The classroom door slid open with a mechanical hiss.
Everyone turned. A boy stood there, looking like a deer in headlights. His uniform was neat—too neat. His bangs hung low, hiding half his face. He clutched his bag straps like a lifeline.
"This is Shinji Ueno," the teacher said. "He transferred here today. Be nice."
Whispers started the second he bowed.
"He looks like he's gonna cry.""Is he sick or just weird?""Bet he pees sitting down."
Kaito glanced over from his seat, half-interested. Rika frowned. Akira didn't even look up from his tablet.
Shinji shuffled to the back of the class like he wanted to melt into the wall.
—
Lunch was worse.
One of the usual idiot seniors, Hiroto, "accidentally" tripped Shinji in the hallway. The poor guy went down hard, bento scattering across the floor.
"What, you allergic to standing, transfer freak?"
Shinji didn't say anything. He just stared at his spilled lunch like it wasn't even real.
"Pick it up," the senior said, kicking his bag aside. "With your teeth."
The laugh that followed made Kaito's jaw twitch. He stood up slowly, cracked his knuckles, and walked over.
"Hey," he said. "That bag cost more than your GPA, leave him alone."
Hiroto scoffed. "Or what, you'll punch me? Again?"
Kaito didn't answer. He just smiled the way wolves smile before they bite.
Hiroto backed off. "Tch. Whatever. Not worth it."
The hallway cleared.
Kaito crouched in front of Shinji, who hadn't moved.
"Dude. You alright?"
Shinji nodded, barely.
"Then why didn't you say anything? Or do something?"
No answer.
"Seriously, man. You just gonna take that? Stand up for yourself."
Still nothing.
Kaito stood up, frustrated.
"Fine. Sit there and play victim if that's your thing."
He walked away, fists clenched. Rika met him near the vending machine later.
"Still mad?" she asked.
"He didn't even look at me," Kaito muttered. "Like I was just another ghost. I don't get people like that."
Rika leaned back. "Maybe he's scared of something worse than bullies."
Kaito scoffed. "Yeah? Like what?"
She shrugged. "Not everyone's made for fists and fury, Kaito."
—
But that night, Kaito couldn't stop thinking about it. That look in Shinji's eyes—it wasn't cowardice. It was something else.
The next two days were more of the same.
The bullying didn't stop. Shinji came to school with darker circles under his eyes, dragging his feet like a ghost. He never sat straight. Never looked up. And every time someone shoved or mocked him, Kaito just watched from a distance. Silent. Cold.
He'd stopped interfering. It wasn't out of cruelty—it was disappointment.
"Stand up for yourself," he'd said.
But Shinji didn't.
So Kaito gave up.
"Let him figure it out," Kaito muttered to Rika when she asked about it. "I'm not a babysitter."
Then came that morning.
First class had barely started. The bell had just rung. Kaito was half-asleep at his desk, Akira doodling quantum engine parts on his holo-tab, and Rika poking at her rice ball with suspicious eyes.
But something felt off.
Shinji's seat was empty.
Not like that was strange—he skipped class sometimes.
But Kaito spotted something from the window. A group of seniors. Near the side gym. Dragging someone.
And that someone was Shinji.
Kaito didn't think.
He stood up.
"Han, sit down," the teacher barked.
He ignored it.
Rika's eyes widened. "Kaito—?"
Akira blinked. "What the hell—?"
But he was already gone, sprinting out of class, heart pounding.
Behind the gym, the scene was ugly.
Four or five seniors had surrounded Shinji. One was holding him by the collar, the others taking turns.
"Training our punches on this new bag, hahaha!"
Every hit made a sickening thud. Shinji's back slammed into the wall. His mouth bled.
"Yo, what's that?" one of them asked, noticing something shiny around Shinji's neck. A chain.
Shinji's eyes widened. "Don't touch that."
"Aww, it talks!" one bully laughed. "What's this? Grandma's lucky charm?"
"It's hers... please don't—" Shinji choked out.
"huh did our punching bag just talked back?"
Too late. The senior yanked it hard, snapping the chain.
"Oops. Broke it. Now it's worthless, no one gonna buy a broken chain"
The others laughed.
Shinji's head hung low. Shoulders trembling. His eyes—blurry with tears—suddenly stopped moving.
But then... everything changed.
Then his hands curled into fists.
The next second, the air shifted.
Those bullies felt that somethings wrong but
The first guy that grabbed his chain didn't even see it coming.
CRACK.
Shinji's elbow shattered the guy's arm. Another tried to grab him—Shinji turned and slammed him head-first into the wall.
The other seniors froze.
"The hell?!"
One of the musclehead seniors cracked his knuckles, stepping forward with a cocky grin.
"Let me beat some sense into him," he said, flexing like a wannabe pro fighter. "This runt's pissing me off."
He charged in, full speed, fist cocked back for a massive right hook.
Shinji didn't flinch.
Just before the punch landed, Shinji stepped in too—fast, almost like a blur—and threw his own punch.
A straight, wild, beast-like strike
The musclehead grinned mid-swing. "Heh. Nice try."
Then—
BOOM!
Their fists collided with a thunderous crack.
Shockwaves blasted through the air.
The other bullies staggered from the force.
But when the dust settled...
Only one was still standing.
Shinji.
Breathing like a predator. Arm trembling, eyes bloodshot, chest rising like a monster holding back the rest of its rage.
His arm? Bent at the wrong angle.
Then Shinji punched him straight in the jaw.
Out. Cold.
One guy turned to run.
Shinji didn't let him.
He ripped the strap off his uniform and whipped it around the guy's legs, yanking hard.
The dude hit the ground face-first.
He tried to crawl.
But Shinji was already there.
And then—CRUNCH—he stomped on the guy's leg. Hard enough to bend it the wrong way.
The last thing that senior saw before blacking out was Shinji's blood-soaked face, breathing like an animal. A beast.
Then—
Kaito arrived
He turned the corner, skidding to a stop.
The whole scene froze in his brain.
Five seniors. On the ground. Broken, bleeding, twitching.
And in the middle of it...
Shinji. Standing. Chest heaving. Eyes blank.
Like a monster had worn his skin.
"...Shinji?"
The boy looked at him for a split second.
Then collapsed.
Flat on the ground.
Out cold.
Kaito didn't move.
Didn't speak.
For the first time in his life...
He felt fear.