The Fight

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People who fully develop their Magic Ability can achieve mastery in their field. However, this takes years of hard work and systematic practice. Some Abilities can remain basic for a lifetime if the user does not devote enough time and attention to perfecting them. On the other hand, those who strive for perfection can discover new, powerful aspects of their Abilities.

However, powerful Abilities carry certain risks. People with exceptionally strong Magic Abilities often have difficulty controlling them. In such cases, it is crucial to remain calm and practice systematically. It is important to learn how to manage the flow of the mana - the magical energy that powers the Ability - to avoid dangerous situations.

Failure to control magical power can lead to serious accidents, both for the person possessing the Ability and for those around them. This is why it is so important to regularly practice, improve, and develop Magic Abilities in a safe and responsible manner. This will allow to fully control the power and minimize the risk to the community.

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[One Day Later]

Hideaki was laying on the couch. He was looking calm on the outside, but his mind was brewing a storm of thoughts.

The cold voice of Seiji echoing in his head:

“…keep your mouth shut. I’m not here to argue with a child.”

That word 'child' burned him from the inside, like it was drilling deeper and deeper.

'A kid… tch. Me? A kid? Me, the one who’s seen more blood than anyone else? I'm the killer here! ...I’ve survived… I’m stronger, aren’t I?'

A series of thoughts set off a spiral of self-criticism and frustration within him:

'So… why does he make me feel so small?'

He sighed inwardly.

'Like I'm some cockroach that he can step on…'

He looked at his phone.

'He pissed me off... He... he just sees me as a stupid idiot...'

"Tch." He hissed through his teeth.

[Meanwhile]

Seiji was at work, focused on a particularly complex piece of code when his mobile phone began vibrating repeatedly. A dozen pings sounded off, followed by more in rapid succession. He sighed, pausing his work to glance at the screen.

10,

15,

20 messages from Hideaki.

"Seijiii~"
"The 'kid' is arguing with you!"
"'Keep your mouth shut' – HA! I'm writing, not talking."
"What if a child is smarter than an adult, what then???"

Seiji closed his eyes briefly, pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a long sigh.

"Of course..."

Hearing the exasperation in Seiji's voice, Ken looked up from his desk, turning to his friend.

"What's going on, Seiji?"

Seiji held up his phone with a look of weary resignation. "Hideaki. He's discovered texting. And apparently, he's decided that now is the perfect time to test how many notifications my phone can handle before it explodes."

At the mention of Hideaki, Ken's face darkened slightly. The trace of a smirk vanished, replaced by a tight-lipped frown. "He knows you're at work, right?"

"He knows." Seiji scrolled through the messages, not bothering to read most of them. "I'm starting to regret that I bought him a phone..."

Ken shook his head in amusement. "Wait, what? You bought him a phone? Is this penance for your sins, or did you lose a bet?"

Seiji paused for a second, calculating the least suspicious response. "His old phone... had an unfortunate encounter with the ground. Accidentally. While I was testing something nearby. It had been... slightly shattered. So, since that was technically my fault, I promised to replace it. And now, as you can see, I'm paying the price."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "Testing something?"

Seiji looked at him with a blank expression. "It was a complicated situation."

"So basically, this is all self-inflicted?" Ken asked.

"You could say that." Seiji shrugged.

Ken shook his head and looked at him, clearly torn between disbelief and worry. "Mhm... So you gave him a new phone."

Seiji didn't look up. "It was either that or listen to him complain for the next two weeks. I took the lesser evil."

Ken sighed, but instead of continuing the topic of Hideaki, his gaze shifted to Seiji's monitor.
"That the bug-sorting algorithm you were working on last week?" he asked, leaning slightly to peek at the screen.

"Just fixing the filters," Seiji replied without looking up. "There were some duplicate conditions. And a few exceptions someone once... basically duct-taped together to make it work."

Ken let out a short laugh. "Classic. Held-together-with-spit code."

Seiji sighed exhausted. "Yeah. Such an attitude is pissing me off so much."

"More than your roommate?" Ken asked, half joking, but Seiji only responded with a faint shrug and resumed his focus on the code.

Ken watched him.

After a pause, he added with a small smile, "You and that laser focus of yours... Sometimes I feel like the world could be falling apart around you, and you'd just mutter 'null pointer' and keep typing."

Seiji let out a quiet "hm," but didn't deny it.

Then Ken added, amused, "At some point I started suspecting you only pretend to dislike people — just so you can get more coding done."

Seiji shrugged again. "It's the only way to make things work. Code doesn't lie. People do. Often."

Ken nodded. 'He most likely meant here his ex-girlfriend. I remember him before the breakup. He felt... a little bit more happier than how he is now. Still he got his cinisism and that cold, dry attitude, but he was different. And yet, she treated him like complete unworthy trash. No wonder he decided to dump with her. I feel sorry for him.'

They fell into a brief silence, until Ken grinned and added with a spark in his eye,

"Come on, show me the piece that's pissing you off. Maybe we can tackle it together — before your roommate spams your phone to death again."

Just as they were about to dig into coding, Seiji's phone vibrated again.

"You really can't let this go, can you?" Seiji said a frustrated.

"Is this him again?" Ken asked surprised.

"Yeah..." Seiji muttered, sounding more drained than angry. "Apparently, ignoring common sense is one of his many, unwavering skills."

"You could just block him," Ken offered casually.

Seiji didn't even look up. "That would only make it worse."

He looked at the message from Hideaki:

"How you're doing? Because if well, then I'm going to be the reason to this day be bad for you! Hehe!"

"Give it a break. I told you — I'm at work."  Seiji replied him, then locked the phone with a sigh.

Ken blinked, watching him. "Wait, you actually replied?"

"He won't stop unless I do." Seiji said, tone clearly annoyed.

"To me, it looks like you have more patience for some people than you like to admit." Ken retored.

"Maybe." Seiji shrugged "Or maybe I just haven't figured out how to get rid of him yet." he added darkly.

Ken smirked, tilting his head.
"Right. You haven't figured out how to get rid of him yet. And meanwhile, you just happen to keep feeding him, housing him, and — oh yeah — buying him new phone."

Seiji gave him a tired look. "It's about maintaining a certain level of order, not altruism."

Ken let out a dry laugh. "Keep telling yourself that."

Seiji ignored him but then another vibrating sound broke the momentarily peace.

Seiji glanced at the screen again. Another message:

"I wanna kill you so badly! Finish your work alreadyyy!!!!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is ridiculous..."

Just then, another wave of notifications arrived, making Seiji's phone behaving like a turned on vibrator.

"Actually..."
"Do you think you can kill a person with a fork?"
"Seiji."
"Seiji!!"

"SEIJI!!!"

"SEIJI!!!!!"
"SEIJIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!"
"Are you ignoring me??? That means you're scared!"

This only deepened Seiji's irritation. With a sharp exhale, he started typing his response:

"Hideaki. For the last fucking time. I am WORKING. Don't message me unless it's life or death. Try silence for a few hours. You might survive."

He sent the message and set his phone down, making sure it went through.

"That should give me a few hours of peace. In theory."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "And in practice?"

Seiji just rolled his eyes. "In practice... I expect five more minutes of spam."

---

At the same time, Hideaki read Seiji's message and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Idiot!"

He tossed the phone aside, clearly amused.

Suddenly, he heard the front door lock trying to turn. He was surprised because Seiji always came home in the evening

'Huh..? Someone wants to come in..?'

Hideaki cautiously approached the door

'Could it be those teenagers again?'  he wondered...

Suddenly from outside he heard a curse, a deep man's voice, and from where the lock was, a sound like something broke...

Hideaki walked away from the genkan. Everything was clear to him now... He knew that sound very well...

Someone was trying to break into the apartment.

He quickly scratched himself hard on his arm, making the bloody knife from his dropping blood and prepared himself for the meeting with a burglar.

Suddenly the door opened.

Hideaki was in hiding.

A rather muscular man walked in...

He had short red hair, wearing a plain hoodie and jeans, with a metal knuckleduster in his right hand... On his back, he carried a backpack, which was already filled with some unspecified items.

"Fucking lock. Who the fuck locks yours apartment with double locks!? What is this guy, some fucking secret agent??" The man cursed.

Hideaki was still sitting in the half-shadow.

Suddenly, he heard a rustle. Footsteps. The burglar was rummaging through Seiji’s apartment, touching his belongings.

Hideaki lifted his head. His gaze sharpened, and the corner of his lips twisted into the faintest smile.

'I wonder… what Seiji will say when he sees that this 'kid' can break every single finger of an intruder… one by one. Heh… or maybe… punch a hole through his throat before he even screams…'

His hand twitched, as if his muscles were already waiting for the command.

At that moment, anger, humiliation, and sadistic excitement blended into one—
and the burglar unknowingly became the perfect target for that dark avalanche inside him.

As the man was engrossed in his search, Hideaki seized the opportunity to attack him from behind.

Quickly getting out from his hiding place, he grabbed the robber by the hair and pinned him against the wall, holding a bloody knife to his throat.

"What are you doing here, huh!?"

His voice carried aggressive demanding of answers.

The burglar, far from frightened, sneered. Without warning, he twisted unblocking himself from the knife at throat and violently landed a crushing blow to Hideaki's gut with the metal knuckleduster.

The force sent Hideaki sprawling onto the floor, gasping as the air left his lungs in a rush. His body screamed with pain - he could feel his insides churning from the punch, but he refused to give in.

The weapon he created started to shatter a little, but he noticed it just in time. His fingers twitched with red magic aura as he hardly managed to make it hard again.

'This bastard... He's tough,'  Hideaki thought, trying to ignore the twisting agony in his stomach.

The burglar didn't waste a second, and began to run quickly for the door, but Hideaki's instincts kicked in. "Not so fast, a-asshole!"

Red aura flickered from his fingertips, the burglar's legs seized up.

The burglar groaned as his legs gave out and an unimaginably intense tingling went through him. He turned his head, eyes wide in disbelief. 'What the hell is this?!'

Hideaki stood slowly, blood drops dripping from his mouth, a wicked grin creeping across his face. "You think you can just leave?"

'It's... him!? He's controlling my legs!? Fuck!'

Rage and panic swirled in the burglar's eyes as he reached for the nearest object - a tea pot that was about to fall from his backpack.

But then... he felt that this tingling has stopped. His muscles loosened.

"Huh..?" He raised an eyebrow. 

Hideaki stood before him, his hands shaking and his magical red aura flickering as if it were losing power. "Tch!" he spat, clenching his jaw. 

'I've never been able to control blood directly in someone's body for very long... it always slips away. Blood inside a body fights back, like it belongs to them, not me. I can only grab it for a moment before it kicks me out… like veins and heartbeat are pushing me off. But once it’s out... once it spills... then it’s mine...'  His voice cracked in his mind and his sanity teetered on the edge. '...Completely mine.' 

His red eyes narrowed at the burglar, burning with frustration and hunger.

'This guy... It looks like he's trying to prevent me from stealing stuff from this flat. Damnit!'  The burglar said, and with a surge of anger, he swung wildly a tea pot, pointing directly at Hideaki.

In last moments, Hideaki sidestepped the clumsy blow.

His hands fell to his sides unsteadily, but that didn't stop him from giving in so easily. His bloody knife crumbled further, dripping onto the floor, but he clenched his fists and with difficulty, hardened the weapon once more. 

Then, he took a ragged breath and lashed on him, slashing deep into the burglar's arm with his bloody knife blade.

The burglar screamed, blood spurting from the wound, but he refused to relent. Turning with brutal determination, he landed a savage punch to Hideaki’s stomach, knocking him back. Hideaki’s bloody knife shattered as his focus wavered, and crimson blood spread across the wooden floor.

"You can't catch me!" the burglar growled through gritted teeth, clutching his injured arm. 'He… he has some Blood-Type Magic Ability… Shit… not good.'

'Tch! I need to have more control over this...'  Hideaki gazed at the running man.

Then his gaze landed on the splashed blood. 

An unsettling grin again, adorned his face.

'Hehehe. . . . let's have some fun with blood~'

He staggered upright, swaying dangerously. His eyes were wide and unblinking,

In an instant, a small, sharp blood arrow shot from his hand, striking the edge of the burglar’s path.

The man froze, realizing too late the danger of facing this unhinged figure.

He turned aroud, and there... He saw it.

He saw Hideaki in front of him, barely able to stand, rocking from foot to foot, his breathing ragged, and a look of madness evident on his face.

Hideaki's one hand glowed with a red aura with another small, bloody arrow, while his other hand clutched his stomach.

'I'm gonna draw more blood from him! Hehehe! And I'm gonna make some better and cool weapon from it! And then...'

A wide unsettling grin formed across his face, making him chuckle under his breath

'I'M GONNA BUTCHER HIM WITH IT! EHEHEHEHE!!! HE WILL BE IN SO MUCH PAIN! HE WILL BE WRIGGLING LIKE A WORM THAT IS HELD ABOVE HEN! EHEHE! EHEHEHEHE!'  He particularly was screeching from excitement.

He gasped for air, laughing maniacally.

He felt a twinge in his stomach from the damage to his insides, but still...

Even though there was unbearable pain coursing through his body, Hideaki's mind was no longer tethered to rationality.

"And now... Ehehehe! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!!!" He screamed with a maniac glee and charged at the burglar with reckless abandon, but before he could strike...

Suddenly, the creamy-colored aura from the burglar's bulging vein-ridden arms filled the room - a sign that he used his Magic Ability.

The man, fueled by rage, lunged at Hideaki again, his body radiating raw strength. With one brutal motion, he smashed his fist — covered by the metal knuckle-duster — straight into Hideaki's ribs.

A sickening crack echoed in the room.

Hideaki collapsed against the wall, coughing up saliva mixed with blood. His lungs screamed, every breath like swallowing fire.

The bloody arrow… dissolved.

Before he could recover, the man grabbed him by the left wrist, fingers like an iron vice. With his magically enhanced grip, he twisted Hideaki's arm unnaturally backward, until the tendons stretched to their limit.

Hideaki howled, his eyes wide with panic. 'F-fuck!!! My arm! IT'S BREAKING—'

"YOU SHITTY BRAT! NO ONE MESSES WITH ME! YOU HEAR!?" the burglar roared — but even as rage filled his voice, an unnerving thought crossed his mind…

'Who is this guy..? A civilian would immediately try to call the police, run away... beg... and this one... goes into denial to fight me. Even though I'm bigger and stronger than him. What's up with this guy. . . '

"Tch! F-fuck!!" Hideaki desperately tried to catch a breath, but every move of him doing so, made him experience great pain inside.

'I CAN'T DIE... I-I CAN'T DIE! I CAN'T DIE! I CAN'T DIE! I CAN'T DIE! I CAN'T DIE!!!!!'

The words looped in his head, faster, louder, hammering his sanity to pieces. His mind fractured under terror, hysteria clawing at the edges.

His hands trembled, red hand flicking wildly as he tried to summon his Magic again — focus slipping through the haze of pain.

'I NEED TO KILL HIM!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!! EHEHEHEHEHE!!! I WANT TO GUT HIM OUT!!! HEHEHEHEHEHE!!! HE NEEDS TO DIE!!!'

He grinned with shakiness, eyes wide with mania. From the crimson pooling at his feet, a jagged weapon began to take shape once more.

Noticing the red aura from Hideaki's hands the bulgral smirked.

"That's what you like to play with, huh?"

He seized Hideaki’s wrists and, with deliberate cruelty, began squeezing.

"AAAAAAAAH!!! IT HURTS!! IT HURTS!!!"

The scream tore from Hideaki’s throat as bones ground against each other, fingers bending unnaturally in the man’s crushing grip.

"STOP—!! FUCKING STOP!!!"

The burglar only grinned wider, enjoying the sound of Hideaki’s agony. With one violent jerk, he slammed him to the ground, then planted a heavy boot on his chest, grinding down.

"You like playing tough, huh? Let’s see how much pain you can take."

Hideaki’s aura flickered desperately, but the burglar noticed. With chilling calm, he took Hideaki’s hands again—

and squeezed harder.

*CRACK.*

One finger snapped.

Hideaki shrieked, his voice breaking, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

The man laughed. "That’s it. Cry louder."

Another finger bent backward until the bone gave way.

"NOOOOOO!!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!!"

Blood dripped between the burglar’s fingers as he crushed the hands like a toy, one digit after another, savoring every scream.

"Nobody’s coming to save you," he hissed, eyes gleaming with sadistic delight.

"AAAAAaaaaa!!!" Hideaki’s screams tore through the room — until they suddenly...

"Aaaaaghhh...hhh.... hhheh... heheheh...." warped into a broken, guttural laugh.

"Hehehehehehehe!!! Hehehehehe hehehe!!!"

His fingers trembled like jelly. He desperately tried to activate his Magic Ability, which was already showing signs of instability -  instability that not only was in his desperate, murderous psyche...

The burglar, seeing the crazed look in Hideaki's eyes, paused his violence. Something in that twisted expression unsettled him, forcing him to hesitate for a split second.

"Y-you freak!" he barked, anger masking his unease. Raising his fists, he lunged forward for the final blow. "YOU WON’T BE LAUGHING ANYMORE!!!"

But Hideaki’s blood suddenly pulsed on the floor beneath him. With no focus, no precision — just raw hysteria — the crimson liquid erupted into shards of jagged spikes, spraying out like shrapnel. A few cut across the burglar’s arm and cheek, forcing him to stumble back with a snarl of pain.

"WHAT THE—?!"

Hideaki’s grin widened, teeth bloodstained. His eyes, wild and burning, locked onto the sight of fresh blood dripping from the man’s wounds.
"Ehehehe… You’re bleeding too now…" he rasped, voice cracking between laughter and wheezing breaths. "Hehehe… Your blood is so freshly red! So juicy red! And now... as it slowly drops... I CAN FINALLY KILL YOU!!! EHEHEHE!"

Fueled by one last burst of insane adrenaline, Hideaki forced the blood in his grip into a crude, hardened blade. With a sudden, savage motion, he slashed it upward, feeling the resistance of flesh as it dug into the burglar’s back.

"AAAAA!!!" the man roared in agony, stumbling away, clutching his wound.

Hideaki staggered, half-collapsing against the wall, his body screaming with pain — but his expression was nothing but twisted delight. His grin stretched unnaturally wide.

He raggedly but quickly forced the blood around his own wounds, insides and outsides, to coagulate, sealing them in a crude patchwork, whispering through his grin:

"He's in so much pain! Ehehe! He will die s-soon! Hehe!"

The burglar hissed loudly from overwhelming pain.

'This psycho wants to kill me! I can't die! I don't wanna die! Not now, not when I had come so far!!'  he yelled in his mind.

Summoning the last vestiges of his strength, he pressed his bloody hand against the wound, grinding his teeth as fire shot through his back. He ripped the sleeve from his hoodie with his free hand and tied it tightly around his torso, the fabric soaking instantly.

"Not… yet…!" he snarled, half to Hideaki, half to himself. "I won’t die here… not to some lunatic freak like you!"

He staggered forward, reaching for his backpack with trembling fingers. His vision blurred, but the adrenaline kept him upright.

'I need to have some additional weapon to finish him off-' but then, when he turned back, he saw it...

Hideaki wielding another wide bloody dagger. With that sickening grin of his.

"DIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled and plunged the weapon deep into the man's other side of the back, with all strength and speed he could mastered.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" the scream spread throughout the apartment.

The second blade sank into his back, this time deeper, and blood poured like a river. Panicking, he grabbed the wound with both hands, pressing furiously, while yanking the sleeve of his hoodie to wrap it around the new injury. His breath came in ragged gasps. "No… no… not like this… I can't die here…"

The bulgral felt an unbearable pain in the back. He was very pissed off that all his effort went to shit. "YOU ANNOYING WORM!!!"

In a moment of desperation and anger, he lunged forward to Hideaki and grabbed his head, slamming it forcefully against the nearest wall.

The impact was so powerful that Hideaki's body went limp.

"AAAAaaaa..." The small remains of his silent scream and breath could be barely heard, before he completely lost his consciousness...

The bloody dagger melted right away.

The thief felt that his muscles were tense, he was swaying from one side to another from exhaustion. As he approached Hideaki's motionless body, he let out a small chuckle of triumph.

"Hehe... Finally... fell... like a fly... Now... quickly grab the precious stuff and get the fuck out of here before he wakes up again..." he muttered to himself.

Hastly before that he went to the bathroom to treat his wounds.

Then, with quick, practiced movements, the burglar ransacked the apartment, grabbing anything that looked valuable and stashing it in his bag.

Satisfied with his haul, he made his way to the door, glancing back at Hideaki one last time before slipping out into the outside...

[Meanwhile...]

Seiji hadn't received a message from Hideaki in quite some time, and a subtle concern began to creep in.

'Strange... He hasn't texted me in hours. Did he finally take my advice and leave me alone? Or...'  He paused, his brow furrowing slightly, he remembered the fatal state when Hideaki tried to cook himself some food and ended up tragically vomiting into the toilet. 'Is something wrong?'

As the day ended, Seiji returned to the apartment. Immediately, he noticed something was off - the door was slightly ajar.

"The hell. . . I always lock the door. Wait... Did he... Did he found a way to unlock the lock!? Did he escape!?"

Cautiously but with a load of stress forming inside him, Seiji stepped inside.

And then...

His eyes immediately landed on Hideaki, lying motionless on the floor in the middle of the apartment, blood pooling beneath him.

"Oh shit!"

Seiji's mind snapped into action, sharp and methodical. He dropped everything he was holding and rushed forward, kneeling at Hideaki's side.

"Hideaki?" His voice was urgent. "Can you hear me?" He checked for a pulse – faint, but there. Breathing – shallow, strained.

Then he noticed the signs: Blood smeared around his mouth. His one arm and hands were curled unnaturally, fingers trembling and blackened from trauma, knuckles almost pulverized. Every touch sent sharp spasms through his body. As Seiji gently touched his side to inspect further injuries, Hideaki let out a weak, instinctive moan of pain.

'Broken ribs,'  Seiji assessed instantly. He spotted more blood on the floor, smearing it in streaks, – trails and pools that started in the living room, crossed near the entryway, and ended under Hideaki's body.

'He's still alive, but losing a lot of blood. I need to do something fast.'

Seiji pulled out his phone, ready to dial for help, but then, he hesitated. His mind raced through the possible consequences: 'If I call for an ambulance, the police will come, too. They'll ask questions. Questions I can't answer. But...'

He snapped himself out of it, his logical side winning over. 'No, this isn't the time for overthinking! He needs medical help, now.'

He dialed the emergency number, and in the meantime he took care of Hideaki's wounds and administered the first aid. When the call answered on the other side, Seiji spoke clearly and succinctly, describing the situation and the state of which Hideaki was.

Soon after, the ambulance arrived. Paramedics moved quickly, lifting Hideaki onto a stretcher. Seiji didn’t follow. He was about to reach for cleaning supplies, but before he could take a step—

The sound of heavy boots echoed in the hallway. Two uniformed officers entered right behind the paramedics, scanning the apartment with sharp eyes.

"Sir, we need to ask you some questions," one of them said firmly, already noticing view of scattered objects and traces of blood on the floor.

Seiji froze, realizing instantly: there was no way to hide this. Whether from his own words on the call, from the evidence around them, or from the hospital’s report, the police were always going to come.

---

They asked a few standard questions, wrote their notes, and sealed off the entryway for the report.

No body was found. 

The burglar had escaped. 

The victim's name was written as "The roommate"

The wounds on Hideaki looked ordinary — knife cuts, bruises, nothing unusual. Seiji gave short, consistent answers, sounding like any other shaken witness - but it was just a play. An act to not make them being suspicious.

"Eh... It is just another late-night burglary gone wrong — no reason to escalate, no need to waste energy chasing phantoms." said one of policeman', yawning loudly.

"I bet that the upper ranks woudn't even bother to look onto the reports. And I'm not even mentioning calling for the Magic Abilities technicians. These guys been non-stop at work. Besides... Makino-san, I'm overworked... I just want to end this shift and go to bed..." said another while finishing the notes half-assesembly. The dark circles under his eyes showed a very visible signs of tiredness and sleep deprivation.

Seiji overheard their talk, and upon hearing it, he exhaled quietly. 'They’d better not dig into this case any deeper… but I can’t be certain.'

With no sign of strange magic at play, the case was logged as a simple breaking and entering with assault. Routine paperwork, nothing more. They scribbled it into the report without even checking ID, and then left. 

When the police and ambulance drove off, Seiji made his way in the apartment, eyes narrowing as he turned to survey the room.

"What exactly happened here...?"

His sharp eyes scanned the room, landing on the glass cabinet. It was open, and some of his books and porcelain were missing.

Seiji's jaw tightened. His mind worked fast, piecing together the clues.

He crouched near the spot where Hideaki had fallen, his gaze sharp, clinical. The dark pool of blood had already begun to congeal.

'He lost a lot of blood, but I doubt if he would do something like that to himself... What if... He fought back...?'  Seiji thought grimly. 'Or at least tried.'

He went further ito the living room, and there, he spotted the faint imprint of a shoe in the smeared blood – not Hideaki's size.

'Signs of a indeed struggle between two people...'

He stood slowly, scanning the room with renewed focus. The glass cabinet had been pried open. A few decorative items were gone – a couple of vintage books, a ceramic vase. Nothing of major value.

But it wasn't just a clumsy thief. No – this was deliberate. Targeted. Whoever it was had known what they were after, and Hideaki had gotten in the way.

'That explains the bruises... the crushed hands... He must've tried to stop them. But why would someone like Hideaki - a criminal, try to protect my stuff? He's no hero. This makes no sense. He’s a threat. He’s proven more than once that I can’t trust him.'

He sighed, his logical nature pushing him to think everything through.

His eyes narrowed as he continued searching for more missing items. Fortunately, nothing else seemed out of place.

As he was slowly cleaning up the apartment, his mind was already formulating theories. He glanced at the bloodied scene again, and something clicked.

'They came in. Took a few items. Hideaki noticed – confronted them. Things turned violent. They beat him – stomped his hands, broke his ribs – but he resisted. Managed to get to the door... but collapsed before he could escape.'

Seiji analyzed as his mind spun with possibilities. He narrowed his eyes.

'Or... Maybe it was some kind of belongings dispute? Or maybe the thief turned on him when things went wrong?'

Then he shook himself, forcing those thoughts aside.

'Enough of that.'

Already his mind turned dry and cold:

'Something in my apartment has been stolen. I need to find out whether Hideaki did it or not. As soon as the doctors let me know he’s awake, I’m going there and question him. No unnecessary emotions, no pity. That idiot brought this fate on himself. Sure, he got hurt, but… that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a criminal. Someone who could have been actively involved in that theft.'

Seiji took off his glasses, breathed on them and began to meticulously clean the slightly dirty lenses, thinking.

'I need answers. But first... I have to finish clean this place up.'