Chapter 4: Kneecap

"You think that's going to work again?!" the man screamed, his face red with fury.

He didn't stop. He sprinted toward Rei, the knife gleaming in the dim light of the hallway. Rei’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. His mind was a chaotic mess of legal codes, university memories, and pure, raw survival.

I can’t kill him. I'm a Law student. I'm supposed to uphold the lives of others, not take them.

His hands were shaking again. As the man closed the distance, Rei desperately swung his cricket bat downward, slamming it into the floorboards in front of him.

CRACK!

The wood splintered, but the floor didn't give way. The man skidded to a halt, laughing breathlessly as he realized he was still standing on solid ground.

"Is that it? You're out of tricks, kid!" the man sneered, raising his knife high. "You're just a brat playing hero. Now, I’m going to carve that blank look right off your—"

The man didn't finish his sentence.

The strike to the floor had been a "False Call." Rei hadn't been trying to break the floor this time; he had been testing the man’s reaction. When the man stopped to mock him, he left his lower body completely unguarded.

In that split second, the "racing mind" of Rei went silent. The Kendo training took over. He didn't think about the law. He didn't think about his bed in Tokyo.

Rei pivoted his hips, using the momentum from the floor strike to swing the bat upward in a blurring arc. He didn't aim for the head—not yet. He aimed for the man's leading kneecap with the full force of his university-trained swing.

CRACK-SNAP.

The sound of the wood hitting the bone was louder than the floor breaking. The man’s scream was cut short as his leg folded sideways in a way no human leg should move.

The man collapsed instantly, the knife clattering away as he clutched his shattered knee. He wasn't talking "shit" anymore; he was howling in agony, his face pressed into the dust.

Rei stood frozen, his hands vibrating against the handle of the cricket bat. He stared at the man on the floor. The screaming was loud and raw, filling the narrow hallway.

I did that, Rei thought. I broke a person.

He felt sick. He wanted to drop the bat and run away, back to the bus, back to his normal life where the only thing he had to hit was a ball in a park. He was terrified of the sound the bone had made. It was nothing like the "thwack" of a Kendo practice. It was the sound of a life being ruined.

"Hey! Where is the Boss?" one of the remaining gang members yelled. He sounded angry and confused. "And where are the others? Why is someone screaming in the other room? Are they attacked or something?"

Another man, taller and thinner, ran toward King. "King! I think there are more students in this house! I think they’re hiding, or they caught the other guys! Including the leader!"

King stopped focusing his magic on the teacher for a second. His red-glowing hand flickered. He looked around the room, realizing half of his men were gone.

"What do you mean by 'caught'?" King growled, his voice deep and dangerous. "They are just kids! How can university brats catch my men?"

"I don't know!" the thin man shouted. "But the Boss hasn't come out of that room, and I heard a floor break! Something is wrong!"

"Find them!" King roared. He pointed his glowing hand toward the hallway where Rei was standing. "Kill anyone who isn't on their knees! I don't care about the 'Master's' price anymore. Just kill them all!"

The remaining three gang members pulled out their weapons. One has a sword in his hand. They began shouting. “Come out, you little rats! Where is our Boss? What did you do to him?"

Rei heard their heavy boots coming closer. He looked at the man he had just crippled. The man was passing out from the pain. Rei knew he couldn't stop now. If he stopped, King would walk into that hallway and find Daichi and Saki.

He took a deep breath. The "hot sting" in his eyes was gone. He looked at his watch one more time. It had cracked during the fight, though he didn't know when it happened.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Rei stepped out of the hallway and back into the main room, letting the gang see him. He didn't hide. He didn't look afraid. He just held the bat at his side, his eyes locked on King.

"The Leader isn't coming back," Rei said, his voice loud and clear. "And neither are your friends."

In the back room, the Leader's hand began to glow with an orange heat as he reached for his machete. He was trying to summon his fire magic, a desperate flame to burn Daichi's face. But his throat was crushed, and his mind was dizzy. The sparks sputtered out of his fingertips like a dying lighter. It was too late.

Daichi didn't give him a second chance. He grabbed the heavy glass decoration and swung with every bit of strength in his "Elite" arms.

SMASH!

The glass exploded. The Leader’s fire magic died instantly as he hit the floor, unconscious. Daichi stood over him, gasping for air, his hands bleeding from the shards, but he had won.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the two gang members were still spinning in circles. "Where is he?! He’s just a kid, he can’t just vanish!"

Rei dropped from the top of the wardrobe. He didn't make a sound until the very last second. He landed behind the first man and swung the cricket bat in a low, brutal arc.

CRACK.

The bat hit the man’s ribs, sending him flying into the kitchen table. He collapsed, clutching his side and gasping for air.

The second man turned, his eyes wide with shock, and tried to stab Rei with his knife. But Rei was faster. He used the momentum of his fall to duck under the blade. He stepped into the man's personal space—just like a Kendo master entering a strike zone—and slammed the handle of the bat into the man's chin.

The man’s head snapped back, his teeth clattering together. He tumbled backward, hitting his head against the stove and sliding to the floor, unconscious.

Rei stood in the quiet kitchen. Two men down.

He didn't celebrate. He did breathe heavily.

He walked back toward the main room. King was standing there, his back to the kitchen, still shouting at the tied-up students. "I'll kill you all! I'll burn this house down with everyone inside!"

King was so busy threatening the girls that he didn't hear the light footsteps behind him. He didn't see the shadow of a boy holding a wooden bat.

"King," Rei said quietly.

The magic user spun around, his face pale. "You... how are you still alive? Where are my men?"

Rei didn't answer. He just raised the bat.

In the corner, Hiro and Saki watched with their mouths open. They didn't see their "nerdy" friend anymore. They saw someone else. Someone dangerous.

"Your men are sleeping," Rei said, stepping into the light. "Now it's your turn."