Unexpected Encounters

Kazuma sighed.

"I'm sorry." he said as he turned his back on him.

"Wait. Where do you think you're going?"

A fight was just about to start between Kazuma and a bulky delinquent. It started due to them bumping shoulders.

"I'm going home, of course. Look, I've already apologized. Now be satisfied." Kazuma brushed him off by waving his hand mockingly.

"You bastard! Don't you know who I am?" a vein bulged on the delinquent's forehead.

"Hm? Nope. And I don't care." Kazuma replied while he looked back to him.

Suddenly, the guy flexed his right tattooed arm. His face turned red due to the tension.

"And now?" he asked.

"No. Now leave me alone."

Kazuma was about to go but the guy grabbed his shoulder.

"W-wait!" he said with an unstable breath.

"You sure you don't know me?" he pointed desperately at his face.

Smack.

"You're annoying! I don't know you!" Kazuma raised his voice annoyed as he slapped the guy's arm away.

"..."

He turned pale by the fact that Kazuma really did not recognize him.

"I-impossible. How can you not know the other half of the 'Toujou Cousins' and a main member of 'The Owls of Tokyo'?!"

Kazuma's carefree demeanor changed as his posture got more tense and his eyes sharper.

"Main member?" he muttered and stopped in his tracks.

"Hah! Seems like you do know me!" the guy crossed his arms and nodded his head proudly.

"What's your name?"

"Toujou Ryota."

"I see."

Kazuma finally turned around and faced Ryota.

"You wanted a fight, right? Then, let's do it." he cracked his fingers while he approached Ryota.

With an agitated grin, Ryota was already in his fighting stance.

"Come at me!" he shouted.

Bam.

Not wasting a second, Kazuma launched a punch aimed at his face. However, Ryota raised his arms up and guarded himself from the hit.

"Is that everything?" Ryota smirked arrogantly.

Whack.

"This is how you throw a punch!"

Caught off guard by his unexpected speed, Kazuma took a punch in his face.

"Ptu." Kazuma spat on the ground and wiped his mouth.

"How you like that?" Ryota asked as he flexed his arms.

"Not too shabby. Now it's my turn again."

With a fierce gaze, he took a deep breath and rushed again to Ryota.

He formed a fist with his right hand and was about to hit him in the face. In response to that, Ryota raised his arms up again.

Bam.

Seeing his reaction, Kazuma flashed a grin and punched Ryota's stomach with his left.

"Ugh!"

Due to the punch, he bowed his upper body as he held reflexively his stomach.

Crack.

However, Kazuma did not stop at just that and jumped, hitting Ryota's nose with his knee.

"Aaaahhrrgg!"

He held his bloody nose as he cried in pain.

"Are you really a part of the elite?" Kazuma sneered.

"You... You bastard!"

While he held his nose with the left hand, he tried to punch Kazuma with his right fist.

Woosh.

Effortlessly, Kazuma dodged the punch.

"Haaaa!"

"!"

Ryota began to swing his right arm aimlessly.

Bam.

By pure coincidence, He hit Kazuma's side while he tried to get away from Ryota.

"Uff!"

"Haaa!" Ryota shouted his battle cry again.

Deciding to finish this brawl, Kazuma took a deep breath in preparation for his next and final move. Just like Ryota, he sprinted to him.

Ryota cocked his fist back for a punch whereas Kazuma ran normally without a sign of initiating an attack.

When Kazuma noticed that they were close enough, he jumped as high as he could.

"?"

Pow.

Thud.

Not knowing, what Kazuma planned to do, Ryota watched him jump. However, before he realized it, he tasted the kick of Kazuma. As a result, he fell with his back on the ground.

Kazuma did not let his guard down for a while after he executed a dropkick. But after analyzing the state of Ryota's body, the tension in his body became less.

Ryota was unconscious and therefore, did not move an inch.

He sighed.

"As if he was a part of them..." he shook his head sideways.

Kazuma thought about it. He expected them to be more dangerous and stronger. After all, they were the core of the most infamous gang in Tokyo. Every gang feared and tried to avoid them. But seeing Ryota, his expectations were nowhere near met.

"!"

He had an idea.

With a mischievous smirk, he searched for Ryota's phone.

"Hehehe..." he laughed eerily.

After Kazuma executed his plan, he headed home with a sly grin.

At home, he made dinner and ate by himself. He took a shower and then watched TV. It was a normal and yet boring evening for Kazuma.

He took out his phone to see if someone wrote him. But there was no notification.

"!"

But there was something else. Kazuma realized only now what day today was.

"Damn, I almost forgot!"

He jumped up from his couch and dialed a certain number as he walked in panic around the room.

[Hello?]

"Oh, good evening, Ikari-san." Kazuma greeted him with a nervous voice.

[Oh, Ichinose! What's wrong?]

"W-well, I promised to tell you the details of the showdown between me and that gang, right?"

[Oh, yes, you did if I remember.]

"Ehm, you see, well..."

[Hm?]

"It's tomorrow..."

[...]

"Heheh..." Kazuma laughed awkwardly.

[Whaaat?!] Yousuke yelled.

Kazuma had to distance his phone from his ear due to the volume.

[Why are you telling me this only now?!] he was completely furious.

"I forgot, haha..."

[This is no laughing matter! Dammit!]

"W-well, I'm sorry, okay?" Kazuma apologized with a wry smile.

[How troublesome. But whatever. I'll take care of it. Now tell me everything you know.]

"Yes." Kazuma's face turned serious.

Thus, he told Yousuke everything there was to know about the upcoming brawl.

[Alright, we will be there.]

"Sure. See you tomorrow."

[Yes, goodbye.]

Their call ended.

Kazuma stood still in the living room.

A smirk was visible on his face. An excited one.

"Finally."

"Hahaha!" he laughed heartily and yet maniacally.

Tomorrow was the day, Kazuma always waited for. It was day he could finally avenge his parents.

All these years, Kazuma would not stop thinking about his revenge.

He promised that he would make them suffer. The very people, he called his friends back then. The very people who betrayed him.

Tick. Tick.

The clock snapped him out of his thoughts.

As his expression got more normal slowly he looked at the clock.

"Hm? This late already?"

"..."

"Maybe I'll go for a walk."

Not being able to sleep before the big day like a kid excited for the class trip, he went outside.

There was no one outside anymore. It was completely silent.

Unconsciously, he took a familiar route until he arrived at the spot where everything began. The playground where he met Shinya.

Creak. Creak.

And just like at that day, there was also the same noise. The sound of rusty metal. Someone must be playing with the swings.

"Hm?"

It was quite late already. Therefore, Kazuma was confused to hear someone play at this hour.

Curious about the identity, he drew nearer sneakily.

"!"

His mouth was agape in surprise.

In his vision was a girl with long brown hair who gazed with her emotionless green eyes at the moon.

Completely baffled by this meeting, he began to approach her without knowing it.

Crack.

He stepped on a branch which created a loud sound.

"Who's there?" she asked with a furious voice.

"!"

But as soon as she asked, her emotionless and sharp eyes widened and slowly but surely life was filled in them again.

"K-Kazu-kun?"

Her lips were trembling and her eyes started to become teary.

"Shiho..."

Kazuma still could not believe his eyes.

It was the first time he saw Shiho again. Since the accident, the relationship between them gradually vanished.

How should he behave now? He did not know if Shiho was involved with the death of his parents. As much as he wanted to think that she was innocent, there was still the feeling of distrust lingering in his heart.

After all, there was no way to tell if she was innocent or not. He knew that killing his parents was something that he would expect the least of Shiho. However, the same could be applied to Hirata and Shinya back then.

In the end, Kazuma was wrong about the latter two.

Thud.

Out of nowhere, Shiho hugged him tightly.

"Kazu-kun! I'm so sorry!"

She began to cry on his chest.

Kazuma did not know what to do. Her apology only confused him even more. Why did she say sorry? Was it because she was involved in that case?

"I-I'm so sorry for not being to stop those two!"

Her hug got even more tighter.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks like a river.

This time, he also embraced her.

Seeing her honest emotions, he wanted to hit himself for doubting her.

No one spoke a word. Shiho's crying was the only thing heard.

It was a silent reunion.