched at the sight of the three. 

“ They’re here.” Jay thought to himself. “ Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.” He continued to try and assure himself as he waited for the three to inevitably harass him like they’ve always done. But instead, they simply walked right by him, as if they never interacted with him before. Much to the shock of Jay himself. 

“They…left me alone?” He questioned. “ What’s going on?” He continued to wonder before noticing the seat next to him was currently empty. “ Come to think of it, Yu’s awfully late today.” 

Jay tried to brush this off as a one time thing, however, the same events continued to transpire. The bullies that were usually so delighted to torture and play their cruel games onto him had left him alone for the entire day. 

“W-why? They haven’t harassed me at all today.” Now Jay was starting to get slightly worried at this unusually. Along with the apparent disappearance of his friend, something really didn’t seem right. “ Something’s weird, why are they suddenly leaving me alone?” He continued to think to himself, before a brief image of the words one of the bullies said as he walked in flashed in his mind. A sinking feeling emanating from the core of his stomach.

“ -T-they couldn’t have.” Jay thought to himself as he believed his worst fears may be realized. 

Cecile silently grit her teeth at the scene in front of her. 

“Come on man, this is no place to rest now is it?” Buzz cut said with a cocky smirk on his face as he stared down the fallen boy below him. His face was covered with multiple bruises and his clothes disheveled from the beating he just took. “That’s why you should’ve brought us our money.” He said before grabbing the collar of the boy and forcing him to stare into his eyes. “Get up worm, it’s time for your after school lesson.” 

One of the other kids, the kid with the hoodie, grabbed Yu and held him in place as Buzz cut got into a pretty piss poor fighting stance. 

“All right. Jumping into my stance and….right!” He said as he delivered a fast right after a quick pause. And from then on he continued to beat on Yu, all for the “practice” as he liked to call it. 

Cecile could hardly look on. Being a high tier like herself, of course she’s seen and done her fair share of beatdowns, but this? She couldn’t understand this.  What was the point in relentlessly beating up someone who didn’t even care to fight back? Either way, she was too far in to simply just walk away now. 

“So? My stance isn’t half bad now is it?” Buzz cut said towards the very leader of the gang, Ryu. Who simply stared on with a nonchalant smirk on his face.

“No, you’ve gotta pivot your hip more.” Ryu idly commented as the lackey seemed to lap up what Ryu was saying. “But honestly, I’m more interested in Cecile’s cool abilities.” He said as he shifted his gaze towards Cecile. 

“W-what?” Cecile said, left slightly surprised at what Ryu was suggesting. “What do you mean?” She commented after taking a moment to compose herself. 

Ryu’s smirk only continued to grow. “I mean, I wanna see you have a go at it!” He laughed as he gestured towards the fallen Yu. Cecile tilted her head to stare at the kid as a single bead of sweat dripped down to her chin. “I mean what better way to practice than on a human punching bag that refuses to fight back.” Ryu chuckled as he seemed to find amusement at the seemingly pitiful state Yu was in. “You do want to have fun? Don’t you?” 

The way he said those last words, had chills run down Cecile’s spine. She looked back to where Yu was at, before taking in a deep breathe. “O-of course.” She said as she raised her hand and used her ability to send an energy wave at Yu, knocking him back to the wall pretty hard. Ryu’s smirk continued to grow. Though he could tell something was a bit off. 

“Come on, no need to hold back. Let out all that pent up aggression. Not like this bastard’s gonna do anything about it.” He chuckled as he saw right through Cecile. Her eyes widened, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and walked up towards Yu. He barely looked up at her, the same cold and dead expression still ever present. For some reason, as she looked deep into his eyes, she felt a form of anger building up in her chest.   

Why? Why wasn’t he even trying to do anything? He had to be capable of at least something if everyone had noticed his abilities before. Did he really think the whole world was dead around him or something? 

“You have creepy eyes, you know that?” She said as she furrowed her eyebrows in anger, staring down at the boy beneath her. Although he had no reaction to her words and continued to stare on with those same ‘creepy’ eyes of his. Tch, what the hell was wrong with this kid?

She clenched her fists, it didn’t matter, he was just some no named cripple, she couldn’t understand why she was wasting so much time and focus trying to figure him out. The reminder of how much of her thoughts had been filled with trying to understand this enigma before her only continued to fuel the rising anger inside her. 

She looked at the downed figure before her, this time with more malice in her eyes. Before…

SLAP!!

A resonating sound filled the room they had dragged the boy in. His head slightly shifted to the side from the impact of her slap. Yu once again turned his head back to face Cecile. No change in expression despite the new mark on the side of his cheek. 

Cecile grit her teeth, all while the 4 boys behind her smiled widely at the show in front of them. Suddenly, she roughly grabbed Yu by the collar, making   him stare at her. Looking into her eyes as she did the same. Trying to find something in those emotionless orbs of his. The words of the old man flashed in her mind once more. 

Was this kid….really not human at all?

She clenched her teeth once more as she ultimately couldn’t find anything. “Come on.” She said, a slight hitch in her voice as she could feel the ends of her eyes prikling with tears in them. Though she couldn’t understand why. “Do something, would you!” She had almost yelled out to him as her eyes glowed with her ability and she brought his face closer to get an even better look. 

Though Cecile didn’t know it, as she was trying to find something in the eyes of Yu, Yu was also trying to find something in the eyes of Cecile. Her eyes may have been glowing, but there was some kind of light he had been looking for. He stared deep into her eyes as he slightly narrowed his own. Was there something-

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!” A totally different voice all together called out from the entrance of the room they were in. It was none other than Jay, who had given up on any type of logic in hopes of trying to help what he considered to be his friend. Though after he did so, he seemed to lose some of his nerve as he began to shake like a leaf. A million and a half thoughts began to swirl in his head as he doubted his ability to protect Yu from the bullies. 

“Hahaha, look at that little tough guy. He’s shaking like a leaf.” Buzz cut said as he approached Jay, no doubt to try and put him in his place.

But this time….Jay had other ideas as he closed his eyes and remembered all the teaching and training him and his dad did when he was younger. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, but he took a deep breath, gulped down the saliva in his throat, and steeled his nerves as he got into a fighting stance. 

All the while, a mad smile could be seen on Ryu’s face.

“Guys, I think we’ve been going easy on our little friend here.” Buzz cut said as he continued to approach Jay. However, even Cecile could see that there was something different about the former victim. 

Some type of…spark in his eyes seemed to form. 

“Relax, keep yourself calm.” Jay thought to himself as he intently focused on the approaching figure before him. “ Lift the back heel of the front foot at a slight angle. Bring the left elbow straight up.” He continued to recite in his head as Buzz cut kept going further, all with a cocky smirk on his face. “ And Jab!” He called as he threw a quick and powerful Jab, connecting beautifully. 

Without missing a beat, he shifted the weight to the front foot, rotated his hips forward, and threw a right cross!

“ARGH!” Buzz cut called as the blow knocked him to the side. “What the fuck are you doing, dumbass?” He said as he clenched his teeth in pain as he could see blood dripping down the side of his chin. 

Jay couldn’t believe his eyes. He did it. He really just did it! His blows were really landing now! Even as a measly 2.0, he still landed a solid blow on someone with a higher level than his!

Buzz cut looked back at Jay with nothing but murder in his eyes. Though, the moment he saw the steeled and determined look in Jay’s eyes, he hesitated moving any further. He flinched as he saw Jay slightly slide his feet over. 

“ I’m not scared of you anymore.” Jay thought as a strong look formed in his eyes. Meanwhile the boy before him began to shake. For fear or for rage, or maybe a mixture of both. Either way, he hesitated to step any further and continue on the fight. 

Cecile was honestly surprised and a little impressed. It took some guts to take on someone bigger and stronger than you like that. And maybe, just maybe in the back of her mind, she was rooting for the little guy for once. 

Though those hopes were instantly crushed as she watched Ryu casually walk over to the scene. And a sinking feeling began to build in her stomach. 

“Move.” Ryu ordered as he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Unless you want me to kick your ass next.” He looked at Jay with a wide smile on his face. “So Jay, you know how to box yeah?”

Ryu then proceeded to lean forward, taunting him. And just like that, Jay could once more hear his heart thumping in his ears. This was the start of the real fight, and he knew it.

“Let’s see what you're made of.” Ryu taunted as he stared right at Jay. 

“ Stay calm, stay calm.” Jay thought as Ryu continued to taunt him, but he would not fall for his tricks today. “ It’s a long shot, but I’ll go fast and hard! And corner him with successive blows!” Jay thought before launching a series of blow after blow against Ryu. Cecile could not believe her eyes that this little wimp who was just shivering like a leaf was taking on someone like Ryu like that. 

“If I can just get one clean hit in…then it’ll be my game!” Jay continued to motivate himself as he kept throwing punch after punch. “Just once….I just need to hit him just once!” He desperately thought as he continued to flail his arms around. However Ryu simply kept dodging as if he were nothing but a breeze in the wind. Soon Jay was getting tired from moving around so much so quickly. 

“Not so fast Jay.” Ryu commented as he continued to dodge. “Flailing your arms around like that will only wear you out. Each punch should be accurate and bold.” He casually said.

“Like this!” He exclaimed before launching a quick blow that hit Jay dead on. Cecile winced as she saw the action performed. 

And suddenly…the whole world around Jay began to rapidly spin…..

The first shot in a fight…is always crucial. Because it determines who gets the upper hand from then on. And the person who takes the hit….begins to feel as though all hope is lost.

“What’s wrong? You suddenly froze up.” Ryu commented.

And fear begins to settle in.

“I know you’ve been dying to fuck me up. Come on and show me how hard you’ve practiced buddy.” Ryu continued to taunt. This time, Jay fell for it as he swung with all his might against Ryu, who continued to dodge as carefree as can be.

Right before once again slamming his fist hard against Jay’s face. Knocking off his glasses in the process. Jay fell to his knees.

“Hey.” He heard Ryu’s voice call from above. “I went easy on you, so stop being such a wuss.” He laughed. Jay was panting, his head swirling while his mind began to go blank. “What? Giving up already?” Ryu said, putting his head near Jay’s. 

Jay grit his teeth, the image of his father boxing in the ring flashed in his mind once more. He grit the earth beneath him before slowly getting up. Ryu’s smirk only widened at the sight. 

“ Right now, I’ll bear the brunt of his attacks.” He thought as he tightened up his body. The same determined look still ever present on his features. “ If I can just stand my ground then he’ll get tired too. That’s my only chance at this.”  

“I like that look in your eye.” Ryu commented before putting one arm behind his back and facing Jay once more. “Alright then, round two begins!”

And just like that, the fight continued to struggle on to the bitter end.

This time, Jay would not fall for Ryu’s taunts, but that didn’t matter as Ryu was the first to act, punching right through Jay’s guard.

“ I need to tighten up more!” Jay thought as he tightened his guard more and activated his ability. It was a meager healing ability that couldn’t do too much at his low level of 2.0. But even still, it allowed him to endure the pain and attacks for at least a little longer. “ Endure it, you’re used to taking hits!” He thought as Ryu kept aiming straight for his head. But as soon as he tightened his guard more, Ryu suddenly landed a critical body shot that knocked all the air right out of Jay’s lungs. His ability ironically being titled 'endure' was useful for shielding himself and being able to take some good hits, it was why he was such a favorite guy to be picked on, cause they knew his ability would make it harder for him to break. But now, it seemed like he was barley able to even hold out against Ryu. It was a complete one-sides beat down. 

Cecile didn’t know how much more of this she could stand watching.

“ He targeted my head as soon as I raised my guard too high!” Jay thought in astonishment as he continued to cough and wheeze from the previous blow, before gritting his teeth. “ If that’s the case then I’ll just…tighten my guard even more!” Even with his sheer will, Ryu seemed to simply be toying with him. Knowing fully well what his opponent was trying to do. 

Blow after blow Ryu continued to land on Jay’s body, who simply had to endure it for as long as he could. But due to Ryu’s own ability, Jay’s healing factor was being completely mitigated as he took more hits. But still he continued to persist. Continued to endure in hopes of finding an opening. 

….It was a bitter struggle to win for him….

Eventually Jay saw it. Ryu’s body was moving at a wide angle. He must’ve been getting tired and so wanted to end him with a strong move with a large wind up. Jay saw his opening, and he took it without hesitation. 

“ Now!” He thought to himself as he forced his body to move right as Ryu was swinging at him. Jay intended to land a crucial uppercut, but instead all he witnessed was Ryu’s face forming a small smirk before he bent backwards at an extreme angle. Jay missed his attack, before getting socked in the head….very hard, right as Ryu swung his body back upright. 

Blood was pouring from his mouth as he lay on the ground. Which way was up? Which way was down? The whole world was spinning around him. But he needed to get up. He had to get up!

Because if he stayed down, then that would be the end of his boxing days…

Jay attempted to get up, but all it resulted in was a pathetic flop back onto the floor as he could not properly balance himself. Cecile bit her bottom lip as she watched the scene unfold. Her hair overshadowed her eyes.  

“I have to ride this out.” He heard a voice from above call out in mockery. “If I can just stand my ground, he’ll get tired too. Then I’ll get my chance.” Ryu continued on as he read Jay like a book. “That’s when I’ll hit him with all I’ve got.”Ryu then bent down to near eye level with him. 

“That was your plan wasn’t it?” He taunted as he stared directly into Jay’s eyes, before an evil grin formed on his features. “It was so obvious….you pathetic loser.” 

Jay grit his teeth, even with his body burning like it was, he wasn’t done yet. “ Get a grip, it’s not over yet!” Jay thought as he still tried getting up.

His father’s back kept flashing in his mind…..Giving him the courage to do all of this. To become someone like his dad. That’s what he really wanted….To be just as brave as his dad was whenever he boxed.

“ You can keep going!” He kept on motivating himself as he slowly got to his feet before swinging at Ryu with everything he had.

Only to be laughed at as Ryu simply dodged and landed another counter. 

SLAP!!

Cecile’s hairs stood on edge as she watched Ryu imitate what she did to Yu earlier by slapping Jay again and again. He still tried to fight on…but it all amounted to nothing as he was left on his knees once more.

….Because she already knew that’s what happens when you challenge the strong…

“So you know a thing or two about fighting huh.” Ryu commented as he turned his back to Jay, believing the fight to be well over. “Not bad for a loser. I’ll leave you alone from now on, so don’t step out of line.” He gave his slight bit of respect before beginning to walk away. 

Cecile’s heart skipped a beat. All of Jay’s struggle hadn’t been for nothing. Even without winning he was still going to be left alone. Not be harassed or attacked or bullied anymore. It gave her the slightest bit of hope for Jay. 

But that hope had all but been lost as she watched the boy struggle to his feet once more.

“ Why?” Cecile questioned in her mind. “ Just stay down. You’ve done enough. You don’t need to fight someone way out of your league in hopes of beating them.” She couldn’t fathom why someone like Jay would continue to stand despite the opportunity that had just been presented before him. “Why won’t you just stay down?”

“Wait….” Jay panted out as he once more got in his fighting stance. “I’m…not done yet!” Ryu slowly turned to face Jay. Only this time, there was no hint of amusement in his gaze. No, the expression on Ryu’s face could only be labeled as rage.

Pure….unbridled rage…

“Whoa, he’s got some balls.” The kid with orange hair said.

“Acting like a tough guy’s gonna kill him.” The one with the hoodie replied. And Cecile couldn’t help but agree with the notion.

Meanwhile….Yu simply stared on….as he watched Jay continue to fight an uphill battle.

SLAM!!

And just like that, the sound of Ryu’s fist meeting Jay’s cheek resonated across the area once more. Jay began to fall to the ground, but before he could do so, he was grabbed by Ryu before he pummeled him the rest of the way down. From there he continued to beat Jay until he was bruised and bloody all around his face. 

“Oh man, what if Ryu really kills him?” The orange haired kid said once more. Cecile slightly trembled at the thought. Was Ryu really that unhinged?

“He asked for it.” The one with the Buzz cut finally replied. “That idiot.” Cecile couldn’t help but grit her teeth at the boy’s words.

Even if what he was saying was true….even if Ryu was better than him in every respect than some no name low tier….did he truly have to go to these lengths to prove his superiority over them? That’s what Cecile wondered. 

“Didn’t I warn you not to step out of line?” Ryu finally began to talk again as he stared down at the messed up face of Jay. “Bitches like you always need a good beating to know their place.” He said, raising his fist. 

“DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU’D STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME? AGAINST ME? YOU LITTLE FUCKER.” He yelled out with nothing but murder in his eyes.

But just as quickly, the mad smile returned to his face, and he continued to lecture on. “Did you think you could win if you learned how to box?” He almost laughed at the notion. “I don’t know who taught you, but once a loser, always a loser! You twat. ”

“....No….” Jay managed to squeeze out, as all the attention was suddenly drawn back to him. “ I didn’t…think for a moment that I could beat you….” He wheezed as for the first time, Ryu’s expression shifted to a slight shock. 

“What?” He said, utterly confused by the words. So what the hell was the point of it all anyway then?

“Don’t you get it, you idiot.” Jay said, his voice quickly becoming stronger. No stutter or fear could be found within it. “I’m not the same old Jay anymore! I’ve already won!” He was giving Ryu a hard glare, while Cecile began to feel goosebumps as the words resonated back to her. 

“Being a better fighter than so-and-so? Being the toughest in the neighborhood….” He gave a slight pause, before finding just the right words to say next. “Fuck that sissy shit!” The people present almost sputtered at those words. 

Jay grit his teeth, furrowed his eyebrows, and stared at Ryu with the hardest glare he could muster. Before, with all his might called out:

“I’M GONNA BECOME A BOXER!!” 

….And just like that, for the briefest of moments….Yu had just witnessed a light before his very eyes….

“Y-you fucker.” Ryu barely managed to say, his fury overriding his thoughts as he could feel within himself, being humiliated. 

He then proceeded to pummel and pummel the downed boy before him. Letting loose blow after blow in his face with no signs of stopping dispute the obvious lack of struggle going on. 

“Still think this is sissy shit, you fucker?” He cried as he kept on punching. He grabbed Jay roughly by the collar before dragging him closer to eye level. “I SAID YOU STILL THINK THIS IS SISSY SHIT!?”  He screamed with such fury and anger, although to Cecile, it only made Ryu look like a child to her. Screaming and throwing a tantrum at someone like that….

“....Is it fun?....” A calm, cool, cold, and distant voice called from behind. They all turned their heads towards it on instinct, each expression mixed as they felt the air shift ever so slightly. “...Hitting people…” And emerging out of the shadows of the room….

“....Is it fun?....”

Was none other than Yu….

Cecile could feel something was wrong. She didn’t know how to react, what to do, or what to say at the moment. But she could feel that something had shifted in the boy not too far from her. A feeling that deeply unsettled her. 

Though as she stared into the cold abysses he called eyes, she could feel that it was not something good, as the memories of the words that old man had said  before briefly flashed in her mind…

“...He’s a monster…” She recalled him say.

….And she began to wonder just how true that statement was?..... 

“Is it some special day today? You’re all outta your fucking minds.” The boy with the buzz cut said as he rubbed the back of his head, breaking Cecile out of her train of thoughts. “I’m already having a crappy day as it is, so you’d better–” Though Cecile couldn’t quite grasp it, she could feel what was coming next…..

Pow…..BOOM!!

…Nothing but a simple ‘one-two-punch’.....And just like that, the boy was out cold. 

And everyone else was left stunned…

“You…” The boy with the hoodie called as he quickly charged, stepped around his friend, and winded up a punch. All while, Yu had not moved a single inch. 

Pow…Pow

It looked like everything was moving in slow motion. 

The orange haired boy stared at the unconscious eyes of his other, stronger friend. Before quickly turning around, screaming and running away from the total freak in front of him. 

Cecile stared at the boy, her feet rooted in the ground as she did so. It looked like…he was freaking bored with all this? 

Yu began to slowly walk forward, and for the briefest of moments, she wondered if she was gonna be attacked next? But before her thoughts could go any further, Yu simply walked ahead of her without a glance, and stared down at Ryu. Ryu stood up, and stared right back at him. 

The wind blew, and Ryu could feel his heart beating. He could feel himself on edge, though he didn’t know why. In fact, he was getting pissed just thinking about it.

“ What the fuck are you looking at with those creepy as eyes.” Ryu thought of as he fixed Yu a glare. “ You’re dead meat!” He thought before subtely sliding his foot forward, keeping able motion as he never took his eyes off Yu. The two titans stared at each other eye to eye. A genius vs a monster. 

…Cecile was simply dying to find out what happens next…

Slide…Ryu made the first move….

…POW!...

And just as quickly, a hole appeared right where Ryu’s right eye was. 

“AAAAAAAHHH!” Ryu screamed in pain as Cecile was left jaw dropped. She just witnessed the whole thing, but she couldn’t believe it. Had a hole really just been blown through Ryu’s head!? 

What in god's name did he just do to him?

“MY FACE! MY FACE!” Ryu continued to cry out. “I-is my eyeball still intact.” And all the while, Yu’s expression had not budged an inch. 

Sweat poured down the side of Cecile’s cheek as she watched Ryu back away from Yu. 

…A total monster…

Ryu was trembling. He was on the ground staring at the figure above him, wondering what the hell had just happened. Had he really just been hit by a jab? It felt like part of his damn face had been torn off! Could he have used an ability? Had he just been lying to him this whole time?

Ryu grit his teeth. No! He would’ve felt him use an ability if he had one, though that realization only made him angrier. This was not how things were supposed to be, he was the chosen one! He was the one gifted with strength! Like hell he was about to be shown up by some crippled loser! He quickly got back to his feet, nothing but murder in his eyes as he did so. That little fucker was gonna pay….he was gonna make sure of it!

He moved his feet around in quick succession, dancing around Yu. To Cecile, it appeared as though multiple Ryu’s were all around Yu. She couldn’t believe how fast he was moving, her trained eyes couldn’t keep up at all!

Although….it seemed as though Yu was not bothered by this at all….

Ryu had enough screwing around for now. This bastard had humiliated him enough as it is, and now was the time to hit him with everything he’s got! He kept moving around Yu as quickly as possible, before rapidly winding up and launching a slug directed right at Yu’s head. 

Yu, seeing this, slowly ducked his head down, planning to avoid the blow all together. Though Ryu noticed Yu’s actions, and it would not be enough to save him. He used his incredible flexibility to adjust the weight of his foot around, before quickly matching Yu’s duck. 

“ This…is what you call God-given Talent!” Ryu thought as his fist was mere centimeters away from Yu’s head. Cecile’s eyes were glued to the scene before her, undoubtedly figuring Yu was about to take his first hit. There was just no way to avoid something coming so close to you, coming so fast. 

WHIFF

Only to have those expectations completely crushed as Yu easily maneuvered his way out of Ryu’s range. Ryu was left momentarily stunned as both confusion and dread began to settle in as his balance was left completely open from hitting nothing but air. 

That was…until he noticed Yu winding up for another punch…

SLAM!!

The force of the blow generated a gust of wind that Cecile could feel from her position away. She winced as she wondered how much force was behind that attack of his. Though, judging from Ryu’s pained expression…he could feel every bit of it. 

BAM!!

And then she witnessed Ryu’s face cave in as Yu landed another devastating blow to his head. Her eyes widened at how easily Yu was toying with someone nearly 3 levels higher than herself. 

And from then on, it was just blow after blow. Yu just….kept on attacking. He just kept on hitting Ryu over and over again. Even from where she was at, she could see that Ryu had long since been rendered unconscious. But Yu just kept on going. 

….And the expression on his face never changed as he did so….

Cecile couldn’t tell how long he had been going at it for. She couldn’t even tell why she hadn’t run for the hills at this point in time. Something was just…keeping her in place. A force she couldn’t quite decipher simply would not let her move. 

And when the dust settled, and Yu had finally stopped, it looked like there wasn’t a single piece of Ryu that had been left unbroken or unbruised. 

Yu stood upright as he stared down at the broken boy beneath him. Before he slowly began to turn around and face Cecile. This time, as she stared into pools of darkness that were his eyes, she felt every single fiber of her being screaming at her to run away. Run away from the monster before her and save yourself!

But she just….couldn’t. She couldn’t move and she continued to stare at the boy she was just beating on not an hour prior. All the while he stared right back at her. 

“...It wasn’t…” Yu finally said after a painstakingly long moment of silence. Cecile was so lost in her fear that she barely registered that he had just spoken to her for probably the first time since they met. 

“W-what?” She hesitantly asked as her mind finally caught up with her. 

“Hitting people.” Yu responded back, as Cecile flinched at those words. Mark her words that those words were gonna haunt her nightmares for years to come. “...It’s boring…” He said after another moment of silence between them. 

He then shifted his gaze down to the other boy that was bloody and bruised not too far away from her, while she followed his gaze as he did so. 

“...But now I need money for the hospital bills….” The emotionless boy pondered, before casually walking away from the scene. As if nothing ever happened at all.

And leaving a thoroughly confused Cecile behind as he did so. 

“....W-what?...” Was all Cecile managed to say in response as she watched the retreating boy go. 

Not long after the incident, Ryu, Jay and the rest of the kids were picked up and sent to the hospital for their severe injuries. She heard that Yu had gone to that old man, K was his name as she had come to find out. She figured he must’ve taken the old man up on his offer to teach him how to box. Though Cecile could hardly figure how he could become more of a monster than he already was. But whatever the case was, that old man had seen the potential within the boy and seized on his talent to have him attain new heights than ever before. 

…Although the thought of that old man teaching that kid…only seemed to terrify her all the more…

As for Ryu, the last she heard of him he had left the area after all his hospital expenses had been covered. (Which she also figured to be the cause of Yu.) 

In the end though, it seemed as though getting away from those people and their unhinged emotions and antics seemed to be what was best for her. As soon after the incident, she finally applied and was accepted into the school she had been dying to get in for. One of the most prestigious schools in the country, with a track record of only accepting the best of the best. Soon she was going to be heading into that school, and away from this low end area. Into an area where she could really bloom.   

Into Wellston Academy.

And she only hoped a new start could be made there…away from all the people here that is.

Chapter Text

“Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed– and they have no comforter; Power was on the side of the oppressors– and they have no comforter.” (Ecclesiastes 4:1, NIV)

A boy alone in the dark.

And a monster surrounded by red stared back at him.

The boy with no life in his eyes…

“And I declare that the dead, who have already died, are happier than the living who are still alive. But better than both, is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that has been done under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 4:2-3, NIV)

The boy dreamed of the starry night sky, and a figure covered in a bright glow under them. 

“Some day, when you’re old enough, come to my school and I will gladly accept you. When you’re at the very top….BOY!” The figure had said. The memory of old, brought back anew. 

And that was when the boy had woken up. He slowly got up, nothing but an empty room surrounded him. Nothing but an empty room, and a lone cat by his side. He stared down at the cat, before gently petting its head.

“Meow.” It purred back at him.

It’s been 3 years. 3 long and hard years as K trained Yu. Although he used the term “train” very loosely in this context.

The kid was truly beyond anything K could ever dream of. He only needed to witness something, and he picked up on it. In fact, he didn’t even need to be trained at all! All the damn kid had to do this entire time was endurance training to get his body into shape. A stark difference from his previous lanky and almost malnourished figure from before. 

And once K had been told that the boy had no ability….there were no words that could describe the fear, joy, confusion, delight, and terror K had expereicned all at once. Even before he did any training and knew anything about how to box, he was knocking out the best of the best at K’s gym. 

All K had to say was “hit them under the chin” and the kid would do it perfectly. Without missing a single beat. It was truly an almost inhuman thing to behold. And once the kid finally got into proper shape, he was unstoppable. His physique was better than anything he had ever seen before and his musculature and toneness of his muscles were off the charts. Even throughout all his time in the military, witnessing the best of the best, K knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was no person on the planet that could stand up to the monster he had found in the wild. 

“ Well…no one but him maybe.” K thought to himself as he recalled the other monster he created during his long search. The monster that was the final end goal The only other monster on the planet who may have a chance of taking on Yu. And vice versa. 

But before that story could unfold, Yu had to work his way up to the top first. And he needed all the experience he could get before taking on Aaron. K thought to himself as he stared at the poster of his image up on the wall of his gym. 

K wanted to make sure that the match was just perfect before it happened…

K, smirked to himself. “Alright, that’s enough for today.” He called and immediately Yu stopped his repeated sets. A sweat barely worked up as he stared back at the older male before him. He had gotten a lot taller along with the absurd physique he had built up during all the time he had been training. Although at the moment, he could still be viewed as pretty ‘skinny’ for not building up too much muscle. 

But that was okay, because K wanted to work his way up the ladder of the boxing world. Taking every title there ever was.

“Soon our debut match is gonna begin, so we’ll be heading out on a plane ride to meet up in the area. So prepare yourself.”

“Sure, I guess.” Was all Yu had to say in response. Even after all this time, he still hasn’t changed one bit. K didn’t mind his completely apathetic attitude towards him. Even after all the years and time they spent together. 

Because to him…that apathy simply proved his natural superiority to all other humans. 

K’s smirk only continued to grow as he stared at the man…no monster before him.

“Good.” Was all he said before turning and leaving.

The plane ride was short and to the point. The pair arrived at their destination and unloaded off their bags as they walked across the airport. 

“Another superhero murdered by the hands of EMBER.” The TV station blasted throughout the halls of the airport as Yu nonchalantly glanced over at the source of the noise. Coming to face the burned and mangled body of a corpse on screen. What appeared to be a teen wearing a kind of suit. 

“More and more superheroes have joined the streets thanks to the workings of the book ‘UNORDINARY.’” The reporter explained. “And more and more heroes have been killed as a result of this wary group known as EMBER. Not much is known about the organization other than the fact that they have been the cause of these murders and the fact that they are highly dangerous.” The reporter continued on and on as Yu began to drown her out, only focusing on the dead body on the screen before him.

The body of a teenager…dead on the ground….

“Our debut match is gonna be here so we’ll be staying for a couple weeks. I already got us acquainted with proper living spaces so we’re all set for the upcoming match.” K explained to the boy next to him, dragging him out of his musings.

“Sure, I guess.” Was the regular reply of the boy before him. It didn’t matter though, K knew the boy had already processed everything he said long before he finished speaking. That was just the type of level he operated on. 

Yu looked around the area around him, a new place but everything was still the same. Still as boring as life ever was. 

Step…Step

Right foot then left foot, the pair continued to walk until they had almost reached outside the airport. 

Almost….before they had been stopped by a familiar figure…

“...Boy…” Yu heard a voice behind him call out. And suddenly, an image of a memory long since passed flashed in his mind. Although the expression on his face remained the same. K stopped in his tracks to see what was the commotion was about as Yu turned around ever so slightly, and came face to face with the man he had met so long ago.

Vaughn, headmaster of Wellston Academy. 

“Boy!” He exclaimed as a sudden smile appeared on his face as he went over to the boy he instantly recognized from so long ago. “How have you been kid?” He exclaimed as he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

“Alright, I guess.” Yu responded back with a completely blank tone in his voice. The smile Vaughn had seemed to strain at that, seeing that the boy still obviously struggled throughout his youth.

Though looking back at the boy’s condition from the last time Vaughn had seen him….he supposed he shouldn’t be so surprised at that.  

“Hmm.” K said as he watched the exchange between the two. An unsettling feeling building up in the corners of his mind. While he did not recognize the man, he seemed pretty influential based on his clothing alone and his recognition of Yu was something to take note of. Vaughn seemed to notice the man off to the side and instantly recognized him as the famed coach that had personally trained the best of the best in the fighting world, K.  

“Oh my, I didn’t expect to see the famous K around these parts?” Vaughn said to the older male. “Off looking for another boxer to train huh K?” Vaughn said with a slightly suspicious look from the corner of his eye. 

K simply smirked at that. “Oh no need.” K confidently responded back as Vaughn narrowed his eyes. “Because I already found the perfect boxer right here.” K said as he gestured towards Yu who barely gave a look of acknowledgment towards what he said. “In fact, we have our first debut match quite soon, which is the reason we’re here in the first place.” K finished his explanation. Meanwhile, Vaughn was left slightly dumbfounded at the proclamation. Who would’ve thought this young child who seemed to suffer so much before would be recognized as one of K’s own best boxers?

“Hmm.” Vaughn thought to himself as he put a hand on his chin in contemplation. Before he turned back to the boy before him. “Say boy,”  Vaughn started, “how has your schooling been going on? It must be quite difficult if you’re also working as a professional boxer on the side, no?” He finished off as he gave a questionnaire look at the once be kid.

K furrowed his eyebrows at that, and wondered where the hell this guy was going with this? But before he got the chance to respond, Yu gave his casual answer.

 “I don’t go to school.”  He responded back with the same blank tone and expression he always had. Vaughn raised his eyebrows at that before eyeing K off to the side as the older man made sure to do the same to him. 

“Well then.” Vaughn began as he closed his eyes and rubbed the top of his head, before looking back at Yu with a wide smile on his face. “How would you like to attend my school for the year?” He said with his arms opened to each side in a welcoming gesture. Yu slightly raised his eyebrow at the proclamation. 

He then outstretched his hand in a motion to shake Yu’s hand. “I would gladly accept you in my school.” Vaughn said with the utmost serious expression on his face. And at the same time, a memory flashed inside his mind at those words. 

“Some day, when you’re old enough, come to my school and I will gladly accept you. When you’re at the very top….BOY!” The words echoed in his brain as he contemplated the proposal laid out before him. 

But before he could give a proper answer, K quickly interrupted by grabbing Vaughn’s outstretched hand and forcely moving it off to the side. Away from Yu. 

“Don’t you think it’s a bit improper to just invite a kid to your school like that.” K said as he gave the man before him a very hard glare. There was no way this fool was gonna come up and try to take away his find. The monster he had found and begun to develop, the monster he longed to watch bloom. He was not about to have those plans be trifled with so readily. 

All the while, Vaughn had given the man an equally hard look as he pulled his hand out of K’s grasp. “Tell me K, are you this child’s legal guardian?” Vaughn questioned. 

K narrowed his eyes at the question. “What the hell are you getting at, old man.” He responded back.

Vaugh nearly rolled his eyes at the irony of being called “old man” by a man older than himself. “I’d like you to answer the question if you would be so kind.” He repeated himself.

K narrowed his eyes further. “No, I’m not.” He stated matter of factly.

“Ah.” Vaughn responded back in an almost tune to his tone. “Then you are aware that every child is under legal requirement to get a proper education until they reach adulthood.” Vaughn informed as he took off his glasses and began to clean them. “And seeing as how I am a headmaster of one of the most prestigious schools in the country,” He very clearly emphasized as K scoffed back at him. “I believe it is my utmost duty to provide a proper education under a safe environment for every child I can. Wouldn’t you agree?” He said as he calmly put his glasses back on. 

K began to grit his teeth, this bastard really didn’t know who he was messing with did he? “I’m sorry to inform you, but I have been providing everything Yu has needed while he has trained under me. While at the same time, I believe it is too late for Yu to apply for school at this point in time.” K explained as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms. “I mean what would he be at this stage in life, the graduation year?” He exclaimed with absurdity as he waved his hand around in a dismissive motion. “Yu simply doesn’t have the time anymore to go and complete 3 whole years of schooling at this point in time. Isn’t that right Yu?” He asked as he glanced at the boy to the side of him.  

“Sure, I guess.” Yu responded back as K nodded his head. 

Vaughn narrowed his eyes in distaste. He could tell there was something going on with K, and it wasn’t exactly a big secret on the reason all his boxers had decided to abandon K. No, his very nature was no secret to the world. 

“You understand that regardless of the circumstances, each child is still required to get a proper education right? I believe I am doing you a favor here, so I question such opposition. What would happen if the authorities found out about this after all?” Vaughn said, making his suspicion very clear and known to K. 

“Like I said, we don’t have the time for that right now. So you can take your favor right back to your fancy little school. So you can let them know for all I care.” K responded back with a clear edge to his tone as well.  

Vaughn grit his teeth at that. No…he could tell nothing good would come for this boy if he stuck around a man like K for the rest of his days.

On the bright side, he had learned the name of the boy he had known for so long. Albeit inadvertently. 

Yu…what a very simple name it was…

“Tell you what.” Vaughn began as he once more looked back at Yu, who stared back at him. The same blank eyes bore holes right through his very soul just as they had done all those years ago… “I’ll make sure to come attend your first debut match.” He said as he took a step forward towards Yu, in order to get a clearer look at him and hopefully Yu understood the gesture. “I want you to think about my proposal. You don’t need to complete all three years. Just the final year of school.” Vaughn then looked at the ground, contemplating the words he was gonna say next before coming up with just the right ones. “I’d like you to experience a nice, social environment and truly flourish your skills.” He said with clear impact, before turning around. 

“Until we meet at the top….boy!” Vaughn said as he gave one last smile before turning to leave the pair to their own devices…for now. 

“...Sure….I guess.” Was the only reply Yu gave as he watched the figure of the man disappear in the crowd of people before. The words echoing in his brain. 

All the while…the unsettling feeling began to rise in the pits of K’s stomach.

“Standing at a height of five foot 10 inches, and with a reach of 73 inches, weighing in at 135 pounds, from the lion’s boxing club….YU!!” The announcer spoke with such enthusiasm as K and Yu made their way to the ring. “Shrouded in a veil of mystery, what will K’s latest boxer have in store for us now!” The announcer continued to hype up the crowd. 

Although K himself slightly smirked at the choice of words as he walked along the aisle with Yu in tow. Oh he’s brought in something the crowd has never seen before…he can guarantee that. Although he looked off to the side and found that old man from before, Vaughn had taken a front row seat for the match today.  

K furrowed his brows. Damn, it seemed like the old man wasn’t bluffing after all. He had done some research on the man after their little encounter from prior and had found out he was a relatively high ranking figure around the area with a wide influence along with being the headmaster of one of the most prestigious schools in the country. It made him a harder target for sure at least. 

Oh well, K scoffed, he wasn’t worried at all. Because he was confident in the monster at his side. He was confident that he had found what he had been searching for, for all this time.

….A being, who truly transcends humanity…

Yu stepped into the ring and looked up as his vision was filled with bright lights and his ears were engulfed in the sounds of cheers from the crowd. Despite all this however, nothing had seemed to change for him at all. 

“And also stepping into the ring, titled the ‘rookie killer’ and weighing in at a solid 135 pounds, we have JOHN TAKER!” The announcer called out as Yu’s opponent also stepped into the ring. “His signature ability is called the rapid punch, allowing him to throw devastatingly powerful punches in such quick succession; the opponent doesn’t even know what hit em!” 

“Now, if you could just tell us what your ability is Yu and we can start the match as soon as possible.” The announcer called as he stepped into the ring and positioned his mic in front of Yu so that everyone could hear him properly. K simply smirked for he knew exactly what was gonna happen next. 

“I don’t have an ability.” Yu stated as dryly as possible as his voice echoed across the entire stadium. What once was an area filled with nothing but noise had become as silent as a ghost town from that one declaration alone. 

“E-eh?” The announcer shakily replied as he still kept his mic in front of Yu, seemingly having a very hard time processing what the famous K’s latest boxer had just claimed. “I-I’m sorry…could you repeat that please?”

“I don’t have an ability.” Yu stated once more, no different from the last time he had said it. Although seemingly no less shocking to the crowd the second time around as the silence continued to persist, even from the opposing side of the boxing aisle. The announcer looked off to the side and witnessed how K’s smirk had shifted into a full on smile as he did his best to hold in his laughter.

He could already hear the whispers about how he could’ve thought bringing in a cripple of all people into one of the most challenging sports was a good idea, he could even see from the way the announcer was eyeing him and the crowd whispered about him that they all must thought he had gone senile!

Those poor fools knew nothing of what was to come.

“O-ok then.” The announcer mumbled out, trying to regain his composure. “I guess we’ll begin the match then!” He awkwardly said as he moved out of the ring and each fighter got into position. 

Taker looked at the frankly lanky figure before him, and nearly scoffed. “ So this is really the rookie the famed K brought along to this battlefield?” John thought as he looked off to the side at where K was standing, smile still as wide as ever. “ Ah well, still pretty ballsy to come in to this shitshow without an ability like that. I might even go a little easy on the runt.” He thought as the bell finally rang, signifying the start of the match to begin. 

And in that exact moment….he could feel the shivers run down his spine as he looked into the cold dead eyes of his opponent before him. And the fear had settled in, the type of fear that was expressed before only once in his youth. 

And the type of fear the man never thought he would come to experience again in his newfound life. Because it was almost as if he could hear the gun click as it was pointed at him. 

SLASH!!

And the first punch had been thrown…leaving a perfectly clean cut on the left side of Taker’s cheek. 

POW, POW, POW.

A flurry of blows followed suit.

Taker slowly opened his eyes as he looked down at his feet. “ Blood?” He thought as he woke up from his momentary stun and noticed the blood on the ground. “ Did I black out for a sec?” He thought once more as he tried to regain his bearings. 

“Stop!” He heard the ref call from in front of him as the ref blocked him from Yu’s path. There was just too much blood not to do a check up at this point. 

The ringside healer quickly made his way over to John and began to use his ability to inspect his wounds and how much damage he was in. However the moment he did so, he was left stunned at what he saw. Each cut, each blow was perfectly clean. Usually direct blows or abrasions cause ruptures or breaks in the epidermis of the face. But each cut was so clean…it was as if he had been cut by a knife instead. 

The physician looked behind him at the other boxer and swallowed the lump that had been building in his throat. “ He made those wounds with no ability, and wearing gloves no less!” The man thought, astonished. And as he got a better look at him, it was almost as if he was staring at a demon wearing human skin. 

And all the while….Taker could hear his heartbeat building up in his chest…

“There’s been no impact on the bones or eyes, so even though he’s bleeding, he’s still good to continue.” The physician cleared John out before quickly leaving the ring, wanting to get away from the match as quickly as possible. The ref nodded before looking back at Taker.

“Taker, are you still good enough to continue the match?” The referee said, but he received no response as John had seemed like he was stuck in his own world, completely petrified. The ref narrowed his eyes, “TAKER!” He called as that had finally seemed to wake the man up.

“Hell yeah! These little scratches aint gonna stop me!” Taker called with as much enthusiasm as he was known for. The ref said nothing, but he made a mental note to keep an eye on him as the match progressed. He himself was still left stunned at what happened, to see someone like Taker who specialized in speed be so overwhelmed so quickly by someone with no ability was jarring to say the least.  

But none were more stunned than the headmaster Vaughn himself. It was simply one revelation after the other, first he finds out the boy he had known from so long ago was a cripple, although that may have actually helped explain the circumstances he found the boy in all those years ago. But despite that, he had just completely overwhelmed a seasoned fighter as if it were nothing, on his debut match no less! Vaughn looked over to where K was at and narrowed his eyes, he could feel that the man was up to no good, but for right now he focused back on the match.  

“Box!” And just like that, the match continued on. 

“ There’s something different about this dude, he’s unlike anything I’ve ever been up against before.” Taker thought, doing his best to assess the situation at hand. “ And not just his skills, or power despite being a cripple, no it’s not as simple as that.” From his many years of fighting experience, Taker had come to understand the very structure of fights, especially in boxing. And in matches such as these, there was an unspoken rule that all boxers followed even on a subconscious level. 

For boxing is a sport with structured rules, not something as simple as just some street fight! That’s why every move from a fighter in a boxing match is about technique, not raw violence. 

“ But I can't feel any restraints of ‘thou shall not kill’ from this guy at all!” Taker concluded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. Memories of his youth flashed before his mind. While incredibly rare in the world they lived in, Taker had been reminded of the most dangerous kind of person to ever come across in his darkest days on the slums of the street.  The type completely devoid of all emotion…

“This guy’s dangerous, really dangerous!” Taker thought as he began to sway from side to side. He activated his speed based ability so his movements became faster and harder to follow, he took one step forward.

Pow, Pow, Pow.

Taker was left stunned as more cuts formed around his face. He coughed up some of the spit that had been building in his mouth. “ He accurately hit me at every bob and weave! How is that even possible?” Taker thought as he was left dumbfounded at the prospect of someone who should be slower than him able to perfectly read and react to his movements before he even got the chance to retaliate. “ Is this guy even real?” As Taker looked up to see his opponent standing on the other side of the ring…

….He was suddenly eye level with him before he had time to process…

SLASH!

A devastating uppercut, although Taker had been able to avoid it and only get knicked in the cheek this time as he quickly tried to retaliate with a blow of his own. Only to be met with another slash, and then another, and another, all while his opponent perfectly danced around every punch Taker had tried to throw. 

It already went without saying who was going to win this fight, the very first few blows already determined who it would be from the very beginning. 

However, throughout the fight there were 2 things that K knew above all else would put on a show for the audience.

Blood

And Violence.

There was nothing better to excite a crowd than blood and violence. 

“...It’s the devil…” An audience member shakily said, watching the blood fly across the ring. The shakiness in his voice turned into a smirk as his tone became louder. “K’s brought the devil this time!” The man proclaimed loudly. 

And that excitement from the crowd….turned into ecstasy. And that ecstasy turned into a frenzied madness. 

“IT’S THE DEVIL!!”

“K’S BROUGHT THE DEVIL!!” 

The crowd cheered and roared as K’s cocky smirk from earlier turned into a full on crazed smile, taking delight in the madness that had consumed the crowd. Vaughn’s eyes were shielded by his glasses, but on his face was nothing but pure irritation. Annoyances at the trivialities of human beings to be so consumed by violence so willingly and easily. It was truly a disheartening view to hold, the misdeeds that seem to infinitely exist across the world. Vaughn thought as he sighed to himself and continued to stare at the match with more concern over Yu. 

“Hahaha, justice is served you piece of shit!”

“Look at him now!”

DIE!”

“That’s what you get for all those fouls you rotten bastard!”

The crowd continued to cheer and roar in delight as they watched what they believed to be a person getting their comeuppance. As they watched John Taker get brutalized without a shred of mercy by someone way above their league. And in the midst of the cries and cheers of him to be taken down…

He was alone in the darkness, only able to shield and cover his body from the oncoming assault. Vaughn continued to watch and felt a bit of sympathy for the man, knowing people’s rumors never truly captured the full picture of a person’s actual characteristics or personality. But such are the cruelties of the world to be deemed to watch a man get beaten into an inch of his life all for the sake of what they called ‘sport.’

….Because not everyone is cut out to be in the limelight…. 

Nobody knows the kind of effort Taker had put in to get where he was, nor the struggles he had to overcome in his youth just to happen upon the chance to become something better than what he was. And through sheer hard work, dedication, and motivation, he was able to find and pursue a better life for himself. 

But none of that mattered, all that mattered now was simply the blood, violence, and game of the sport that came along with living in this dark and twisted world. Only the sting and pain of defeat, failure, and mockery followed him at this point. 

“JOHN!!” The cheers were interrupted by a scream of a man on the side of Taker’s ring, none other than his coach.  

But even still…

“I’LL ALWAYS BE BY YOUR SIDE!!” The man screamed with all his heart as he remembered the times of the boy who pulled a knife on him, bloodied and bruised from the streets. A boy he had shown a whole new world to. 

As long as people are by your side, that pain becomes bearable.

And suddenly, Taker was back in motion as he launched a hard right towards Yu, who narrowly avoided it. His ability was blazing fire at this point and his body continued to speed up. 

“ Honestly, I envy you.” Taker thought to himself as he continued pushing forward, even as Yu would counter him with punch after punch. “ A guy like you would never have to worry about getting cast aside as a boxer.” Despite the circumstances, that thought brought a slight smirk to his face as he recalled him dismissing his opponent in the beginning, off the basis that they were a cripple. “ Although I suppose if I had to go down, it’s nice to see someone stick it to their big shots up there with their so-called ‘hierarchy.” John thought as his smirk turned into a full on smile as he stared ahead at Yu

“ But even still, even if my talent may be second rate…” John thought as he was finally able to get his signature move in and hook his arm around Yu’s shoulder. “ I’ll never back off!” He cried in his mind as he threw a blow with a full force swing, doing his best to capitalize on the opportunity as the memories of all the smiles he’s had while training for boxing flashed in his brain.  

SMASH!!

….Crack…

The distinct sound of bones being cracked was heard across the ring as everyone present were left dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. 

Yu had perfectly timed his blow to match Taker’s own…and he had angled it perfectly so Taker would be the one receiving the most damage. Yu glanced up slightly at the man he saw smile towards him earlier before….

BOOM!!

And ended the fight…

K smiled a crazed smile…for his monster was complete. All the while, Vaughn frowned as all he saw was a young boy being dragged along a path they didn’t care for. A path being carved for them in nothing but blood and pain for everyone that crossed it.  

….A path only for a monster to walk….

The pair walked along the edges of the hallway out of the stadium. K was more than satisfied with today’s performance, and he couldn’t wait to unleash this beast on the next match already. 

“Soon, soon I’ll have him face off against the only other monster who can stay up.” K thought to himself as he grinned in delight of imagining his other previous boxer facing off against his latest creation. It was his dream, his end goal to find the only person who is truly worthy of transcending humans. 

“ But will it be enough…” K pondered as he thought about the path Yu would have to walk before reaching the very top. Sure all the guys before Aaron were tough in their own right, but Yu was a complete monster who would dominate the field rather easily. In order to truly see what Yu was capable of though, he needed him to face opponents on his level- 

However, that train of thought was stopped as soon as K noticed the man standing at the end of the hall, and quickly furrowed his brows in frustration at the sight of none other than Vaughn. 

Vaughn quickly approached the duo, his glasses covering his eyes until he had reached right in front of Yu. K stood straight, matching Vaughn’s own height, clearly seizing him up while raising a brow at what his next move was going to be now that he had seen firsthand the kind of power this boy was holding inside of him. 

Before he could internally question any further, he watched as Vaughn extended his arm for a handshake towards Yu.

“That was a splendid match there, Yu.” Vaughn said, using the boy’s name for the first time as he patiently waited for Yu to take his hand. Yu glanced down emotionless at the hand before him, before slowly tilting his head back up and grasping Vaughn’s hand. Vaughn seemed mildly shocked at the gesture despite being the one who offered, but nonetheless gave a firm handshake towards the boy. 

“Sure, I guess.” Was the cold reply Vaughn received. Although he was not deterred in the slightest as he knew just what he wanted to say next. 

“So, have you considered my proposal?” Vaughn questioned as he released Yu’s hand. Immediately, K narrowed his eyes at Vaughn, but said nothing as he wanted to witness what Yu’s reaction would be to this type of situation. Everything darkened around Yu as he continued to stare at the man before him, silently. 

K believed this to be a useless endeavor however. 

“Look, sorry pal, but right now there’s no time to be worrying about school protocols or whatever. He’s actually going places, so it’s best to not be stuck down by some worthless-” K never got to finish his sentence as Vaughn quickly turned and interrupted him. 

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Vaughn quickly said, cutting K off as he barely glanced back at him with a glare in his eyes. Before turning back towards Yu, “I’m asking you Yu, will you attend Wellston Academy?” Vaughn once more outstretched his arm, this time to signify an agreement between two individuals. Although Yu made no move at the gesture. 

“Oh is that so?” K said as he fixed Vaughn with his own glare, before quickly snatching Vaughn's hand away from Yu. This time, Vaughn fixed K a hard glare as he matched it as well. “I think it’s best we get going, we have upcoming matches to train for after all. And it’s best not to be held down for years by something so worthless, when there are much bigger opportunities to go for.” K explained with a slight smirk to his tone as he made a move to leave. 

Before they got the chance to though, Vaughn quickly turned back to Yu and continued to give him the details towards his agreement. 

“You don’t have to attend for the full three years.” Vaughn quickly announced as he made sure to stare right into the boy’s eyes. They were still the same as the first time he met him. Still as empty and disinterested towards the whole world around him, towards life in general. The memories of that young boy crouched on the corner of a street flashed in his mind as he grit his teeth and resolved with himself that this boy needed more exposure. 

More exposure…to the world, to nature, towards life as a whole. Meet new people and make new friends just as every person in their youth should. Not focus on hitting people…just for its enjoyment. No, something must be done about this. 

“I’d like for you to attend my school, Yu.” The headmaster stated as he continued to look dead on towards the boy before him. 

All the while, Yu continued to stare back. Unblinkingly and with no move towards agreement or disagreement. Before long however, he slowly reached for his hand…and gave it a tight grip. 

“Sure, I guess.” Was all he said in return as he took the headmaster’s hand and shook it. 

Both men were left shocked at the move, before a kind smile adorned Vaughn’s lips. “Fantastic. I’ll be sure to send you all the details needed to enroll.” He said before turning away from the pair, but not before he gave some final parting words to his now new student.  

“I’m happy to see you’ve reached towards the top, boy.” Vaughn said before turning away and making his leave. 

“Sure….I guess.” Was the only thing said in return as Yu’s blank eyes stared at where Vaughn was at previously. All the while, K had furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.  

A school, a damn school of all places to waste time at with other lowly creatures beneath him. K thought to himself as he was frustrated by the turn of events. Before he reached for his chin and gave the prospect a bit more thought behind it. 

…A school huh…

How interesting...

Chapter Text

“Huff…Huff.” Yu was panting, the lights of the stadium flashing in his eyes as he stared at his opponent. An opponent like none other he’s faced before. 

“Yu is really struggling, in his bout against none other than the mysterious cat boxer!” The announcer said. “It looks like even Yu doesn’t stand a chance against the deadliest hunter in the wild, the cat king!” 

In rapid succession, the two traded blow for blow as they boxed across the ring. Yu could hear the roars of laughter of K as he did his best to avoid the flurry of cat attacks. It was getting harder and harder and he was making no progress, only wearing himself out more as the fight dragged on. That was, until he saw the glint in the cat boxer’s eyes. 

“Meow.” Was the last thing Yu head before being smacked across the cheek, resulting in him waking up. His cat next to him as it always was when they slept. He looked to the side and found that it was 6:00 AM. He was about to go out for his regular routinely run, before he quickly realized:

Oh yeah…he had to go to school today. 

Before he went however he was gonna go check up on the coach to see his regular schedule as was the typical routine for him day in and day out and let him know. He quickly got dressed and made his way over towards the Lion Boxing Club gym. 

“I’m heading off towards school today.” Yu said nonchalantly as he made his way over towards K. K simply turned his head towards the boy, before a wide smile formed on his features. 

“Alright.” He said as his expression morphed into a slight smirk and he put his hand on Yu’s shoulder. “Make sure you come back for training after school is over.” K reminded him.

“Sure, I guess.” Was all the reply he received, but it was all K needed to hear before he watched as Yu turned around and began to make his way over towards Wellston Academy. 

“Oh, and one more thing before you go.” K said as Yu slightly turned his head back towards K. He squinted his eyes slightly as his smirk once again turned into a wide smile showing all of his pearly white teeth. “Go and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.” K told the boy before him. 

Yu said nothing in response to that, he simply stared at K for a moment as the world around him seemed to darken. Before turning around and heading off towards school. 

As he watched him leave, K began to internally laugh to himself. While originally staunchly opposed to the notion of Yu attending any type of school over the prospect of the potential that his connection towards Yu could somehow be compromised. However, as he dug deeper into the notion and did more research on the matter, he couldn’t have been more glad at this golden opportunity presented before him. 

K was keenly aware of the type of environments schools were. The overinflated ego’s of the youth trying to prove their worth with power and violence was all too prominent in the world they lived in. And nothing showed this more than school’s. The greediness and smugness of the people drunk off their own power was going to be great prep meals for Yu’s gains. 

So, seeing as how Yu was now going to be attending one of the school’s with the highest concentration of high tiers in the country, K now saw an opportunity to watch as the monster before him would go and crush any and all opposition in front of him and dominate whatever environment he was in. That idiot Vaughn had no idea what kind of person Yu was, and this mistake was going to cost him greatly as Yu would come to dominate and crush all those cocky little bastards in one swift go. 

Yes…this school was simply a testing ground for Yu to garner more experience and gain more strength, before eventually….he would come to face the only other monster in the world who could take him.  

Those fools are never gonna know what hit them.  

“Ah Yu my young lad. So good to see you here!” Vaughn said as he greeted Yu at the front of the school. He had been expecting him for quite some time but he was nonetheless happy to see that he had arrived after all. “Excited for many new prospects to occur over here at Wellston Academy?” 

“Sure, I guess.” Was all Yu said in response towards him. Keene, the school security director, just stared back at Vaughn with curiosity and confusion in his eyes. He had been notified of course of the prospect of a new transfer student attending Wellston, but what he was curious about was why Vaughn had seemed to take such interest over the boy in the first place. While Vaughn was regarded as a kind man and known in school and around the staff for his genuine care for the students here, still his current actions are certainly different than what was to be expected of him. 

What was so special about this new kid after all. Was what Keene couldn’t help but think to himself. 

Vaughn, undeterred by the lack of emotion in the response, put his hand on Yu’s shoulder and directed him towards the entrance of the school. 

“Fantastic. Now listen, I have already hand picked your classes for you, so just follow the schedule listed here and you should be just fine.” Vaughn said as he handed the schedule off to Yu and directed him towards the front entrance who began walking as soon as he received the sheet. 

“Oh and Yu.” Vaughn started as Yu turned to face him, he was intending on giving Yu some final advice before he started his first official day at school. “Go out and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.” Vaughn said to him as a kind smile appeared on his features.

Yu simply stared at him for a moment, nothing being said between the two as his eyes seemed to bore holes straight through the pair. The words bearing a striking resemblance to what he was told earlier that day by another adult figure in his life. Though the two having vastly different ideas in mind as they said it to him. 

“Sure, I guess.” Was all he said before once more turning around and heading inside school, heading off to his first class. 

“Oh and be sure to make some friends!” Vaughn called out for the final time as he watched Yu enter the halls of Wellston Academy. 

“Hand picked the classes sir?” Keene questioned as he found the whole interaction between the two odd. Especially the apparent behavior of the kid. Though Vaughn seemed undeterred by that fact if the smile on his face was anything to go by. 

“Oh yes, funny enough we actually have a student who used to attend the same school as Yu before high school.” Vaughn said back towards Keene. “I simply put them in the same class, I’m sure they’ll be able to catch up nicely.” He said as he turned back to where Yu was standing prior, having a relatively good feeling about the events to come for Yu and the experiences he might gain while attending Wellston. 

Meanwhile Keene wasn’t entirely sure how ethical all this extra treatment this completely random kid was getting was. 

Another day, another dull turn of events was what Cecile thought to herself as she sat in her seat by the window’s edge in the back of the classroom. 

“Now as you’re all aware, today is the due date to hand in last week’s lab.” The teacher announced much to the dismay of the class before her. Cecile scoffed at the dismissive attitude the class had towards their study work before getting out her own work she had already completed last week. “But before that, we seem to have a new student being transferred to class today so I’d like you all to be welcoming towards him.” 

 Cecile began to tune the teacher out at this point as she huffed to herself and stared out the window. It hardly mattered anyway, Wellston was famed for its concentration of high tiers being the highest in the area, so it was rather typical to get some transfer kids. Though it was rather untypical for them to be transferred in the midst of class. Oh well, it hardly mattered since most newcomers weren’t worth the time of day. A position she held as evident by how she didn’t even bother glancing back as the door opened. Instead opting to continue staring at the clear, crisp sky outside. 

“Now, would you like to tell us your name, young man.” She offhandedly heard the teacher say, although she still wasn’t paying any attention to the front of the class. 

“....Just call me Yu…” Was all that was received from the boy in question.  

BADUMP 

Cecile’s breath hitched as she distinctly heard the name of the newcomer, their voice bearing an eerie resemblance to someone she knew from her past. Time seemed to almost freeze around her as she began to sweat slightly. Her eyes wide as saucers as she still continued to stare outside the window. 

“ It…couldn’t be.” Cecile thought to herself 

BADUMP 

She tilted her head forward, ever so slowly, back towards staring at the front in order to confirm or deny her suspicions. Dread began to creep in as she felt the minimal process of simply tilting her head to the side take agonizingly long. 

BADUMP 

She looked ahead, staring at the person from head to toe, inspecting every part of him as the figure she believed she’d never see again. 

BADUMP–

She felt her heart stop for a moment as she looked up towards his face. And that was when they locked eyes with one another. 

“ A monster.” She recalled the words of that older man she saw from years before had called him. And as she stared to the cold depths of his eyes, that after all this time they still had the same emotionless expression as he’s always had.

…And she began to wonder just how true those words remained…

“Oh, would you look at that.” The teacher began, completely oblivious to the dilemma Cecile was currently in the midst of having. “There’s a nice, open seat by Cecile. Why don’t you take that chair by the window and we can begin class.” They finished off as the teacher pointed towards the empty chair that happened to be by the same girl he used to go to school with. 

“...Sure, I guess…” Was ever the same response from Yu. 

“ Noooo.” Cecile thought to herself as she began to start sweating while she watched him take his seat across from her. “Why is he here of all places!” She just couldn’t wrap her head around the unbelievable turn of events that somehow landed him of all people to land in the same school as her. Sitting right next to her in fact!

As for Yu, he had been a bit surprised to find Cecile here as well. But didn’t really care all that much since he found the whole thing as ‘meh.’

…But he didn’t mind it either… 

Cecile did her best to turn her mind away from her present problem and attempt to focus her attention on the subject material. (Not that she really needed to.) Unfortunately for her, while she could turn her head away from Yu and get him out of sight, it did not result in getting him out of mind. Especially with him so close to her and all. 

What was even worse was that she could hear all the whispers from the class as the teacher prattled on about the subject matter, their attention solely focused on the new kid in town. She heard things like some of the girls commenting on how “cute” the new boy looked, (something she actively tried to avoid thinking about as well…key word being tried.) Or some of the boy’s comments about the apparent “attitude” of the new guy. (Something she hardly bothered concerning herself with.)

But the thing that really concerned her the most were all the comments wondering about what his potential ability may be. Images flashed in her mind of the time she had come to find out about his lack of ability and therefore “cripple” status….as well as being reminded about how, or more aptly, who exactly had caused her to find out in the first place.

…And what had resulted in the bout between the two…

She shook her head lightly, trying to clear her thoughts. She knew that once the school discovered his cripple status, they would relentlessly provoke him in an attempt to put him in the proper place in the hierarchy. In the place he should be in, but for some reason wasn’t due to some absurd nature of his strength. Regardless, she knew what the outcome would be if he was to be pushed too far and the kind of disorder it would cause in the current hierarchy as a whole. 

Although…if he was the strongest…then shouldn’t he be the one on top of the hierarchy? 

Cecile couldn’t dwell on those thoughts any longer because class had ended before she had even realized. She looked off to the side and saw that Yu had hardly made a move to leave. In fact it hardly looked as if he had moved at all during the entire time he was in class. Though she supposed she shouldn’t really be expecting much different from an enigma like Yu after all.

"...Just the same as he always was..." And there was almost a fondness in her thoughts as she recalled the skinny, frail kid who would silently sit in class but at the same time could pack one hell of a mean punch. 

Cecile turned once more as she noticed two girls approach Yu’s desk, and already she could feel the dread begin to seep into her being. 

“Hey there!” One of the girls of the class charmingly waved towards Yu, bringing Cecile out of her little daydream there. Yu in turn only turned his gaze slightly to meet the pair. “You’re the new kid, Yu was it?” 

“Yeah.” Yu’s response was as short as ever. Although Cecile did take note of how his voice did seem to get deeper as well with age. Though the coldness to his tone was still the same as ever.  

“So, how’s it feel to be in Wellston?” The second girl started. “Must be pretty proud to make it into one of the top academy’s in the country huh.” These girls were obviously trying to make a connection with him, as was typical for the people here. Find out all the information you can about your peers before deeming them to be either useful or useless based on their ability. 

“Sure, I guess.” Cecile would’ve laughed at the completely dismissive attitude these girls were getting had it been from anyone other than him. 

“Oook…” The first girl said, clearly unnerved by his attitude. “Say, do you and Cecile know each other, it kind of seemed like you two recognized each other when you walked in?” The girl said, switching topics as both of them now stared at her. Cecile was left completely caught off guard from the question, not expecting her to be brought up in whatever conversation they were having. She turned her head, about to quickly answer the duo that they didn’t know each other, before Yu had beat her to it.

“Yeah, we used to go to the same school together.” Yu responded in probably the most words he’s spoken in a sentence for a while. Meanwhile, Cecile had dropped her head down slightly as she could feel that a world of problems were about to begin to stir for her. She really did not need to be reminded of that fact at the moment.

“Oh cool. So were you two like friends?” The girls asked, once again staring back at Yu. Cecile’s head sharply shot up at the question, flashes and reminders of the time she either watched him get beat or beat him up herself appeared before her and suddenly she became extremely nervous at what kind of answer he was about to give. 

As for Yu, in response to the question, flashes of his own appeared in his mind. He saw the images of her idly sitting by him and Jay during gym class, or him staring back at her in the dead of night. The times their gazes caught one another or when they talked, how little it may have been. It wasn’t much, but he knew her, so I guess that made them…friends? 

“...Sure, I guess…” Was all he said in response, although still a conclusive answer none the less. Cecile snapped her head towards Yu and stared at him wide eyed, not expecting that answer at all. 

“ But why would he?” Cecile thought to herself as she tried to wrap her mind about why in god's name he would consider her of all people friends with him. They never really talked to each other and whatever interaction they did have with one another, it was never exactly the pleasant type. 

Although…she did vaguely recall a type of connection for him then? Or maybe one would classify it as a wanting for answers as she had been invested in finding out about him. 

“That’s really awesome that you were friends with one of our resident high-tiers.” Girl number two said, going back to the conversation at hand. “So,” she began as suddenly her expression darkened, and already Cecile could feel what was coming next. “You must have a pretty powerful ability yourself huh.” 

And there it was, all the people left in the room suddenly had their attention shoot up in response to the question. All wondering on what part of the hierarchy this new guy fit into, Cecile grit her teeth, knowing exactly what response they would receive. 

“I don’t have an ability.” Yu stated bluntly. The two girls, who were once all smiles and laughter, suddenly stared at him with wide eyes, before their expression turned into one of pure disgust. 

“What did you just say?” The first girl said through clenched teeth. 

“I don’t have an ability.” Yu stated once more, exactly the same as before. Cecile took this moment to examine the expression on the boy’s face. 

…It had been no different than the time he spoke those words to her, still so devoid of life or any kind of emotion in them at all….

This time the girl’s brows furrowed into one of rage before they spat out, “Ugh a complete loser, I can’t believe we had to waste so much time on someone like him. A freaking cripple!” The girl spoke to her friends who nodded in agreement.

"Ugh I know. Juts how many of these freaks are they going to let into this school?" The other girl let out in an exaggerated tone, before she turned her rage towards the other apparent resident in the conversation. 

“How could you be friends with someone like that Cecile?” The second girl turned and looked at Cecile with anger in her eyes. But as soon as she met eyes with Cecile, she promptly realized the mistake she had just made.  

Cecile narrowed her eyes at the girl before her. “Excuse me?” She sharply said back as the girl began to sputter out incoherent responses as she began to sweat nervously, while her other friend  backed away from the situation. It seemed as though Cecile would need to remind these idiots of their place in the hierarchy. 

“Listen closely.” Cecile sharply stated as she grabbed the girl’s wrist, giving it a tight squeeze. “What I do and who I interact with is none of your business. Got that?” She breathed out as she stood over the now frightened girl. 

“Y-yes.” The girl quickly nodded in submission before Cecile let her go, but not before giving her another deadly glare as she ran away with friend in tow. She then turned towards Yu who had inadvertently caused the whole situation in the first place. He barely made a move to glance back at her as he simply stared dead ahead of him, eyes devoid of all kinds of life. His attitude was still as incredibly frustrating as ever!

She could hear the whispers from across the room already, the drama, the gossip, and the discovery of the new cripple in school. 

“Another cripple? What is Wellston now, some charity service?” She heard one boy say from across the room. 

“Do those two really know each other? They’re really friends?” Another girl commented on the situation. 

“I hope not, never a good look to be hanging around a loser cripple after all.” Another person responded. 

“Tch.” This was all kinds of wrong, and not how things were supposed to go at all. Cecile bit her lower lip, before it felt as if there was a force pulling her towards acting, she grabbed the end of Yu’s school uniform and directed him outside. 

“Come on, let’s go.” Cecile said, her hair overshadowing her eyes as she pulled Yu towards the exit, who simply followed her along with no resistance. All the while the whispers about the two of them only continued to grow as she not so subtly led him out the room for all to see. 

Unbeknownst to the two however, there was another person in the room who had taken quite the interest in the conversation at hand. A person who also happened to have their own unique relationship with the other resident cripple of Wellston Academy. 

“A cripple huh.” A girl with highlighted purple hair thought to herself. “How interesting.” The strongest in the school said out loud. 

“What are you doing here?” Cecile got straight to the point as she took him to a more secluded location down the hall. 

Yu simply stared back at her, unblinking at her slight irritated gaze towards him. “I’m attending school.” He responded back to her. 

Cecile took in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can see that.” She stated back. “I’m asking what you’re doing here though.” 

“I was invited by Vaughn.” Was his short reply.

“The headmaster invited you?” Now this was a curious thing. She wondered what kind of incident could’ve led to the headmaster taking notice of someone like Yu. However, all Yu did was shrug his shoulders in response towards her. She sighed once more, this was getting her nowhere. She just now had to live with the fact that Yu was now attending the same school as her, in the same class no less. 

“I can’t believe this is happening.” She thought to herself, biting the lower end of her lip. Before mentally sighing to herself once more.

“So…” Cecile began, moving onto a different topic. If she had to deal with him, then may as well get some information out of it right? “What do you plan to do now?” It was a curious thought on what could be the intended plan now that he was in Wellston. 

Although, all she received in response was another shrug of the shoulders. “Study, I guess.” I mean what else was there to do in a school? Though Cecile seemed to have something different in mind if her blank look towards him was anything to go by. 

“Seriously?” She questioned. “Someone of your caliber of strength should aspire to reach the very top of the academy. Earning the title of king and take control of all those below you.” With that his expression changed just a bit, as he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at her. Her words have an eerie familiarity to them.

Yu simply shrugged once more at her words. “I just find it boring.” He simply said.

“Excuse me?” Cecile questioned. 

“Hitting people…ruling as ‘king.’ It just sounds boring to me.” He said once more as he stared directly into her eyes. Dark gray eyes met purple as they stared at one another. And for some unknown reason, whether it be from his words or from the strange circumstances that led to them meeting each other once more, whatever it was, the images of when they were 15 flashed inside Cecile’s mind as she stared back at Yu. 

She shook her head lightly, realizing she had been staring, before sighing to herself. “Honestly I don’t know what to do with you.” She huffed out as she closed her eyes and touched her forehead. He was confusing, to an almost frustrating degree that was for sure. 

But even still, he just had some kind of...strange aura around him that wanted her to break down his walls and uncover whatever secrets she could find. The inner journalist in her or something else, she couldn't quite tell. 

So, after a moment, she peeked out one eye and looked at his face once more, he did look older. Though that should be expected given how long it’s been since they last saw each other. But it wasn’t just his face that had matured, he was taller for sure too, a head taller than her. And had he been working out? His shoulders looked to be more broad. 

“Can’t really call him lanky anymore.” Cecile thought to herself as she continued to examine him and all of the differences he’s had over the years.  

Though he still was the same as ever. Still the same quiet, meek looking kid that knew how to pack one hell of a punch. 

“Pfft.” But for some reason, that thought brought a light laugh to her voice as Yu looked back at her questioningly. She tilted her head to the side to face him once more, a small smile touched her lips as she did so. “Good to see you haven’t changed one bit Yu.” There was a bit of warmth to her voice, though she didn’t know where it came from or why it was directed at Yu in the first place. 

She then walked up to him and lightly put her palm in the center of his chest. “You’re a complete enigma, you know that?” She commented as the light smile remained on his face. Yu did not mind the fact that she was touching him, but her words did seem to confuse him a bit. “Can’t believe you’re the passive type.” Cecile almost laughed at the notion as she closed her eyes once more. 

 “Although you’re probably gonna get some hassle because of your cripple status, I’m sure you’ll be able to take care of yourself just fine, but if you really don’t want to make a big scene for yourself then I suggest trying to keep as low of a profile as possible.” She said before gently gliding her hand away from Yu’s chest and began to walk away, but not before some final parting words towards Yu. “I’ll see you around,  so take care of yourself, k.” She waved away with a small smile on her face before heading off, all the while, Yu simply stared back at her retreating figure. 

“...Sure, I guess….” Was all he said in response as he watched her fade into the background. Her words however, sticking with him nonetheless.

Chapter Text

It had been a couple of days already since Yu had officially transferred to Wellston Academy, and during that time, Yu had come to the conclusion that school was just…boring. 

Each class….was the same to him. A different subject, but still the same regardless. Stay in class, stare idly at the teacher with no emotion in his eyes, do the work assigned, leave, head back to school the next day, rinse, lather, and repeat. The work wasn’t anything too special either, the work wasn’t challenging to him nor did he struggle with anything he was assigned despite theoretically being way further behind than all the other kids in the school. In fact he never got anything less than a perfect score for any assignment he took.  

Even on the entrance exam he was instructed to take by Vaughn in order to “gauge where he was academically wise,” he still got a perfect score on the exam. Which was apparently some outstanding feat based on some of the other examinee’s reactions to the score. It just wasn’t all that challenging to him or did he particularly struggle with any one subject over the other. They were all equally easy for him to do. 

It was just…boring to do. Just like everything else Yu had experienced in his life. 

Nothing but boredom.

“Alright, be sure to prepare for the upcoming exam in a couple days. Class dismissed.” The teacher announced before letting the class go. Yu picked up his stuff from the floor and headed out the door. It was lunch time, during this part of the day Yu simply went over and got his lunch before heading off to some random area or table and ate his food in silence. Sometimes other kids would sit at the same table as him, but they wouldn’t interact with him. It was simply just another part of the day for Yu.

Nothing to look forward to and nothing to be disappointed in. Just another day in the meaningless game of life. 

“Hey cripple! Look out!” A voice tauntingly called behind him. Yu calmly tilted his head backwards to see who had called out to him, only to come face with a hand glowing in red energy mere inches away from his face. 

Expression unchanging, he simply tilted his head further off to the side and avoided the blow entirely.

“Huh? W-whoa oh no!” Ironically, Yu was by the stairs when this random kid decided to attack him for no reason, so Yu avoiding his blow caused the boy to lose his balance and tumble straight down the stairs. “Owww.” The boy moaned as he rubbed his head, small cuts littered his face from the fall. Yu hardly gave a glance over and said nothing to him as he passed the boy when he made his way down the stairs.

Oh yeah, this was apparently another regular part of his school experience so far. For reasons Yu didn’t quite get but didn’t bother to understand, he’d just get attacked from random kids across the school. All quick to point out his “cripple” status as they did so. 

It seemed like….they were the type who thought hitting people was fun….

Yu recalled the words K had spoken to him when they had first met. About how humans naturally found hitting people to be enjoyable and was used as a signifier for a person’s worth in society as a whole. How it determines your worth as a very human being. 

“...Meh…” Yu thought to himself. The whole process was boring to him. He didn’t think hitting people was fun nor did he really get why people thought it was even after all of his boxing experience. But a lot of people did for some reason, which was what he assumed to be the only reason people tried to attack him in the first place while unprovoked. 

Though with each of those scenarios, Yu simply avoided whatever blow they fired at him and carried on with his day. Now he could easily handle his wannabe attackers but…

“If you don’t want to bring attention to yourself, then I suggest trying to keep a low profile.” He recalled Cecile saying to him on his first day of school. And he had taken those words into consideration by not attacking his attackers in order to keep a “low profile” around the school. He just figured it’d be more boring for him if more attention was on him.  

As for Cecile, they didn’t interact much, if at all really in class or outside of it. They just simply went their merry ways once it was over. It didn’t matter to him, there wasn’t much need for them to interact in the first place. So Yu made no move to, and it seemed like Cecile liked it that way as well since she made no move to talk either. Though she still would occasionally steal glances at him in class....for whatever reason. He didn't really understand it.  

Despite all of the changes made around him…nothing really changed for him. He still continued on each day as he normally would only with the added part of school before heading off to continue his boxing training with K. 

Apparently he and Vaughn had made an agreement with each other that Yu could attend school so long as it didn’t impede his boxing career since it was just “beginning to take off” as the coach had put it. Vaughn had begrudgingly agreed despite clearly not liking the prospect, citing how school had to take precedence above all else and that his boxing championships could wait for another year, but K would not have it. 

When Yu was asked what he wanted to do, he simply shrugged his shoulders. It was all the same to him so he didn’t particularly care in the end. Thus it was decided he would do both school and continue to train for his upcoming boxing matches at the same time, something Vaughn clearly opposed due to the “lack of actual free time” he would have if he was to do both things together, but K shut down the argument when he asked Yu if he was ok with doing both things at the same time.

To which Yu responded with his typical “Sure, I guess” answer, causing the headmaster to sigh in annoyance as K smiled triumphantly. Thus after school he would immediately head over to the gym and continue his training.  

The extra work hadn’t mattered to Yu. The physical labor of the gym, the mental labor for school, it was all the same to him. All equally as boring to him as one another. Those were simply the things he was told to do so he did them with no issue. 

Because life…was just boring to him…Yu thought as he narrowed his gaze as he headed inside of the cafeteria.  

“Hey.” He heard a voice call to his side, though without the same hostility he had heard prior. He turned his head to the side and tilted it at an angle as he stared at the purple haired girl with highlights before him. She had her arms crossed as she stared at him, before a small smirk adorned her lips. “You’re that new cripple around here, aren’t you?” She said as she stared right back at him. 

His cold, gray eyes narrowed at her as she confidently stared back at him, and he idly wondered what she could want with him.

“...Sure, I guess…” He responded back towards her as her smirk only increased at the statement. 

 This girl, Sera as she introduced herself, had quickly pulled Yu out of the cafeteria and told him to follow her once he had told her what she wanted to hear. Yu simply couldn’t be bothered enough to refuse so he opted to just go along with her as they walked down the halls to wherever unknown location she had in mind. 

“So, Yu was it?” She asked as he nodded back at her. “I noticed you just transferred to Wellston, you’re actually in one of my classes funny enough.” Sera said to him, opting to start a conversation instead of walking alongside each other silently. Yu had vaguely recalled a girl with purple hair in the same class as him and Cecile, but he hardly ever saw her there. Guess they were the same person he concluded as he once again nodded back at her. 

 “You know it’s pretty rare to get someone like you attending a place like Wellston Academy, you should feel pretty proud of yourself for making it here with that condition of yours.” Sera said as they continued to walk down the hall, about to reach the stairs at this point.

“Sure, I guess.” Yu responded back at her.

“Not much of a talker are you?” Sera deadpanned as she watched Yu’s blank expression stare back at her. Yu simply shrugged his shoulders as they made their way up the stairs, stopping just shy of the doorway to the roof of the school. 

Sera took this time to examine his eyes for a moment. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before. On the surface they may appear as typical as any other pair of eyes, but as she stared closer at them, the more she began to notice about them. Like how they seemed to have a unique swirl to them unlike anything she had seen in anyone else’s eyes. But the harder and deeper she looked into them….the more cold and dead they seemed to her as well. 

Sera wondered what could’ve possibly happened to have him make an expression like that-

“What are you doing?” Yu calmly asked Sera, and it was at this point that Sera had noticed that not only were they both standing in place like idiots, but that she had been inching closer and closer towards his face in order to get a better view of his eyes. 

Sera gulped down the lump in her throat before backing off, fighting off the slight blush that threatened to make its way to her cheeks. Though Yu’s expression remained unchanging despite Sera’s actions. 

“J-just uh, getting a better look at you is all.” Sera attempted to wave off as a question mark seemed to appear above Yu’s head, indicating his confusion. “We’re here anyways so no need to worry about it.” Though Sera continued to dismiss the notion with a cough as she anxiously opened the entrance to the doorway revealing the top of the school roof, along with another boy with gelled up black hair sitting on the fencing of the roof. 

Sera happily walked along with Yu in tow towards the boy in question before stopping in front of him.

“Uh Sera,” The boy seemed thoroughly confused at the situation at hand, “who’s this?” The boy asked the most obvious question that came to mind.

“This,” Sera pointed towards Yu who stared back at her with the same expression as ever, “is your new friend, Yu!” She happily said as she gave a confident smirk towards the other kid in the area. The other boy didn’t seem to reciprocate her reaction as his expression morphed into one of dread, already not liking where this was going. 

“...Sera what the f*ck are you talking about?” The boy responded back to her with sass as he raised an eyebrow at her. A slight chuckle came to her lips from his reaction as she smiled down at him. 

Yu simply stared at the pair. Though a brief image did flash through his head as Sera had mentioned the word “friend” towards him. An image of a blonde boy alongside a blue haired girl from years ago. 

A friend huh…he guessed he still called Cecile a friend, so he had that he supposed. Though he still didn’t fully get the meaning of the word or what truly constituted as a “friend.”  

Yu quickly turned his attention back towards the conversation between the pair and it seemed like the boy had gotten up to really talk to Sera. From what he was gathering, he didn’t seem to be too keen on the idea of friendship, which to be fair Yu didn’t really have much experience with the concept either.   

“Sera you can’t just drop random people in front of me and expect me to be buddies with them instantly. The dude could be a total creep for all I know!” The boy tried to explain his stance towards her. “No offense dude.” He quickly said at Yu, seemingly taking notice of him for the first time. Yu simply shrugged his shoulders in response to that. The boy nodded back at him, taking it as he didn’t care about the comment all that much.  

“Oh please John, you'll try and make friends with any random stranger you meet.” Sera addressed the now named John. “Besides, you’re in desperate need for friends that aren’t me, so consider this me helping you out.” 

“Hey! It’s not like you have many friends either!” He accusingly pointed a finger at her while Sera simply shrugged her shoulder as her reply. 

“More than you, that’s for sure.” 

“Rude.” He responded back at her with a tick mark on his cheek while she chuckled back at him. “Ugh, what even made you come up with this idea in the first place.” John asked as he rubbed the top of his head. 

At that, Sera remained quiet for a moment as she took a glance back at Yu, before turning her attention back at John. “I heard he was a cripple too.” She said towards him and immediately John’s attention shot up. “So I thought you two could get along with one another, you know cripple to cripple.” She acted as if she was explaining basic homework to him.  

“I…don’t think that’s how it works Sera.” John was quick to point out, though it didn’t seem like Sera cared at the moment. 

“Don’t care, now get to friend making.” She said as she slapped John from behind to give him the push he needed to introduce himself. 

“Ow. Hey, that hurt.” John said as he rubbed his back before turning and coming face to face with Yu. He flinched as he stared into his eyes, there was just something….off about them that John had never experienced before. Even after all the shit he went through. 

 John gulped down the spit in his mouth before nervously presenting his hand to shake towards Yu. “H-hey, I’m John, nice to meet you.” John said as a nervous smile was present on his face. 

Yu slowly glanced down at John’s outstretched arm, before looking back up at him. John’s anxiety only seemed to get worse the longer Yu went on without shaking his hand, and this was apparent as beads of sweat began to roll down John’s face. 

“I’m Yu.” He said as he finally took John’s outstretched hand and shook it. Even though it was in theory a good moment between the two, John couldn’t shake off his nervousness as he shook Yu’s hand. 

“I can’t help but feel like I’m disrespecting something.” John thought to himself as beads of sweat continued to roll down his face. After all, even though nobody knew at the moment, he was still only pretending to be a cripple, while this guy was, probably, actually a cripple. 

…It didn’t exactly do wonders for his sense of morality to say the least…

“See, now that wasn’t so bad ya big baby.” Sera called from behind the two as she watched the interaction with a smile on her face. 

“Easy for you to say Sera, you’re not in this awkward situation.” John thought as he pictured himself with comical tears running down his face at the prospect of being labeled an ableist for pretending to have a condition in the presence of someone with said condition. 

“Now, why don’t we go and eat. Lunch doesn’t last forever ya know.” Sera called as she plopped down on the end of the fence where John was previously sitting. John followed suit, while Yu took a moment to stare at them before heading to where the pair was and sat down next to John. The experience of sitting with people was…slightly new to him.  

“Hey, where’s your lunch Yu?” John asked the boy next to him.

Yu simply responded by pointing at Sera. “She took me here before I could get any.” He answered, no anger or hint of annoyance in his tone from the prospect, simply just stating the events that took place in a factual manner.

“Oh.” Sera called, opening her eyes from taking a bite of her burger. 

“Whoops.” She said before getting back to it, John simply deadpanned at her lackluster response. 

Well…at least she had the decency to look somewhat bashful from the revelation…somewhat.

“So…Yu was it?” John asked the boy next to him as he nodded back. “You transferred here a couple days ago huh, how are you liking Wellston so far?” He said with a smile on his face. Despite the awkward, as John saw it, meeting between the two, John was never the type of person to refuse a potential friendship. Especially one with someone he could empathize with considering their circumstances. 

Yu simply shrugged his shoulders as he gave a sideways glance at the boy. “It’s meh.” 

“Meh?” Sera questioned.

“I just find it boring.” Yu answered back before turning his gaze ahead of him. John raised an eyebrow at that, while school was definitely boring, he wouldn’t say it was the first thing that came to mind when asked about how school was.

No, the first thing that came to John’s mind was, flashes of images of him getting bullied causing him to shiver in response. It was,…nothing too great either. But “boring” certainly wasn’t it.

“Hmm.” Sera put a hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner at that. “Surprised to hear that since last I saw, a couple of kids came your way to bring in a ‘welcoming greeting to the school.” She emphasized with air quotes. 

“Ugh, already!” John answered back, knowing full well the meaning behind Sera’s words. He internally scoffed, just the same as him, once people find out you’re vulnerable, it’s game over for you. 

Sera looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you that surprised?” She asked. She thought he’d be used to this kind of thing by now. 

“Well…no.” John answered back dejectedly, remembering how quick it was since he arrived until he was harassed by some of the resident students. “But it still doesn’t make it right! All this bullying and harassment over something as stupid as who’s stronger over the other!” John frustratingly complained as Sera shrugged her shoulders, she seemed very dismissive over the whole thing which upset John a bit.  

At those words, Yu’s attention shifted back over to John. Those words…reminded him of another person who also said something similar, he thought as a boy with blonde hair and glasses flashed in his mind. 

“Ugh, what do you think about it Yu?” John asked, hoping to get some input on a ‘fellow’ cripple on the matter. Maybe show Sera the light of her ways and prove power isn’t everything this world has to offer after all. 

Yu looked at the pair for a moment, before looking back ahead of him, taking a moment of silence before answering the question. He thought about it for a second, on what he considered to be the value of strength.  

“It’s stupid.” Yu finally answered, mirroring John’s words, which seemed to bring on a smile to his face.

 “There’s nothing good about being strong.” He gave his final answer. Sera seemed thoroughly confused by the answer. Nothing good about being strong? What could he possibly mean by that, of course there were advantages to being strong. The whole purpose of strength was the advantages you had over others that didn’t have it. 

But John’s smile only continued to grow at Yu’s response. “See Sera!” He pointed out as he turned back to his friend. “It’s probably because you don’t have the kinds of experiences we do, but believe me, strength is being way too over fixated on in the world right now.” John waved off as he continued to explain his point of view while Yu watched on from the sidelines, not disagreeing or agreeing with the words being spoken. 

Sera simply brushed off John’s words to her as she sipped her drink. She decided she’d have had enough of this conversation for now so she opted to shift the conversation. 

“So Yu, got any plans after school today? John and I are heading out to hang, wanna join?” Sera offered as John spit out his drink as Sera’s sudden proclamation. 

“Seriously Sera, you can’t just invite complete strangers into our stuff. You got no idea what the dude’s like” John complained before once again realizing Yu was still present in the area. “Again, no offense dude.” John said towards Yu who once again simply shrugged his shoulders in response. 

“Well what better way is there to find out?” Sera countered with a raised eyebrow while John seemed to sigh in response. Sera once again turned towards Yu seeing John resign himself to Sera’s actions (since he knew how stubborn she was). “So what do you say Yu, wanna come along?” 

Yu just stared at her for a moment, nothing being said in that brief spur of silence between the trio. He really didn’t know what to make of the offer, after all, he’s never really been invited to hang out with other people before.

Well…besides that one time, Yu recalled in his youth years prior. 

Even still, while Yu didn’t really mind heading along with them with whatever they were gonna do, it didn’t particularly elicit any emotions out of him either. He was completely neutral on the matter. 

It was just as it is….simply an offer made towards him by another person. 

“I can’t.” Yu replied after a moment of silence. Even though he didn’t mind the idea, he still couldn’t take them up on the offer. “I have stuff to do after school.” Yu said, being reminded of his responsibilities to head to the gym after school and continue his boxing training. 

Sera furrowed her eyebrows slightly at that response. “What stuff?” She questioned.

“I do boxing.” Yu replied shortly as he gave a sideways glance over at her. John’s face seemed to brighten a bit at that piece of news while Sera was left mildly shocked by that piece of information. 

“You do boxing?” John said, suddenly elated at the revelation as he brought himself closer towards Yu. Yu simply nodded his head blankly in response at John’s sudden giddyness. 

“Me too.” John said with a smile on his face, although Yu made no such reaction as his face remained as stone cold as ever. “Maybe you and I can do some sparring sometime since I happen to be pretty good at it myself too.” John bragged as he punched the air in a showy manner before giving a thumbs up towards Yu. Sera simply shook her head in shame over John’s rather embarrassing antics. 

“Always gotta make me question why I hang out with you.” Sera muttered to herself, but clearly not low enough as John had caught what he had said and dramatically collapsed to the ground in an over the top fashion to show how bad Sera had ‘hurt him so’ over her words. A question mark appeared over Yu’s head as he watched this scene unfold before him. 

Sera simply continued to shake her head in shame as she stared down at the downed figure of John, before she turned her attention back towards the now slightly confused Yu. 

“Well if you can’t come today, we could probably plan something over the weekend.” Sera told him.

“I can’t.” Yu replied. The same blank tone accompanied his unchanging expression as he said those words. 

“Why not?” Sera asked once more, now with her hands on her hips.

“Cause I do practice over the weekends too.” Yu replied just as quickly as before. 

“How many times do you go a week?” Sera questioned before she sighed to herself as she touched her forehead, clearly blanking on Yu’s seemingly lack of awareness on how to handle situations like these. He was an…interesting one that was for sure. She just didn’t know what exactly made him so interesting towards her…yet. 

“Just tell your coach in advance that you’re going to be taking a day off.” Sera pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it probably was, she thought as she went back to staring at him. “I’m sure it’s not the end of the world if you take one day off to yourself after all.” She explained towards him before suddenly, the bell went off, signifying the end of lunch period.  

“Oh, would you look at that, lunch is over.” Sera pointed out, before turning back towards John, who was still sprawled on the floor from Sera’s previous ‘attack’ on his character, before dragging him up to his feet and headed for the exit to the rooftop. 

“See you around Yu.” She waved off towards him before heading with John towards his next class period. Someone needed to make sure he made it there in one piece after all. “Make sure you don’t forget to make time for our plans this weekend.” She pointed out before heading down the stairs with the door closing behind her.

“...Sure, I guess…” Yu responded back, still sitting in the empty area of the rooftop, before getting up himself and heading to his next class. 

It looked like he now had plans for the weekend…whatever that meant.

After school was over, Yu walked down the halls towards the exit, preparing to head to the gym as he mulled over the events that had transpired earlier in the day. 

“Ahhrgh.” Yu heard a voice cry out. He tilted his head to the side and witnessed some kid hunched over as another boy stood over him.

“Please stop.” The boy pleaded as tears napped at the ends of his eyes. 

“Pft, like hell idiot.” The other boy taunted as he kicked his victim in the stomach once more. Yu watched these events unfold before his eyes, watching as one person clearly bullied another. Yu narrowed his eyes at the widening smirk the tormentor was making as he watched the boy hunch over in pain, clearly enjoying himself. They did this…

…All cause they thought that hitting people was fun…

… ”Meh.” Yu thought to himself as gave one last glance at the boy’s pleading face for someone to help, before turning away from the whole incident.

It didn’t concern him anyway. 

“Good, keep going.” The famed coach K instructed his prized student as he watched the boy hop from side to side in rapid succession. “Give me one more set then finish up for the day.” K told Yu as crossed his arms and turned his back to the boy. To which the boy replied by promptly doing his final set and finishing up for the day, just as he had been doing for the past three years now. 

This was the regular routine between the two. Come in, do the training exercises the coach told him to do, leave and go home. Repeat for the next day. No unnecessary chatter between the pair or getting to know one another more despite spending so much time together. K never asked how school was going for Yu and Yu didn’t care. He simply did as he was told to do for the day then leave after the exercise was over. 

It was all…just the same to him. Regardless of what happened. 

“Be ready for the weekends, now that you’re wasting most of your days at school we gotta make up the extra training you missed out on while we can.” K told Yu, back still turned from him as Yu stopped dead in his tracks at K’s words. 

“I can’t.” Yu responded back as he put on his shirt, now marked with sweat from the training he just went through. 

“What?” K questioned as he gave a glance back at Yu. 

“I can’t come for training tomorrow.” Yu replied back, tone still the same as ever. “I have things to do tomorrow.”

K stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised. “What kind of plans?” K questioned with a tilted head. 

Yu was silent for a moment as he thought about what to say. “I was invited to go to the mall.” He finally said after a second. 

K continued to stare at the boy ahead of him while Yu simply stared back, gaze still as bored as ever. Nothing was said between the two, before a low, dry, quiet chuckle escaped from K’s lips. 

“Friends huh?” K said with a slight chuckle to his tone while Yu simply shrugged his shoulders in response. 

“Is that so?” K muttered as his chuckle slowly died off, before his gaze shifted back towards Yu once more. “By all means, go right ahead.” K relented with a smile on his lips. “But be sure to bring them over sometime so you can show them what you can really do.” 

“Sure, I guess.” Yu responded back, unphased by the expression on K’s face, before turning away and heading out the door. 

As K watched as Yu headed out the door into the cold air of the night sky, a wide smile once more returned to his face. No, he was not mad nor was he upset by this turn of events. No, he was simply spectating, watching as he let the events unfold around him. His thoughts had caused his smile to suddenly become just a bit more crazed. 

He simply couldn’t wait….as they all discovered just what kind of monster he had been molding all this time…

Chapter Text

“Can’t believe you dragged me out here for no reason.” John grumbled to himself as he walked along with Sera towards their next destination. “Go to the mall they said, it’ll be fun they said.” He continued to complain.

“Oh stop complaining you big baby.” Sera responded as she gave a deadpanned look towards John. “And who is ‘they’ anyways?”

“You!” John pointed an accusatory finger at her while Sera simply sighed to herself. “Where are we heading off to anyway?” John questioned as they noticed they weren’t heading in the right direction towards the mall.

“Oh, we’re going to go pick Yu up.” Sera said back nonchalantly while John gave her a questioning look. 

“What is your deal with that guy anyway?” John asked. “It’s almost like you got some weird obsession over him or something like that.” 

“Why, jealous?” Sera responded back with a cheeky grin.

John scoffed. “As if. It’s just weird, that's all.” He said while Sera simply shrugged her shoulders in return. John sighed to himself. Honestly he couldn’t figure out Sera’s motives for trying to get closer to this new kid. Lord knows it took him a hell of a lot more trouble in getting to know Sera, that was for sure. 

She mentioned something about wanting him to get to know Yu better, maybe she really just was trying to look out for him and find some people he could relate his struggles with. John thought to himself, before shrugging over the notion as they seemed to arrive at their destination. “ Damn, he lives here!.” John thought as he stared at the rather large building where Yu supposedly resided in. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Sera pounded the door rather hard.

“Geez.” John deadpanned at her obvious lack of care.

“What, I don’t have his number. Gotta make sure he knows we’re here.” Sera defended her actions. Not a moment later the door opened, revealing a slightly confused Yu dressed in rather plain clothes. Just a plain long sleeve black shirt and regular pants. It almost looks like he had just gotten out of bed despite not looking tired in the least.

“Wasup Yu!” John greeted rather enthusiastically while Sera opted for a simple wave. “Ready to go hang?”

“How did you find out where I lived?” Yu asked what seemed to be the most obvious question that came to mind. At that question, John’s gaze slowly shifted towards Sera. Wondering the same thing now as well. 

“I just asked the headmaster.” Sera answered rather bluntly.

“And he just gave that piece of information to you?” John questioned, seemingly dumbfounded at the prospect at a school headmaster so easily giving out pretty substantial personal information like that. 

“He was almost eager to.” Sera responded back with a shrug of her shoulders, recalling the delighted expression the headmaster had when she asked where Yu lived so they could hang out. It looked like he couldn’t have been more happy about it in fact. Meanwhile John’s expression only seemed to get even more horrified at the notion. Yu simply said nothing to the conversation at hand. 

“Meow.” Their attention had shifted to the little black ball of fur that made itself known as the cat walked outside and rubbed itself over Yu’s leg as it normally did. 

“Aww.” Sera smiled, she could always appreciate cute animals, she thought to herself as she crouched down and began to pet the cat who purred in affectionate response. “What a cute kitty you are.” Sera said as she continued to pepper the cat with love. 

“Hey Yu, you’re really gonna be heading out like that?” John asked, looking up and down Yu’s attire. It really did look like he was just wearing on some pajamas honestly. Even he put in some more effort to dress himself, despite Sera’s rude awakening, he grumbled out. 

“Can I not go out with something like this on?” Yu questioned, clearly confused by John’s line of questioning, despite the lack of emotion that expressed in his face. 

Sera and John glanced at themselves, before shrugging their shoulders. Slowly becoming ever more aware of Yu’s social inequities. They could probably find him some clothes at the mall anyway. 

“Well then, let’s get going shall we?” Sera pointed out now that their respective questions have been resolved. Breaking them out of the awkward silence they were just in. Thus, the trio began to make their way towards the mall. However, there was still something on Sera’s mind.

“Hey Yu.” Sera said, bringing his attention towards her. “What’s your number so I can just text you the next time we’re coming over.” She said as she pulled out her own phone.

“I don’t have one.” Yu responded back.

“Excuse me?” Sera said, believing she didn’t hear him right. It almost sounded like he didn’t have a-

“I don’t have a phone.” Yu said back, fully clarifying what he said earlier. Sera looked shocked at that while John looked mortified. What kind of lunatic kid didn’t have a phone at their age!? It was completely ludicrous, John thought as he shook his head in shame. 

“...Ooohhhk then…” Sera said as she was left almost dumbfounded with John at the idea of someone their age not having something as critical as a phone. Especially in a school environment no less? And his lack of interest on the matter only served to further her confusion even more.

In fact, the more that she learned about Yu, the more she wondered what kind of circumstances led to him turning out the way he did. 

He was definitely different from anyone Sera has ever dealt with before, that was for sure. Sera thought to herself as the trio continued their way down the road.  

At the mall:

They were currently at a nearby clothing store. Sera was browsing through the clothing sections while John was off over somewhere else doing his own thing. Yu simply stood off to the side and waited for the two to be finished. Although Sera had recommended he try and find something nice considering ‘the way he looked’ as she put it.

….Whatever that meant…

“Hey Sera!” John called with excitement in his voice. “How’s this one?” He asked as he presented a pink bunny shirt with the words  L A M E on it. “I think the writing is pretty cool. LA ME, it’s gotta be french or something. Wonder what it means?” John pondered as he looked towards Sera with a smile on his face. Though she did not seem to reciprocate his enthusiasm. 

“You’re kidding right?” Sera asked. He couldn’t possibly be this stupid now could he? “That says ‘LAME.” She quite literally had to spell it out for him while John’s wide smile turned into a sharp frown just like that. 

Despite being notified of his mistake however, John still opted to go and try on the shirt as now Sera and Yu waited for him to come out of the changing room.

“Can’t believe he still wanted to try it on.” Sera muttered more so to herself rather than the person right next to her. She then turned towards Yu and poked his side, gaining his attention. “Hey, after John is done, why don’t you try out some of this stuff.” Sera said as she presented Yu some different articles of clothing. “I think they would look good on you.” Sera complimented. 

“I can’t go out like this?” Yu questioned as he looked down and wondered what was wrong with his normal attire. 

Sera giggled to himself at Yu’s obliviousness. “Obviously not, especially when you’re going out with friends.” Sera explained as she stared at Yu. It was a bit different from John’s. John’s obliviousness was more so out of naivety, while Yu’s seemed to be born out of more so ignorance towards experiences like these. It was rather interesting to say the least. “You need to, you know, actually be able to present yourself.” 

It was at that moment when John exited the changing room, rocking the ‘LAME’ T-shirt. “Good?” He asked with a thumbs up. Sera seemed to examine him for a moment, nothing being said. 

“Unlike that.” Sera pointed out towards Yu after a second of silence, now using John as an example to illustrate her point.

“Hey!” John called with a dejected look on his face. Though Sera simply gave a cheeky smile in return, though she honestly didn't think it was that bad. 

“Pfft.” Sera covered her mouth and laughed to herself at her teasings towards John, before she turned back towards Yu. “Alright, your turn Yu.” She instructed while she pointed towards the changing room. Yu simply glanced into the area Sera was pointing at, before taking the bag away from her and heading in himself. 

After a moment or two, Yu exited the changing room. Now rocking a tightly fit plain black t-shirt along with some stylish cargo pants and black and white sneakers. All in all, Yu looked rather fashionable for someone who just looked as if they were in pajamas. 

“That…actually looks really good on you.” Sera complimented as she inspected Yu up and down. Not bad if she could say so herself, though the sizes could be used for some adjusting. She thought as she noticed how tightly fit the shirt seemed on Yu. Though she tried not focussing too much of her attention on that fact….too much.  

“Damn dude, what kind of training do you do?” John asked as he examined Yu’s own physique. Sure the dude looked pretty skinny and all, but that tight shirt was showcasing his muscles on full display and John could safely say that the dude was rocking some serious abs. And he was someone who liked to think he kept in shape well. Kind of a requirement needed for the conditions he lives in, John thought to himself.

…However, he began to wonder just how similar those conditions between him and Yu were…

“I do boxing.” Yu simply responded back with the same blank tone he’s always had.

“I can see that.” John deadpanned, almost jealous at seeing the reaction he got out of Sera when he came out of the changing room….Almost….sure. 

“I think we’ll take it.” Sera said as she approved the new look Yu was rocking. “Looks pretty good on you after all.”

“Sure, I guess.” Yu gave his trademark response while Sera and John seemed to sigh to themselves at those same words being repeated to them over and over. Although, there was just the ever hint of amusement in their tones as they did so. 

Not long after, they exited the mall and headed across to a different area.

“Phew, didn’t expect that to go so smoothly.” John said, relieved they managed to get out of there in a relatively short amount of time.  

“See? The mall isn’t so bad.” Sera said back. 

“Let’s not go that far?” John deadpanned.

Sera simply huffed in response, before turning towards Yu. “What do you think Yu?” She asked, wanting to hear his opinion on the matter.

Yu simply shrugged his shoulders. “It was meh.” He answered. He didn’t find it particularly fun, but…he didn’t find it particularly boring either.

Was it because he was with people when he did it?

“Nothing will ever please you, will it?” Sera nearly scoffed at Yu’s lackluster response. Though at this point she should honestly start getting used to it, especially if there were going to be hanging out more and getting closer like she planned to do.

Wait…why did she want to get closer to Yu exactly again? She at first just wanted to introduce John to someone who he could probably relate with. But now after spending some time alongside Yu, however little it may have been at the moment, she had found him intriguing. His whole demeanor was nothing like she had ever seen from anyone before, and she guessed that curiosity must’ve played a role in her attempts at building a kind of kinship with Yu. 

Though how far exactly she was willing to take it…she couldn’t quite say for certain yet.  

Her train of thought was cut off by John making a noise after he had been rudely bumped to the side by some lady. They all turned their heads to the side and saw that same lady heading towards a “Ability Gauging” booth. 

“Look, it's an ability gauge. Want to give it a try?” John proposed as he pointed towards the booth stand the lady just headed towards. Sera glanced over to the side and examined the booth, before turning her head back.

“No thanks, I heard those things are always a scam.” She responded back. 

“Come on, it’s just for fun! Let’s give it a try.” John continued to pester, before she finally relented with a sigh to herself. 

The trio waited in line, behind the same lady who had bumped into John earlier. Only she seemed to be having an issue as she looked ready to argue with the man running the booth.

“What do you mean I only got a 4!” The lady screeched as she sharply pulled her hand away from the man. The man was beginning to get a bit nervous as a single trail of sweat trickled down his chin. He tried to reason with her, explaining how a 4 was actually above the average of 3, but just simply below the higher tier of 5. But this did little to ease the lady’s ire as she did not relent. 

“You’re a fraud! I want my money back now!” She screamed as she slammed her fists to the table. She then grabbed the man’s tie and pulled him closer before issuing him a threat with glowing red eyes.

John watched this with nothing but irritation in his eyes, while Yu simply watched the exchange with no concern to the matter on his mind. 

“Ma’am, please calm down.” John tried to reason with, though all that caused was the lady to quickly turn her ire towards him now instead.

“Mind your own business you brat!” She called out, still holding onto the man’s tie. 

“Excuse me? This is my business. I’m not gonna wait around for you to get a ten dollar refund. Stop bullying the guy and give someone else a turn.” John argued back. 

At that response, the lady grit her teeth and clenched her fists. “How dare you speak to me that way! Kids like you should learn to keep your mouths shut!” She was screaming now as a glow of red began to surround her. 

At the threat, John seemed to back off, giving the woman a sense of accomplishment for her ego. Before John noticed the mall cop off to the side and smirked to himself. 

“Go ahead. If you really want a fight, I’ll be happy to oblige.” John taunted now with a cocky smirk. Seeing the shift in tone, the woman began to get slightly nervous, wondering where this confidence suddenly came from. She looked off to the side and saw the two people beside John, Yu and Sera, and briefly wondered what they were capable of as well.

“What are you waiting for?” John taunted once more as his smirk increased ever so slightly.

The lady grit her teeth, before preparing to send her condensed energy ball straight at John. “Don’t get fresh with me brat!” She screamed as she prepared to throw her energy ball.  

…While Yu took his hands out of his pockets… 

“SOMEONE HELP! THIS CRAZY WOMAN IS TRYING TO BLOW UP THE MALL!” John quickly yelled out before another step could be taken between the two. 

“Miss.” An officer called, grabbing her outstretched arm. “What’s going on here?” The man asked. At first the lady looked as though she tried to pin the blame on the trio, before John held up his arms and explained their innocence. The lady grit her teeth, before turning her attention back to the cause of her initial ire.

“That’s because he scammed me out of my money.” She called out as she pointed to the man who ran the booth. At the gesture, the mall cop went over to the booth with a glare in his eyes before he harshly demanded he return the money before handing it back to the lady, who looked satisfied with herself now, and issuing one last threat to the man. 

John glared at the exchange, while Yu wondered what was the point of this whole ordeal. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to cause you any trouble.” John apologized to the man after the lady and the officer had left. The man simply waved off the apology, before offering a free ability gauge as a thank you for their willingness to stand up for him.

“Incredible! Your ability level is an 8.” The man exclaimed with delight as his lips formed into a thin smile. 

Yu narrowed his eyes slightly at that.

“Aaaand here’s your prize. A cute little bear for a cute little lady.” The man presented a teddy bear, John nearly scoffed at how cheap the supposed prize was. The man then turned his attention towards the other members of the party alongside Sera. 

“What about you two?” The man asked. “Would you like to try as well?” He offered as he reached out his hand, touching Yu’s arm as he did so. The man tried to read his ability…but found that he could not.

“That’s strange, that’s never happened before?” The man thought to himself as he tried once more to read what aura level Yu was at. Even with those ability levels at only 1, a level so low an ability couldn’t be manifested, he could always tell what the level was, but he was getting absolutely no readings from Yu at all.

“I’m sorry but….” The man trailed off for a moment, trying to find the right words to express his concern. “But I can’t feel any aura radiating from you.” The man explained as he looked back up at Yu. 

“I don’t have one.” Yu responded back with a cold tone as ever.

“Excuse me?” The man questioned nervously. He didn’t have a what? He couldn’t possibly be talking about an aura, that was simply impossible-

“An aura or whatever it is. I don’t have one.” Yu said for the final time.

“No.” The man shook his head and chuckled in denial. The prospect of someone having nothing in their aura channels was something too absurd. “That’s simply impossible.” The man said one more time as he looked back up towards Yu. Only this time, when he did so, he was met with the endless depths of darkness that were Yu’s eyes. The man stared into the cold, lifeless swirls of emptiness that surrounded his pupils, a shiver ran down his spine as he did so. But from that gaze, that gaze filled with nothing but darkness and death that drew the primal feelings of fear as he gazed into them, he could tell….

That this boy wasn’t lying….

Not long after, the trio made their way away from the booth while the man tried to contemplate what he had just witnessed. 

John and Sera simply looked at Yu with curious gazes as it seemed like he had caught the booth man in a trance, as the man began to sweat the longer he stared at Yu. Even still, with that display at least John had confirmed one thing that had been in the back of his mind ever since he met Yu. 

That Yu was an honest to god, bonafide cripple.

“Whew what a day….It’s already dark out.” John pointed out while Sera seemed to scoff at that, remembering how late John had woken up. 

“It’s crowded.” Yu seemed to point out while Sera nodded in agreement, not exactly feeling very enthusiastic at weeding their way through the crowd. 

“Let’s go to a different bus stop then. There’s one nearby, across the park!” John offered while Yu and Sera nodded in agreement. 

As they walked across the grassy fields of the park, a rustling could be heard in the bushes. John seemed to gaze behind him for a moment, while Yu made no move of acknowledgment like John. Although John quickly turned his attention back as he heard Sera giggling to herself.

“What’s so funny?” John asked. 

“Nothing, just remembering the stuff that went on today.” Sera responded back. “Like how you built up so much confidence at that woman, I thought a war was gonna go down. But you just ended up screaming for help.” Sera giggled while John seemed to grumble to himself at that. “So anticlimactic.”

John didn’t seem as happy as Sera was on the matter. “He shouldn’t have had to return the money. That lady was clearly in the wrong, but she ended up getting her way because she was more powerful.” John monologue to himself at the unfairness that plagued society around every corner. The whole thing just pissed him right the hell off. “It’s so frustrating.” He called out at the  injustice.

Yu simply stared at John, not totally understanding why exactly he seemed to be getting so worked up over the matter.  

“Don’t be so negative.” Sera called as she bumped John’s side with her elbow. “Worry about yourself more. At least you didn’t break your arm today.” Sera pointed out the positives while John smiled at his friend’s attitude. 

 “Besides, did you see that guy’s reaction to seeing a cripple for the first time? What was up with that? Dude looked like he was gonna pee his pants.” Sera’s giggle turned into a slight chuckle at recalling the man’s nervous face as she turned to bring Yu’s attention. John’s smile turned into a chuckle as well, recalling how terrified the man seemed for a moment.  

He simply shrugged his shoulders, not understanding why the man reacted the way he did either. It was just some stupid ability, it wasn’t like there was anything good about one. So he didn’t get the obsession there was over it.

“Probably would’ve if he found out there were actually two cripples there.” Sera said, a smile still on her face. 

At that, her words brought a bead of sweat to roll down the side of John’s cheek. “Y-yeah, would’ve been pretty funny to see.” John said with a slight nervousness to his tone, but was able to catch it just in time.  

Yu simply said nothing towards the conversation at hand, though there was a mental note to himself at the oddity at John’s reaction at Sera’s suggestion. Wonder what caused it?

…Meh…it didn’t really matter to him. Although, something else had drawn Yu’s attention at this point as well. 

As Sera and John were discussing possible name choices for the bear they just got, Yu stood still, slightly behind them. They couldn’t see, but Yu was idly glancing behind him as the two continued to talk.

“Something wrong, Yu?” Sera asked as she noticed Yu’s lack of focus on the conversation. John’s attention also shifted over towards Yu as well, but was quickly drawn towards something else as he seemed to notice what Yu had too. 

Yu sighed to himself, before answering her. “About three steps behind me, there’s been someone that’s been following us.” He said out loud with no emotion present on his features. Everyone present was left slightly dumbfounded at the statement, before, before anyone could react, Sera activated her ability as her eyes glowed a violent blue.

BADUMP 

Time was stopped. Everything was stopped around Sera as it always had once she activated her ability.

BADUMP

 He could feel it, despite the stillness of everything around, he could most certainly feel it. 

BADUMP

He could feel his heart beating. He thought as he slowly, ever so slowly, clenched his fist as Sera began to make her move.

“One. Two. Three.” Sera counted each step as she walked behind Yu. Before launching a devastating kick, that connected beautifully with the invisible figure that had been following them, launching them a ways away.

“Phew.” Sera sighed to herself as she deactivated her ability. John seemed to be taken back, slightly confused at the different placement Sera was in. His eyes unable to follow her due to the freezing of time. Although, unbeknownst to either Sera or John…

Yu’s eyes had followed her movements….the entire time….

“Let’s get out of here.” Sera said, before stumbling over herself, feeling slightly woozy at the moment. “Whoah.” She questioned as she caught herself. Weird, that’s never happened before, she thought to herself as she idly wondered what could’ve disrupted her ability like that.

“Let’s go.” Yu commented as he made his move away from the area while John agreed and Sera nodded her head in response. Not knowing that the cause of the disruption was right in front of her own eyes. 

“Huff…huff…” Sera and John were panting to themselves as they hid behind John’s door. Though Yu seemed to be just fine despite all the running they just did. 

“What the hell was that?” Sera asked.

“No idea….I think some guy was trying to mug us.” John answered back. “Welp, that’s enough excitement for one day.” John said as he walked forward and stretched his arms out. Yu followed him, examining the punching bag in the middle of the room. It looked like John was being serious when he said he practiced boxing too. 

 Huh, it just dawned onto Yu that this was the first time he was at someone else’s house. A ‘friends’’ house if you could put it that way. 

“....Meh….” Yu thought to himself after a moment. It wasn’t as if he disliked the experience, it was just that he didn’t find it particularly interesting either. 

…But it wasn’t boring to him either…

“Hey, Yu.” Sera asked, drawing his attention over towards her. “How did you figure we were being followed?” She asked something that had been on her mind the entire time they ran from the park. John also shifted his attention over towards Yu, curious about the answer to that question as well. He knew they were being followed, but he knew for….different reasons that he figured Yu had.

“...They were just being obvious about it…” Yu answered back. Sera raised her eyebrows in slight shock while John raised them in slight confusion. Obvious? The dude was invisible for crying out loud, how was he being obvious? Though Yu didn’t seem to think it was all that special of a revelation or anything like that. In fact he was having a harder time understanding how they didn’t notice they were being followed. Well, John seemed to notice, but Sera clearly did not. 

It was just….something plain as day to him….

Sera kept silent, though she kept her eyes on Yu. Trying to understand his train of thought as he stared back at her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up  as she stared deeper into his eyes. His cold, lifeless voids of darkness he calls eyes. 

….It was almost like they were piercing right through her….

“Aaannyways.” John clapped, trying to clear…whatever was going on in the room. “Anyone hungry? I’ll make some ramen.” John offered as he made his way to the kitchen. 

Sera kept silent for a moment. “Nah it’s late. I’m going to head back to the dorms.” She said while turning towards the door. Yu seemed to agree with ehr sentiment as he also made a move to leave. 

“Wha– Are you crazy!?” John spluttered. “You really want to go back out after that. ” He emphasized, though more towards Sera rather than Yu. (No offense Yu.) “What if there are more of them?”

“I can take care of myself.” Sera answered back as she stared at John.

“I know that. But it’s safer if you just stay here for now! Why risk it when you can just go back tomorrow when it’s bright out?” He reasoned while Sera remained silent in response. Before eventually relenting and plopping over towards the couch.

John sighed in relief as he watched Sera make herself comfortable, before jumping slightly at seeing Yu off to the side of himself. He quickly realized he had been too focused on Sera that he forgot there had been another person in the room. 

“Uh, you too Yu.” John said, trying to break the ice from the awkwardness he had inadvertently put himself in. “You should stay here for the night too. You can head back in the morning right?” John asked. Yu didn’t particularly care for the dangers John was advising about because he knew he was gonna be fine, and that whatever happens, happens. Even if he was truly attacked and cornered, he would fight back and defend himself just fine. And if he died…he died. 

….People are all going to die anyway so what does it matter….

Either way, Yu simply nodded his head at John, seeing no reason to refuse John’s proposal either as well. 

“Great.” John winked as he gave a thumbs up, before heading off to the kitchen to prepare some food. Yu went over and joined Sera over at the couch, though it seemed like her attention was drawn towards the book at the end of the table from the couch. Her eyes widening in slight surprise as she went over to reach for the book. Yu looked over at the title of the cover, wondering what was so special about it. 

“Hey guy, how much packet do you want–” John asked before cutting himself off as he noticed just what Sera had picked up. Mentally chastising himself for being so careless around a book like that. 

‘UNORDINARY’ the title of the book read as Yu had seen. He idly wondered if he'd heard something about this book. He feels like he has. 

“You always manage to surprise me.” Sera commented as she tilted her head back to see John. “How did you manage to get a copy of this? This book was banned two years ago, almost right after its publication!” Hmm, the more she talked about this book, the more familiar it seemed to Yu. 

“My dad had a few extra copies, so he gave me one.” John answered back.

“Your dad huh…” Sera pondered before examining the front of the book, particularly who wrote it. “Your dad is the infamous W.H.DOE!” Sera exclaimed as she came to a realization. 

“...Yeah?...” John answered back, not really knowing how to respond to such a reaction. 

“Wow! Lucky me.” Sera exclaimed in delight. “I’ve always wanted to read this, but copies are impossible to find nowadays.” She said as she inspected the book once more. “I wonder how it sparked so much controversy. Jeez, it’s so hard to find some food info on this book…” She mused. 

“I didn’t know she cares so much…” John thought, pleasantly surprised about Sera’s newfound interest in the book that has meant so much for him. 

Yu wondered what made the book so special in the first place as well. Though his interest was nowhere near as high as Sera’s. More of a passing thought for him than anything else. 

“Oh, but I heard the book is cursed.” She said suddenly, bringing the attention back towards herself. “And a lot of people are becoming delusional after reading it. All of these ‘superheroes’ who think they’re doing the rest of us a favor...Like X-Static or whoever else…They’ve all been influenced by this book.” Sera explained as Yu narrowed his eyes at her explanation. His brain had connected the dots about where he’s heard about this book from before, he’s heard about these superheroes going around. 

….Mostly about the fact that they’ve been getting murdered….

“Is that the book that’s been making people want to play dress up?” Yu thought to himself as he glanced over at the book once more. Wondering what all these ‘superheroes’ were on about. 

…Meh…it didn’t really matter to him.

“Isn’t it crazy–” Sera said, bringing Yu’s attention back towards the conversation at hand. Before Sera was cut off.

“They’re not delusional.” John said suddenly. “The reason that all these people are stepping forward is because they’ve realized the message this book delivers.” John explained as he crossed his arms. 

“ A message in a book is making people play dress up?” Yu questioned inside his mind as he tried to follow along with what John was saying. 

“Our world is flawed. We should be using our powers to bring about balance and peace….instead of using it selfishly, like we are now.” He explained as he looked down at Sera with a serious expression on his face. 

Sera stayed silent for a moment at that, as did Yu, as he let the words process in his brain. Bring about balance and peace with your power huh….

“...Meh…” Yu thought to himself. He thought the prospect sounded boring to him is all. 

“You’re starting to sound like one of those vigilanties.” Sera teased John with a smile on her face. 

“Ah, nevermind.” John said as he sighed to himself. “It’s probably better if you just read it for yourself.” John offered. 

“I guess I’ll be borrowing this then.” Sera said with a smile on her face as John smiled back towards her. Before Sera then turned her attention towards Yu. 

“What about you, Yu? Want to be corrupted by the influences of federally banned literature.” Sera teased as she waved around the book at Yu. 

“Sure, I guess.” Was all he said in response. Sera’s teasing smile deflated at his normal lackluster show of emotions, she looked at John who also gave a similar reaction as her, shaking his head at the scene before him. before a smile once again formed on both of their faces. 

“We really need to work on your conversation skills my dude.” John said back as he hopped over the couch and plopped himself right in between Yu and Sera. 

Yu simply shrugged his shoulders, not getting what was wrong as John continued to talk with Yu. Deadpanning each time Yu barely gave a reaction to whatever story or joke John was trying to tell.  All the while, Sera rested her chin on her palm as a small smile adorned her face, watching as the two boys finally began to make some headway with each other.

Looks like her plan was working out just perfectly after all. She thought as she continued to watch the two boys interact with one another, before a slight chuckle escaped from her lips. 

“What?” John questioned, noticing her laughter.

“Nothing you idiot.” Sera responded back, still slightly giggling to herself. “Now go check on the ramen before it all burns up.” Sera reminded John as he suddenly sprang from his seat and ran towards the kitchen, screaming about his ‘poor ramen.’  

While Yu simply stared on at the scene in front of him, saying nothing to it. He just…enjoyed the moment just as it was. It wasn’t interesting, but it wasn’t boring to him either. The feeling inside his chest….

It was a totally unique experience for him. 

After a little while, they all received their cups of ramen. John handed each of them their cups, grumbling to himself about almost having his masterpiece ruined. Yu got his cup, slurping on the noodles as they each sat around the table with one another. 

Together, just like friends after a day of hanging out. 

Huh…it wasn’t that bad…Yu thought as he slurped down the rest of his noodles.

Chapter Text

John startled awake. He was panting, huffing from the dream…no, nightmare he just had. He looked over to his side and found Sera comfortably sleeping on the couch as she clutched her teddy bear protectively. John sighed to himself to steady his rapid heartbeat, before quickly getting up and heading towards the bathroom. 

He splashed some water on his face, doing what he could to calm himself and remind him that what he experienced was just a dream. That he wasn’t there anymore. 

John sharply closed his eyes, before getting dressed and heading for the door to head out. Needing some fresh air for himself.

Unbeknownst to John though, he wasn’t the only one who had awoken in the middle of the night. No, as John was startled awake, Yu also woke up from the sudden movement as well, but made no move to get up unlike John. 

Yu watched as John closed the door behind him, idly wondering what that whole thing was about, before quickly dismissing the thought just as fast as it didn’t pertain to him in any way. 

Well, either way, he was awake now. Usually when he woke up in the middle of the night like now, he had his cat by his side which would help him go back to sleep. But here and now, he had no one by his side.

He was alone.

“Zzzzz.” Yu turned his head as he heard the light whispers of Sera’s breathing from by his side of the floor, cutting him out of his train of thoughts. He stared at her for a moment, watching as her chest rose ever so slightly up and down and as she snuggled closer to the bear she had won earlier. He said nothing as he continued to watch her, for some reason, her slight movements brought a sort of calming air around her as she slept. 

Yu glanced to the side, noticing the bag right beside the couch she slept on. He moved closer to it, silently as he did so, and peeked inside. Immediately the cover for the book ‘Unordinary’ popped into his line of view. He grabbed the book and examined it. 

“....What was so special about the book?....” Yu questioned himself as he looked over the front and back of the novel. People were making such a big deal about it. From people going around calling themselves ‘superheroes’ because of the supposed ideals the book taught. Ideals about changing society to a ‘better place’ or something like that as John had put it. 

Honestly….it just sounded boring to him…

Yu shrugged his shoulders. Oh well, you’d never know what the big deal was if you didn’t try it out for yourself, even if it sounded boring to him. 

Sera seemed to think the contents in the book was worthwhile though, Yu thought to himself as he opened the book. 

“Dedicated to my son.” The first sentences read. Hm, John did say his dad did write the book, so he must’ve written it for John it seemed like. 

A father that would dedicate a book to their son huh ...the thought of a father doing something like that for their son was something…unknown to Yu.

…As it brought terrible memories to the surface...as images of a monster clouded in red flashed inside Yu’s mind….

Yu simply shrugged his shoulders once more, before flipping over to the next page, and began to read in earnest.

Hours later…

Sera woke as the sun began to creep into her eyes. Coincidentally enough, this was the same as when John walked through the door. 

“Well, you’re up early.” Sera commented as John walked in. 

“Couldn’t sleep…” John responded back, though not with the typical enthusiasm he normally had. 

“Oh, did you have a bad dream?” Sera questioned, though John said nothing in response.

“I got us breakfast. Come on, let’s eat.” John said, completely dodging the question as Sera narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Man, I’m starving–” John said before he cut himself off as he noticed Yu off to a corner, reading unordinary to himself. 

“You’re back.” Yu commented as he glanced over at John and closed the book. He was finished with it anyway. 

“You were reading Unordianry Yu?” Sera asked as Yu walked over towards her and handed her back the book. He simply nodded at her as a response. “Guess you must’ve had some night terrors too if you were able to read that whole thing in the middle of the night.” Sera said with a slight sweat. Because why would you spend your time reading instead of sleeping? Sera thought with a grimace. 

Yu just shrugged his shoulders at her once more.

“Hm.” Sera frowned, still a bit put off by Yu’s overall lack of attitude, or emotions, or….anything really. 

“Sooo how did you like it?” John asked with a brighter smile on his face than from before. He was genuinely curious as to what others thought about the book in question. It had made its impact on society, that was for sure. But John was really intrigued as to what someone like Yu thought of the contents in the book, especially since the book had partial influence from cripples like Yu in the first place.  

And because it had helped John so much throughout his…more struggling points in life, he was pretty hopeful that someone like Yu would totally get the message across and be receptive to it. They could probably have some pretty nice conversations with one another about the messages and themes presented in it. Or try and find the ways they each relate with some of the characters present in the story.

Oh all the ways they could connect with each other from this story was outstanding, John thought with sparkles surrounding him. Yessire, he had a pretty good feeling that this would be the start of an absolutely wonderful friendshi–

“I thought it was pretty boring.” Yu said, rather blankly. Answering John’s question, and crushing any of John’s hopes for….whatever was going on in that head of his.

Sera simply shook her head in shame as she watched John crumble to his knees, muttering the word ‘b-boring?’ over and over while Yu watched on in confusion as to what could’ve brought on this kind of reaction.

Was it something he said?

“Don’t worry Yu, you didn’t do anything wrong. John’s just being…John.” Sera said as she continued to shake her head in disappointment at the boy in question. Said boy was now in an even more depressive state due to the influx of ‘attacks to his wonderful character’ by Sera as he commented with comical tears running down the side of his face.

“Ugh.” Sera sighed as she touched the top of her forehead with her fingers. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with stuff like this already. “Just go unpack the food will you.” Sera essentially ordered John as he grumbled back up and did as he was told. 

Yu was still confused however from the ordeal. As evident by the question mark appearing on top of his head. 

“You coming, Yu?” Sera asked as she noticed Yu wasn’t heading towards the kitchen table. Instead he had begun putting back on his sneakers.

“No thanks.” Yu responded back. “I have to head for boxing practice.” He told with the same monotone tone as ever as he turned around and headed out the door. 

“Oh, well…see you then.” Sera commented with a slight wave while John also waved a goodbye to him. Staying oddly silent for some reason. Yu glanced back, not particularly sure how to respond to the gesture. He’d never received it before, so it was kind of new to him and didn’t know how to respond back to it. 

…So he didn’t….he simply turned around and headed out the door without another word… 

Yu began his walk over to the gym. It wasn’t a very far travel, but he didn’t know the area all too well so he merely went in the direction he figured would lead him to the gym. Though he didn’t get very far before he heard a voice call out to him from behind.

“Yu!” He turned as he heard Sera call out to him. She looked to be speed walking over to him, but he didn’t know why since he just left the place. “Hey, what’s up. Let me walk with you?” She rhetorically asked as she caught up to him. He looked behind her, almost expecting John to follow alongside. Sera looked confused for a moment, before she caught on with a slight huff of laughter in her tone. 

“Oh, he’s not coming.” Sera waved off with a dismissive hand motion. “He…looks like he needs some alone time right now.” She commented as her hair briefly overshadowed her eyes, still slightly bitter about John’s attitude previously. 

Meh, he wasn’t really bothered by it. So he simply nodded his head at her blandly, before turning back around and continuing his way towards the boxing gym. 

“So, this boxing place you go to…” Sera began as she walked alongside Yu. “Must be a pretty good place if it’s doing well in an area with so many high tiers like Wellston.” She commented while Yu just shrugged his shoulders in response. They continued on their walk in silence from there. 

“Hmm.” Sera grunted, it was getting a bit awkward now. She didn’t know Yu all too well and from what she’s gathered, he’s not particularly one of those conversation types.  She wondered what could break him out of his shell, she thought as she idly glanced over at him as they walked. She took in his features, he was fairly tall with a relatively thin and pointed jaw line. He looked pretty skinny, but he fit into his clothes really well. Though the most interesting thing about Yu to Sera was his eyes. She had never seen anything like them before. They looked almost…dead to her. And for some reason, she felt as though she was drawn to uncovering the secret as to what could’ve caused a person’s life 

I mean, she knew living life as a cripple must’ve been hard, afterall she’s had firsthand witness to many of John’s frequent doctor visits. But he was always able to stand tall through it all. And he never once looked like… that , she emphasized in her mind as she continued to stare into Yu’s cold, gray eyes from the side. 

Although…maybe Yu had gone through something even worse than what John had…for him to end up the way he is now, Sera pondered. 

“Is there something on me?” Yu questioned as he looked back over at Sera, inadvertently making direct eye contact with her. She had been staring at him for a couple of moments now, so he wondered if something on him caught her eye. At the fact that she had been caught red handed staring, Seraphina did something unnatural for her and she blushed in response as she turned her head to the side in order to hide the ever growing flush of her cheeks. 

“So, w-why don’t you take me to this boxing gym of yours?” Sera said, quickly changing topics to hide her shame. “You’re trying to go pro right? So it must be a good gym.” Yu looked a bit confused at her sudden change in attitude, but nonetheless he decided to focus on her current words. 

“You don’t have to go home?” Yu asked. 

“Not…really no.” Sera said, grimacing as she recalled all the missed messages she had from Elaine. She was not particularly looking forward to that conversation. Besides, bugging Yu seemed a lot more fun, his totally blank attitude towards anything and everything around him was sheer comedy gold at times despite the struggles of communications it led to. 

“ Sigh. Alright tell me about this pro boxing gym of yours. And your exploits for professional boxing.” Sera said, trying to further the conversation between them. 

“Though the idea of a cripple trying to go pro is pretty outlandish.” Sera idly commented. She’s seen and heard about the sports matches they’ve had in this world. And she knew they were extremely brutal and reserved for those only with the top tier abilities to put themselves on top of the boxing world totem pole. 

A question mark seemed to appear over Yu’s head as he wasn’t really following Sera’s line of thinking. Mistaking his confusion as him taking offense to her comment, she quickly rephrased herself. 

“I didn’t mean to make any offense with it.” Sera waved off, though this only made Yu even more confused as he hadn’t been ‘offended’ by anything she said. “It’s just, you never really see any cripples or low tiers try and shoot for as high of a goal as you do, that’s all.” 

Yu simply shrugged his shoulders once more, not really invested in the case of levels and all that. It didn’t really matter to him, boxing was just about hitting and dodging people. You didn’t need an ‘ability’ or ‘high level’ to do something like that. So Yu didn’t really understand the fixation on it. 

It was all just…so boring to him…

Sera sighed to herself once more, realizing that was about all the reply she was gonna receive from Yu. Luckily not a couple of steps later, they had arrived at their intended destination. A massive building towering over all those surrounding it. 

Lions Boxing Club.

“Finally here are you Yu.” Immediately, an older male with white hair approached the pair. His eyes instantly focused on Yu, before turning his gaze over to the other person next to him. Appearing to be slightly surprised that someone had bothered to be with Yu at all. The reaction made Sera raise an eyebrow in slight wonder as to why that was. “And who’s this with you?’ The man said, crossing his arms as he turned his sharp gaze back over to Yu. 

“My name is Sera.” Sera said, answering for Yu, as she crossed her arms as well as she gave her own steely gaze toward the near elderly man. The man hardly glanced back over at her, but even still she didn’t like the way he gazed down at her. As if he was inspecting her or something. “And you are?” She retaliated.

“He’s my coach, his name is K.” Yu answered back. Sera almost felt like slapping her forehead at that since she should’ve figured as much. But this guy’s almost aggressive attitude was beginning to throw her off a bit. 

“Oh?” The now named K said, now with a cheeky grin beginning to rise in his features, seemingly amused by this girl’s apparent sassy attitude. “And why are you here, ‘Sera?” The way the man said her name made her narrow her eyes at him, but despite the unpleasant feeling she was getting from the man, she still opted to answer his question nonetheless. 

“I’m here to watch my friend box.” She answered back just as hard. Yu made no move or motion to acknowledge what she said, however, it seemed like everything had darkened around him as she had called him her ‘friend.’ A frown began to form on K’s features as he processed the words she just spoke. 

“Sorry kid, but this isn’t a charity show. You want to watch him box, you can do it during the match. Cause in here you either box or get out.” K said as he turned around and began to walk forward, indicating Yu to follow him. 

Sera narrowed her eyes further, not liking this guy’s attitude at all. “I can fight too, you know.” She commented, watching as Yu began to follow alongside K. She did not just walk all the way here and embarrass herself for nothing. 

“Oh?” The older man gave a backwards glance back at her. “Can you now?” The man pondered, the cheeky grin now once again returning to his face. 

“Yeah I can.” Sera confidently claimed. “I bet I could take on your best boxer here too.” She challenged, knowing full well just how powerful she was. And that power was something that he would be forced to acknowledge about her. 

The coach, now turned around fully to face her, examined her words for a moment, before his grin turned into a full on smile as her words fully sunk in. “Oh yeah? What’s your level then?” He asked, knowing full well this kid was being too cocky for her own good. Though even still, he could use some enjoyment at the moment. 

Now, it was Sera’s turn to smile. “My level is an 8 .” She confidently stated. Knowing full well just how high on the totem pole she was at with such a high level and useful ability. K’s eyes widened in shock ever so slightly, which only caused Sera’s grin to further increase in size. 

He’d admit it. He was shocked to say the least. He knew Wellston had some of the highest concentration of high tiers in the country, but even still a level 8 was something truly insane. He wondered what kind of ability she might have with such a high level such as that. Honestly he might just be staring at a bonafide genius right before him.

However, his slight shock quickly morphed back into amusement as the grin once more returned to his features. He glanced over back at Yu, and covered his mouth in an attempt to stop a slight chuckle from escaping his lips.

For even if she was a genius….it was still nothing compared to the absolute monster standing right beside him. The difference between them was clear, even with the little information K had on the girl at the moment. 

And it was a difference he was sure as hell going to make very well known to this cocky brat that decided to stick herself around his monster like that. 

“What’s so funny?” Sera asked with a slight aggression to her tone as she noticed the coach attempt to stifle a chuckle. The cocky and confident grin on her face now no more. 

“Alright kid, you’re on.” K said as he removed his hand from his mouth, now staring down directly at Sera. 

Sera raised an eyebrow. “On about what?” She questioned as she stared right back at him, undeterred by his bigger physique or hard gaze. She was more frustrated by the amount of amusement that appeared to be in his eyes. 

“About being able to take on my best fighter.” K answered back as Sera realized now what he was referring to. He then turned his attention back over to his star athlete. “Go get changed, looks like you got a practicing match.” K instructed. 

“Sure, I guess.” Yu answered back, the same as ever, as he made his way over towards the changing room. Sera raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. Didn’t he say she was gonna be fighting the next boxer here? So why was Yu going over to change…. 

“You look confused. Care to explain why?” K asked, a confident aurora seemed to surround him as he talked with Sera. As if he was so sure of himself despite knowing next to nothing about her. 

“Yu’s your star boxer?” Sera asked with an inquisitive brow. K smiled back down at her, displaying all of his pearly, white teeth as he did so. It almost reminded Sera of the teeth of a shark…or that of a lion. K for his part, was feeling ecstatic at the revelation that she knew nothing about Yu’s strength. For a moment he considered that she was hanging around Yu because he was also strong like her, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She just seemed to be one of those nutjobs that seemed to care and interact with people far beneath themselves for some unknown reason. 

Oh, this was gonna be just delightful. 

“Absolutely.” K answered back just as fast. “He’s already made his way into the professional boxing ring, and soon enough he’ll absolutely dominate the entire sport.” K said with absolute confidence. “So if you wanna save yourself the humiliation and back out now, then now’s your chance.” The cheeky grin returned to his features once more as he finished his sentence.

Although, his words only seemed to further fan the flames inside Sera. Feeling the near uncontrollable desire to prove herself to this adult figure before her for some reason. 

“I’m not backing down.” Sera said with determination. 

“Then you better go get changed, he’ll be out soon enough.” K answered back as he tilted his head over towards the women’s changing room. Sera immediately marched herself over there, ready to wipe that smug grin off that old man’s face once and for all. 

“Heh, too easy.” K thought to himself as he watched Sera clumsily make her way towards the changing room. Almost bumping into everyone as she did so. (It was her first time in a boxing gym after all.) 

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

And just like that, the two students were staring at each other at the corners of the ring. Yu was dressed in his usual boxing attire of red gloves and black and red shorts. Seraphine, while not being originally prepared for a boxing match, settled with just some typical leggings and a sports bra. 

The two continued to stare at each other, not saying a word as they did so. Feeling slightly flustered at Yu’s never changing gaze, she averted her eyes from him for a moment with a tinge of red on her cheeks. 

She coughed into her hand to shed some of the awkwardness she was feeling. She had to admit…Yu was in fantastic shape for someone their age. She’s never seen anyone so…fit before in her life. And this was after getting to know some of the types of hard workouts John was used to doing daily. Don’t get her wrong, John was a fit guy, it’s just that Yu was so much more…toned compared to him. 

Seraphine quickly shook her head to get the thoughts out. She did not need to be thinking about how attractive Yu or John was at the moment. 

“So, you ready or what?” K asked, noticing that Sera seemed to be a bit distracted. 

“I’m ready whenever you are Yu.” Sera responded back, though with still a bit of red on her cheeks, as she stared at Yu with fire in her eyes.  

K smirked to herself at her attitude. “Good…I can’t wait to watch that cocky attitude of yours crumble at the seams. Might be a good lesson for you to experience ‘loss’ for the first time ever, huh brat.” K thought to himself, knowing that due to her very high levels of talent that Seraphine has probably truly never been humbled in a fight before in her life. 

“All right then, you can begin when the bell rings.” K said as he started to walk out of the ring to the stands with everyone else who gathered to watch the match between the two. But before he went, he turned towards Yu with one last thing to say before they started going at it. “I get you probably don’t wanna hurt your little friend too much..” He said the word in a mocking tone. “...so just try and finish this in one go huh?” He told his starfighter before heading down and out of the ring. Yu narrowed his eyes in response to the words from his coach, as he never took his piercing gaze off of Seraphine. 

She could feel it…a rapid beating in her chest. The hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge and the slight bit of sweat trailing down the side of her face. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? The match hadn’t even begun yet. Was it from all the whispers and chatter from the spectators? She questioned herself as she strained her ears to listen in on what the people were saying. 

“She’s so dead.”

“She doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Why did K think this was a good idea?”

“I heard her level was an 8 though?”

“Who cares, we all know how this is gonna end anyways.”

“Tch.” Sera grit her teeth, hearing all the noise in the background. What did they know anyway? They never even met, never knew what she was capable of. They didn’t know the power she possessed, the kinds of training she’s gone through to obtain the strength she has now. They didn’t know anything, nothing at all. She continued to think as she focused her attention back on Yu, whose gaze never left hers, knowing the match was about to start. 

But even as she tried to convince herself otherwise…the beating of her chest would not cease. 

“There’s no way I’d lose to a cripple like Yu.” Sera thought almost bitterly right before the bell rang. 

DING!

Sera’s eyes flashed, her passive enhancing her reaction time to instantly activate her ability as quickly as possible. She wasn’t going to hold anything back–

POW!

Sera felt her chin tilt to the side as her eyes began to droop, and suddenly…everything went black all around her. 

….

A few moments later, Sera came to as she slowly got up from her dazed state and took in her surroundings. 

“What just…” Sera thought, looking around the room with a dizzied expression. That was until she spotted K, turned away from her so she was only staring at his back. And suddenly, everything came to as she recalled what had just happened to her. Her facial features slowly widening as the realization set in, her lips slightly parted from one another. 

Seraphine, the strongest person at Wellston academy with an incredibly high level of 8.0 had, for the first true time in her life, felt the bitter taste of defeat towards someone she believed to be inferior to her. 

“Damn it.” She thought to herself as she could feel the sting of tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, utterly ashamed of herself for what had just transpired. She could hardly even look up at the moment as she stared down at her hands, clenching and unclenching her fists as she did so. That old bastard, that rotten senile old man, his words….his words had been right about her all along. Right about how she couldn’t even come close to measuring up to someone like Yu despite all the strength she seemingly had. That damn old bastard…he had been telling the truth all along. 

And that fact stung most of all. 

“Another round?” A voice called from above her. She looked up only to find Yu staring back down at her. “Do you want to go for another round?” He asked once more, feeling as though he would….like to spend more time with her. 

However, human beings are both complex and childish creatures. And for Seraphine’s part, even though the question seemed innocent and kind enough on the outside….

To her it felt as though she had just been spit on when she had been down. 

She grit her teeth at him. “Don’t you think you’ve proven yourself enough already?” She said as she looked away from him, still sitting down at the edge of the corner of the ring. Not even bothering to look or congratulate the person she was just spending time with not moments before. 

Humans are both complex and childish beings….one person’s kindness can feel like a total humiliation to the other….

Yu said nothing in response to Sera at first, he simply continued to stare down at her for a moment. An image of a blond haired boy with light in his eyes briefly flashed across his mind, before his shoulders dropped ever so slightly, almost seemingly resigning himself over something. 

“Suit yourself.” Yu said back to her, before he turned away and began to head out the gym with K following suit. Seraphine made no motion to follow, she simply continued to stare off into space, seemingly lost in thought over the match. 

And when the doors had been closed and the lights were turned off, when Sera knew for a fact that she was all alone in this dark, empty room…she had finally let the tears she had been holding in loose.

For the first time in her life…Seraphine had wept bitter, hot tears over the sting of defeat…