Burst (Part 1)

For a good long while, the three youth gangs of Sakuhama terrorized the entertainment district. It was to the point where the problem was slowly growing out of the scope of what the schools could realistically handle. Something needed to be done about it urgently.

Or so they thought.

On a day like all others, the three delinquent gangs received an invitation for something at the arcade in the farthest corner of the entrainment district.

Thinking that it was a challenge from their rivals, the strongest members of each group came alongside their leaders, only to find a very unusual sight.

Standing there in the front of the arcade was a young boy, possibly a middle-schooler with spiky black-hair and dressed in some fancy, rich kid clothes.

At first the delinquents thought it was just a prank by some spoiled brat that didn’t know who he was messing with, but they would soon find out that it wasn’t a joke, at all.

“Sorry for asking, but us is this all you got?” The boy asked politely, after downing the three leaders at once, leaving their subordinates horrified.

“W-What are you waiting for?!” A muscular girl with red hair shouts as she gets up. “Let’s get him!”

Standing up, a lanky boy with a pompadour angrily states. “T-That was just a lucky shot!”

The third leader, this one being a guy with long dark-green hair, wastes no time with words. He grabs a pipe one of his goons had brought with him and jumps towards the younger male.

Without any consideration for his opponent’s age or if there would be any consequences for his actions, the teenager smashes the metallic weapon against the kid’s head, sending him tumbling down into the ground. “How didya like that? Ya little shi-“

“That tickled.”

“Huh?!”

After seconds of being hit, the youngster was back on his feet, an unsettling calm grin resting on his face and only a scratch on his forehead, not even a real bruise.

“T-That’s-“ The long-haired boy clutches his weapon in anger. “-No more playin’ around!” He points towards the black-haired kid. “No more holdin’ back boys! Get’im!”

As the group of older boys slowly approached, they held their own sets of weapons like metal pipes and baseball bats.

Watching this, the rich kid’s grin only grows as he begins to walk towards the gang of high-schoolers. “This is getting interesting!” His square-shared irises begin to glow in a beautiful purple. “Try not to break too quickly, alright?”

***

“Just as I thought, Onimaru is trying to bait Kanzaki-kun’s counter.” Umiko notes as the two girls continue to watch the boy’s fight. “Although he may get harmed from it, he does get into a position to dish back even more damage.” She smiles and excitedly shakes her hands up and down, almost like a baby seeing candy for the first time.

The fashionista chuckles at her club mate enthusiasm. “Sounds pretty risky.”

“It is! But he makes it work by taking advantage of his amazing durability!” Sparkles practically fly off the blue-haired teen. “No offense to you, but seeing those two go at it just feels more exciting.”

“None taken, dear.” Kayoko replies with a wave of her hand. “I also think their battle is more captivating, but it’s definitely not for the same reason as you~” She licks her lips and whispers. “I’m making looots of mental notes~”

‘Freaky as usual, I see.’ Thinks the bluenette with a giggle.

“… Say, Umiko-chan?” The fashionista’s tone becomes serious. “Do you really think Kanzaki-kun can win?” It was a fair question to ask, while the silver-haired girl knew he was holding back against her, an opponent like Onimaru was a completely different story.

If he went all out, could he really-

"Yes, I do.” The blue-haired teen replies with an assured smirk on her face. “I know that he is hiding some serious strength behind that cute face of his!” She brings a hand to her chest. “That look on his eyes when he goes on the offensive, those are the eyes of a fighter and a powerful one at that!” Her words are filled with such clear confidence that they could make even the most skeptical of people trust her.

Umiko could be very convincing when she puts her mind to it.

Kayoko chuckles. “You’re right, those eyes have a fire in them that is very rare to see in most people.” A mischievous smirk forms on her lips. “Also, you think he has a cute face?”

Blinking, Umiko asks. “Duh, he’s pretty cute.”

Her reply is nonchalant, like Kayoko had just pointed the most obvious thing in the world. “Hehe, you’re right.” The fashionista giggles in amusement. ‘The plot between those two thicken!’

They continue to watch the fight, making small comments to each other while failing to notice the blond man from earlier.

He was still standing by the door to the arcade’s back, but the thick fog was masking his presence really well.

***

Onimaru and Hiroto continued to do the same song and dance as before, with the taller boy going on the offensive while the shorter one kept on dodging and blocking.

“If your plan is to stall until I get tired, think again, there is still plenty of gas in this tank!” Says the delinquent while delivering a flurry of punches and kicks towards the brunet.

“Gah!” Jumping away, the star-eyed boy takes in a deep breath. ‘I really need to-‘ He clasps his fists tightly, but soon releases them again, stopping himself.

“Having some internal conflicts there, Kanzaki-san?” Onimaru asks with a calm smile. “You’ve been holding back all this time-“ For the first time since they met, the delinquent’s voice changes its tone to a more aggressive one. “-and that ticked me off!” He goes for a jab followed by a right hook which the brunet blocks. “A bout is not fun if one of the fighters is barely fighting back!”

Hiroto doesn’t reply, he just clicks his tongue. ‘I know he is right, but-‘ Almost unconsciously, tightens his fists. ‘-I-‘

“Well then, if you’re not gonna come at me-“ Now back with his tranquil smile. “-then I’ll go to you!”

The delinquent takes on a peculiar pose by hunching his body slightly. His left arm was left dangling in a limp state while cocking his right one like a gun ready to shoot.

“Huh!?” Having a bad feeling about it, the star-eyed boy prepares for a last-minute dodge.

“Funshagan!”

Onimaru’s voice rings across the abandoned parking lot as his purple eyes start to glow with a powerful aura emanating from them.

Yet, nothing could have prepared Hiroto for the bizarre ability he was about to witness.

The black-haired delinquent's arm begins to morph, his elbow split open, revealing a completely dark hole with only a small ball of energy inside. His forearm also expands in size, while a long, bone-like spike sprouts out from the underside of his morphed member.

That strange transformation made the tall boy's arm look like some sort of jet engine.

“A Henkei-type eye!?” Shouts the shorter teen, stunned by this turn of events.

The small ball inside of Onimaru’s elbow hole contracts into itself. “Ogre-“ It suddenly expands, causing a small explosion that propels the black-haired boy towards his opponent at an extremely high velocity. “-Impact!”

Hiroto didn’t have the time to even think of dodging before an explosive force was applied to his chest. His opponent pushed him to the other side of the battlefield, hitting a brick wall so hard that it exploded in a thick layer of dust.

***

“Is it over?” Kayoko worriedly asks as the dust and debris of the impact covered both fighters.

“…” The blue-haired teen attentively watches as the cloud of dirt slowly subsides, revealing a standing Onimaru and a barely conscious Hiroto. “No.” She knew, deep down in her heart that it wasn’t over. “…” Closing her eyes, Umiko whispers. “Denpagan.”

***

To say that the pain of getting literally rocket punched into a wall was severe would be an understatement. The brunet’s vision had gone dark for a couple of seconds, and a loud buzz rang in the boy’s ears. His consciousness was slowly slipping away, and he felt an agonizingly sharp pain all across his body.

“Oh my, you’re still conscious, Kanzaki-san!” Onimaru smirks, his arm having gone back to normal, although smoke could still be seen around his elbow area. “You’re a real tough cookie, aren’t ya?” He stands in front of the other boy and cracks his knuckles. “I wonder how much more you can take?”

‘I-I guess it’s over…’ Hiroto thought to himself while closing his eyes. ‘In the end I couldn’t-‘

“Kanzaki-kun!”

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoes inside the brunet’s head.

‘U-Umiko-san?’ Had he gone crazy? There was no way that his ears would perceive her voice so clearly with the distance between them. ‘H-How?’

“It’s over yet!" The bluenette shouts. “I-“ After a small pause, she completes. “-I believe in you.”

Those words triggered a memory to start playing in the boy’s head.

The vivid image of a young girl, staring at a younger version of himself, she said those exactly same words with a smile and a blush on her cheeks. “I believe in you, Hiro-kun!”

Opening his eyes, the brunet pushes against his pain and stands up, even though his very being is screaming against it. Pieces of debris fall from his body as he stares up at the black-haired boy's eyes.

“Would you look at that?” The delinquent king smiles. “You actually can still stand! That’s really impressive.” He throws his arms to the side, adding. “Normally people can’t tank that first hi-“

Onimaru stops talking once his eyes land on Hiroto’s, which now were glowing in a subtle blue color.

“Burst.”

Suddenly, bright blue energy surrounds the star-eyed boy like some sort of aura, and the surrounding atmosphere completely shifts to a more tense one.

Yet, his eyes were the most striking change, not physically but in their intent. They are fierce, aggressive, and intense.

They are eyes of a fighter.

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” The tall delinquent proclaims, seemingly more excited than before. “Show me a good time, Kanzaki-san!” Onimaru shouts while dashing towards the shorter boy.

***

“…”

“…”

Both girls stare in disbelief at the brunet boy standing far away from them.

Even from a distance, it was quite obvious that something had changed in Hiroto.

Umiko couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice as she declares. “Now we’re getting somewhere!” Jumping to her feet, she yells with all her heart. “Kick his butt, Kanzaki-kun!”

Kayoko was just as enamored, the shift in posture from her male club mate was enough for her to be sure that something amazing was about to be witnessed. “Go, Kanzaki-kun!” She cheers alongside the bluenette, with both hoping to see a true spectacle.

***

The young black-haired boy stood among a pile of unconscious older students. No matter where you looked inside the arcade, the blacked-out bodies of high-schoolers were tossed everywhere in the arcade’s room.

“I thought you’d be stronger.” Whisper the youngster to himself.

“… W-Why?” The redhead from before asks while sitting on the floor, her body bruised all over. “W-Why did you do all this?”

“I want some excitement in my life.” Politely replied the boy, while pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and walking towards her, which instantly makes the girl flinch. “The fighting dojos didn’t give me near enough of a challenge, so I thought maybe my senpais would.” Handing the clean, white cloth to the girl, he waits for a couple of seconds until she eventually takes it from his hand. “… guess I’m done here.”

 Turning around, the boy starts to walk away.

“Wait!” The lanky boy from before shouts while getting up, turns out he was actually conscious this whole time. “D-Do you want to join us?”

“Join you?”

“N-No! He is going to join us!” Shouts the redhead while holding onto the handkerchief.

“… ha.” The black-haired boy chuckles as he looks at his own hand. “Can I fight stronger opponents if I join you?” He asks and both of the leaders nod. “Then fine by me.” He says, shocking both of them.

And from that day onwards, the young boy became the leader of the now unified youth gangs.