21 Versus 1

The atmosphere was tense.

The old factory was now used as a place for the 21 versus 1 brawl.

The members of 'The Owls of Tokyo' surrounded Kazuma completely.

“...four? No, I guess I will start with six.” Kazuma mumbled.

“Get him!” Ryuuji ordered his people.

“Yes, sir!” they yelled.

Thus, the 21 delinquents started to storm at Kazuma.

Kazuma took a deep breath after he finished thinking about his first move.

He began to sprint to the guy in front of him. The person had no kind of weapon and therefore only raised his fist in preparation for a punch.

“Haaa!” the guy shouted as he tried to punch Kazuma.

However, Kazuma elegantly dodged the punch aimed at his face effortlessly and used the momentum to throw the guy over his shoulder.

Thud.

The other members were baffled for a moment.

Kazuma took a few steps back so he could escape the circle. Now he was not surrounded anymore and did not have to worry about a surprise attack from behind.

With nothing to worry about anymore, Kazuma moved to the second phase of his plan. Showing his dominance.

“Damn, that bastard took me by surprise!” the guy who was thrown to the ground finally got up with an angry look in his face.

“Let's get serious now.” Kazuma said to himself as he ran to the group.

“Is he crazy!?” a member commented in confusion.

“Don't let your guard down! Attack him!” Ryuuji, who was in the back of the group now, ordered.

In that moment, Kazuma was already in front of the same guy he threw over his shoulders.

“?!”

Crack.

Kazuma landed a heavy punch on his nose causing it to break.

Thud.

The guy fell again and did not move anymore due to his unconsciousness.

“One down.” Kazuma counted.

Not wasting time, he moved to the person next to him who let his guard down.

“H-huh?” the person did not expect Kazuma being already in front of him and only raised his arms so he could defend a punch.

But this time Kazuma's punch was aimed at the stomach.

Bam.

The guy puked as he fell on his knees.

“Two.”

Kazuma continued to mow down their numbers. But with the enemies also finally beginning to strike back, it took Kazuma longer to reach the number that he set as a goal.

Kazuma punched and got punched. He received more hits than he dealt on his own. Kicks, punches, iron pipes, bats, iron knuckles; Kazuma felt everything as he continued to fight back.

As time went on, the number of hits he took got smaller and smaller until they eventually stopped.

“9.”

Kazuma spat blood on the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“W-what is he...” the members were shocked by the scene in front of their eyes.

It was a sight to behold. A line of nine bodies was formed behind Kazuma whose white shirt was now covered in dirt and blood. Was all the blood his or theirs? He did not know and did not care. But he achieved the goal of the second phase of his plan. After he took down nine people, the other 12's will to fight sank tremendously.

“Who's next...” he turned around to face them.

Kazuma was by no means an invincible human. He had his limits and he knew them. Therefore, he began to wobble when he moved his body and his eyes looked more exhausted than usual. He was about to collapse.

“How about another deal? You will provide me with information and I will let you all go.”

Kazuma had to bluff. There was no way that he could beat them all up in his current state. But he wanted information.

“W-what should we do, Fujiwara-san?” the members turned to Ryuuji who was the leader of this operation.

“...”

Everyone believed Kazuma's bluff. Yet Ryuuji was the only one who was thinking about it. Will he call the bluff? Kazuma started to sweat nervously.

“Under one condition. You have to beat three of the remaining people. The others won't interfere.” Ryuuji stated.

“Fine.”

Kazuma agreed to the condition because there was no other way.

Ryuuji was suspicious about Kazuma's current state. Was he really able to beat the others up or was it just a bluff? He was not sure so he had to test Kazuma by putting the condition on the table.

Kazuma knew that Ryuuji wanted to test him to clear his doubts. If Kazuma had shown any signs of hesitation or if he had declined the condition, the bluff would have been surely called.

“Alright. It'll be me and those two.” Ryuuji pointed with his thumb to the back where two people with the same stature as him were standing.

“Tch.” Kazuma clicked his tongue silently.

If they were some average fighters, Kazuma could have seen a chance to somehow win the fight but reality betrayed him. Almost completely exhausted, it would be a close match against someone like Ryuuji but now there were two others who seemed like they were as experienced as Ryuuji.

He needed a strategy. However, he could not think properly.

“Let's start this!” Ryuuji said while he took up his fighting stance.

The other two were also prepared as one of them took an iron pipe and the other iron knuckles.

Kazuma stepped forward.

“You will regret this.” he mocked them.

Kazuma decided to knock out the guy with the iron knuckles first.

Even though the guy knew that Kazuma aimed at him, he stayed calm and even put his hands in his pockets.

Bonk.

Before Kazuma's punch connected, he was hit on the head with an iron pipe.

Thud.

Consequently, Kazuma fell to the ground. Blood started to flow out of his head as the ground around his head's area started to be covered in red.

“...N....o...”

He closed his eyes.

Was this really end? After years of waiting and searching for a clue, he finally almost got one.

As he slowly lost his consciousness, many scenes flashed in his head.

A young boy eating alone in the dark. Many brawls. Police sirens. Family disputes. Many brawls again. An owl. Blood. A happy family on a dining table? An accident. A car in flames. A boy crying.

“Not..... yet...”

Kazuma slowly tried to get up.

The scenes he saw in his head reminded him of the cause of his revenge. He would not allow himself to collapse now. Even if he was beaten to death, he would still get up. When would he ever get an opportunity like this?

Kazuma had to stand up. Now or never.

“Hm?”

The guy with the iron pipe crouched down and pulled on Kazuma's hair. Without any resistance, Kazuma only knelt in front of him.

“Stay down if you don't want to die.”

Ptui.

Kazuma spat on the face of the guy pulling his hair as he wore a provocative grin.

“You bastard!”

Completely ticked off, he raised the iron pipe to strike Kazuma down again.

Bam.

Kazuma, who adjusted his position while the iron pipe guy raised his arms for a swing, punched him in his chin as he jumped from his crouching position.

Thud. Clatter.

The guy and the iron pipe fell to the ground.

“!?”

Ryuuji and the other person of the mach were token by surprise.

Not knowing how long he could stay conscious, picked up the iron pipe and pointed with it at the two.

Then, the guy with the iron knuckles launched a punch at Kazuma.

“Take this, you little m-”

Bonk.

Kazuma struck his knee with the pipe.

“Aaahhh!” he cried in pain as he held his knee.

Bonk.

This time, Kazuma mercilessly launched a strike aimed at his head knocking him out.

“Want to give up?” Kazuma pointed with the pipe at Ryuuji.

“...”

This fight was created so Ryuuji could see if Kazuma had bluffed or not. After the other two were taken down, he was still not sure.

Ryuuji saw in front of him a guy whose clothes and face was covered in dirt and blood. His eyes were lifeless and yet he wore a agitated grin. Did he really bluff?

Kazuma took down 11 out of 21 people. His fighting style and his actions were unpredictable. He was hit with a great amount of force in the head with an iron pipe and was still not knocked out.

He could only question Kazuma's humanity because the only thing he saw was a demon.

He gulped in fear.

“I-I give up...” Ryuuji raised his arms in the air showing that he lost his will to fight.

Clatter.

The other bystanders dropped their weapons and mimicked their leader as they also lost their will to fight.

Kazuma, who still held the pipe in his hand, approached Ryuuji.

Thud.

Ryuuji fell on his butt in fear.

He did not know what will happen to him. Why did Kazuma still have the pipe? Was he about to strike him down?

The nearer he was, the more Ryuuji sweated from nervousness.

Kazuma crouched down and grabbed Ryuuji by his collar. He looked at him as if he was about to kill him if he said one wrong word.

“Now tell me everything you know about that bastard Kanzaki Shinya.”