Downfall

Woosh.

As soon as the third round of the brawl was announced, Shiho swung her leg at her which Kyouko was able to dodge by jumping to the back.

Woosh.

Woosh.

Shiho did not stop and continued to kick her despite Kyouka avoiding every single one.

"I see..."

Bam.

This time, instead of dodging again, she countered Shiho's kick with her own kick. However, she had to use her left leg due to her right one being injured by Kazuma.

"Were you trying to separate me from Shin-chan? You sure are a bright bitch." Kyouko stated impressed.

After a few attacks by Shiho, she realized that she was getting further away from Shinya.

"Seems like you're also not as dumb as I initially thought." Shiho replied with a challenging smirk.

"So let's get serious." she added.

"Hmph." Kyouko groaned.

While the two girls were about to get started, Kazuma and Shinya still did not move an inch from their spot.

The air around them even became thicker and more tense.

Drip. Drip.

Apart from blood and sweat dripping down, nothing was heard.

Both of their bodies reached their limits, however, their minds did not allow them to get defeated. Kazuma still had to get his revenge, therefore he could not lose yet whereas Shinya could not afford to lose here because his pride would not allow him to get bested by Kazuma of all people.

The delinquents in the area, who acted as bystanders, also did not make a sound. They only watched the two, who were currently in their fighting stance, with suspense and nervousness.

Kazuma breathed deeply before he loosened the tension in his body.

He began to approach Shinya casually while Shinya's body got stiffer.

Then, Kazuma stopped walking after Shinya was in arm reach.

"You took everything I held dear from me." Kazuma said coldly.

"Are you still-"

"However, looking back, I must admit that it was my fault."

"!"

Shinya's half open eyes got bigger in surprise.

"It was my fault for creating this group. Thus, I'll take responsibility today and eliminate you."

Kazuma formed a fist and prepared to launch a punch.

In response, Shinya also did the same.

The two wanted to finish it with the upcoming attack.

Pow.

Thud.

"Ugh..."

Shinya fell on his knees.

His gaze was too focused on Kazuma's fist and thus neglected the rest.

It went all according to Kazuma's plan. The punch was only a bluff. So he snatched the opportunity and gave Shinya a knee in the stomach.

Shinya, who was suffering from the pain in his stomach, tried to stay conscious.

Crack.

"Aaahhh!"

With the same knee, Kazuma struck him in the face, breaking his nose.

Thud.

As a result, Shinya fell immediately on the soil while he held his bloody nose.

"Still conscious. huh?"

"!"

Seeing that Kazuma was about to attack again, Shinya rolled away to create some space between them.

"Why... I trained so much and fought countless numbers of brawls... So why are you still stronger than me?!" he asked with despair written on his face.

Kazuma turned stern.

"Why? It's simple. These fists carry my great thirst for vengeance while yours seek power." Kazuma looked at his hands.

"In the end, your thirst for power couldn't match my thirst for revenge. That's everything." he added and started to approach him again.

"Wh-what?" Shinya was skeptical.

"It doesn't matter how much you train. For crying out loud, you can even have the title of the strongest man alive and it would be still meaningless. I will still beat the shit out of you, no matter what." Kazuma elaborated as he emitted a strong killing intent aimed at Shinya.

"Bullshit!" Shinya raised his words and tried to get up again.

But it was as if he was sticking to the ground. He had no strength left to stand up.

Bam.

"Ahrg! Get off me!"

Kazuma stomped on his stomach and started twisting his heel on it.

But surprisingly, he lifted his foot after Shinya told him to.

In that moment, Shinya had hope in his eyes.

Bam. Bam. Pow. Crack. Pow.

Reality betrayed him quickly though.

Shinya had to endure the same torture as Hirata.

Without a break, Kazuma was stomping on and kicking Shinya's head like a wild beast.

"Mnnh!"

Only muffled sounds were heard from Shinya's mouth.

As Kazuma continued to beat him up, Shinya's consciousness slowly but surely began to leave him.

Tok.

"?"

Almost finishing Shinya off, Kazuma was suddenly hit with a small stone on the head. So he turned around and saw that Kyouko was the one who threw it. She had a panicked expression.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

Her face and body was clad in bruises and injuries. However, Shiho was worse off which was no surprise due to her facing a national champion in kickboxing.

Bam. Bam.

But Kazuma did not listen and continued.

"I said-"

"The police's coming!" one of the many spectators yelled.

"What?!"

"Kazu-kun, let's run!" Shiho said.

"..."

He did not care.

"Hey-"

"Tch. As if I would leave without Shin-chan! Give him back!" Kyouko stated as she ran to Kazuma and Shinya.

Shinya's fingers flinched.

"Kazuma..."

"?"

He took something out of his pocket and tried to hand it over to Kazuma. It was a silver shining sharp object. A knife.

Kyouko was close enough to also identify the knife. She stood still due to her gut feeling telling her that it would be too dangerous to come nearer.

"You resent me, right?" Shinya said with a weak voice.

"Then, why don't you go ahead and stab me?" Shinya suggested with a suspicious smirk.

"What are you saying?!" Kyouko asked perplexed.

Despite his ridiculous request, he remained confident. Shinya knew that it was inevitable to escape from the police and that he would be taken into custody by them.

Today marked the downfall of Shinya and 'The Owls'. However, he was determined to take Kazuma down with him.

If Kazuma would stab him, then the police would not be able to overlook his action and had to issue some sort of punishment, too. The stigma of stabbing someone would follow him for his entire life.

One would think that Shinya was tired of living but he was not. Just like every other person, he feared death. Despite that fact, he still was willing to get stabbed.

Shinya bet that Kazuma would try to keep him alive even though he would stab him. That's because Kazuma wanted Shinya to suffer as much as possible. 

He assumed that Kazuma would most likely stab him in the stomach. And when he would do it, Shinya would grab his hand so that Kazuma would not be able to let go until the police arrived.

His confident smirk widened.

"Fine. As kind as I am, I'll end it swiftly." Kazuma said plainly as he took the knife.

"Huh?"

Shinya's expectations betrayed him again.

He began to sweat bullets and his body and lips were shivering badly.

"..."

Kazuma took one last look at Shinya, his former best friend and his current target of his hatred, before he was about to stab him.

In that moment, Shinya lost his consciousness due to the great amount of fear he felt.

"Don't!"

"Stop!"

The blade stopped right in front of Shinya's stomach after Kazuma got stopped by Shiho and Kyouko. The two clutched his arm with their arms tightly.

"Let go." Kazuma ordered in a still cold tone.

With the two around his arm, he could not move his arm.

"Only if you let go of the knife!" Kyouka replied tensely while she had to give everything she had to hold him back.

"Please, stop it!" Shiho begged him.

"Why should I? He wished it himself."

His arm started to move slowly further, pulling the two girls along.

"Noo!"

"Kazu-kun!"

The blade already poked Shinya's shirt.

"Ichinose."

A familiar voice called out to him.

"Drop the weapon."

Kyouko and Shiho turned around and were surprised to see that a police officer was already right behind them.

"Please don't stop me, too, Ikari-san." Kazuma said softly without facing Yousuke.

"You know what will happen if you do it, right?" Yousuke's tone and expression were stern and grim.

"..."

Not heeding his words, Kazuma still tried to push the knife into Shinya's belly.

At the same time, the crowd full of delinquents quickly dissolved as the other police officers reached the main scene.

"I'll say it one last time. Drop the weapon now or I'll have to force you to do it."

"H-he won't stop!" Kyouko cried frantically.

"On my signal you two will let go of him."

"What?"

"Are you crazy?!"

The girls could not comprehend his order.

"Geez, just do it. Let the adults do the work now." he sighed.

"..."

They did not respond and silently decided to listen to him.

Yousuke grabbed Kazuma's other arm.

"Now!"

"!"

Thud.

When the two let go of his arm, Yousuke pulled him to his side so that Kazuma fell on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Kazuma asked in a silent and yet enraged tone.

He looked at Yousuke like a growling dog. In response to that, Yousuke cracked his knuckles while he stared at the cloudy sky.

"Sorry Yuki-san and Atsushi-san. I have to teach your son a lesson."