~ Third Person Pov ~
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"Wait... I know this looks bad... But, I can explain what happened..." Keiji quickly said.
Katsura remained at a fair distance, slightly scared... He could see her looking at the men on the floor, with some of their bones in the wrong places, yet the one who stood standing was the transfer student, Ayano...
She had remembered who he was, the boy who had taken down Yoichi at that time, it's the only reason why she hadn't ran as yet... She looked at Keiji, "Just... stay there, and don't come any closer... I'll listen to you if you can do that."
Knowing he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, he stopped in his tracks...
Keiji sighed, raising both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright... I'll stay right here." His tone was calm, though there was an unmistakable tension in his stance. He glanced down at the unconscious kids, their limbs twisted unnaturally, and let out a small sigh, 'Yeah, this definitely looked bad...'
Katsura didn't lower her guard... Her fingers twitched at her sides, ready to bolt if he made a sudden move. "You may start explaining..." she asked shyly, eyes locked onto him.
Keiji scratched the back of his head, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "These guys? Well, they actually started all this. I was just passing through when they decided to pick a fight with me. I told them to walk away, but... well, you can see how that went." He gestured toward the groaning bodies on the ground.
Katsura narrowed her eyes, still suspicious, but slightly scared. "A-And you expect me to believe that? That they all just attacked you first?"
Keiji exhaled sharply. "Look, I'm not lying. They wanted to show me my place or something..." His gaze darkened slightly. "I gave them a chance to leave. They didn't take it."
Katsura hesitated. His words made sense. These people looked as if they weren't exactly known for being the friendly, even she could see that type. But still, the sheer brutality of the entire scene had left her a little uneasy...
"You didn't have to go this far..." she muttered.
Keiji tilted his head, a slightly confused expression crossing his face. "Didn't I?" His voice was quiet, almost thoughtful sounding, "Would you rather I let them walk away so they could do the same thing to someone else?"
Keiji instantly knew that they were the type to do this to other innocent kids.
However, Katsura's breath caught in her throat. There was something unnerving about the way he said that—not in a boastful way, but as if he was stating an undeniable truth.
For a moment, neither of them spoke a word... with the distant hum of the wind filling the silence between them... Keiji. realized this, for the first time in a while, he felt like he needed to mind his actions, 'At least I can gauge her somewhat... I can tell she's gentle person, but definitely not soft. Soft-spoken, yet oddly firm.'
Finally, Katsura let out a slow breath. "...I-I don't know what to think about this... Or, you." she admitted. Still finding it hard to believe someone of Keiji's status or stature could even do something like this.
Still, he laughed, slowly lowering his hands, "That's, fair." His expression softened slightly... "But, I actually meant what I said—It's not like I'm your enemy."
She studied him carefully, searching for any sign of deception. "If I find out you're lying…"
"You won't," Keiji interrupted, his tone firm. "I don't make a habit of lying."
Katsura bit her lip, glancing once more at the unconscious men before turning back to him. "…Fine. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now."
Keiji offered a small, lopsided smile. "That's all I can really ask for..." Seeing that he had made peace with the situation. He quickly took out his phone, dialing a number, 'Hopefully this number works in this world...' Quickly in-putting in 119...
In no time, he got an answer, "Yes, Hello? I have a slight emergency here concerning what seems to be, let me see here; 1, 2, 3, 4... 7 high school students, which looks to be in their final year in dangerous conditions... Yes, we are on..." He paused for a second, looking at the nearby sign, "Uh... It's 3rd Tetsu-lane, yes... all are unconscious. Mhmm... Thank you for your services."
The phone hung up with him breathing a sigh of relief, "I guess that takes care of that then..."
Katsura on the other hand was confused, 'Did... Did he just call an ambulance for the same people he fought?'
She cleared her throat, "Well... I didn't really expect you to do something like that... Aren't you afraid they might blame you? Or even frame you for what happened here?"
Keiji scratched his head for a bit, "Well, I guess I do... Still, I can't just leave them here, right? Plus, they're still kids; and kids are brash, young and full of mistakes... Hopefully this encounter will teach them a lesson to not do something like this ever again."
Katsura's eyes widened, slightly surprised at his reasoning, and interestingly, she let out a small smile... Somewhat understanding where he was coming from, even though his methods were a bit, much.
"Hmm... I see... I do think you're trustworthy. Rough, but definitely not a bad person."
Keiji slowly raised a brow at her words, a hint of curiosity flickering in his eyes. "Rough, huh? I guess I'll take that as a compliment then."
Katsura crossed her arms, giving him an oddly knowing look. "You should. It's not every day I say something nice about someone who just took out seven people in one go..."
'Well she does kind of have a point...'
To her surprise, he suddenly laughed, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Well, I guess that's air enough." His gaze shifted briefly to the unconscious students, then back to her. "So… now that we're on slightly better terms, mind telling me why you were out here alone?"
Katsura hesitated for a moment before sighing. "I was..." She thought about if she should actually tell him why, but she quickly decided to agree anyway. "Actually just heading home... I Took a small detour. I Didn't expect to walk into, well… this." She gestured toward the scene around them.
"And you? What were you even doing here?"
Keiji shrugged. "I was passing through for the same reason... Just, unfortunate circumstances, I guess."
She narrowed her eyes slightly, as if trying to gauge whether he was telling the truth. "…You really do have a way of attracting trouble, don't you?"
He shrugged at the sentiment. "To be honest with you... Maybe trouble just has a way of finding me." He then thought about his entire life so far, and how unbelievable it really was.
Katsura unknowingly rolled her eyes but couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her. For someone who had just left a pile of beaten delinquents in his wake, Keiji was surprisingly very easy to converse with.
Before she could say anything else, the faint sound of sirens echoed in the distance. The ambulance was on its way...
Keiji exhaled. "Looks like my job here is done..." He glanced at Katsura. "Though~ You should probably get going before they start asking too many questions. Wouldn't want you getting dragged into this."
She hesitated, then nodded. "Ay, yes… You're, probably right."
Before leaving, she gave him one last look. "Keiji-san… I don't know who you really are, but… I think I'm glad I ran into you this evening."
He blinked at her words, caught slightly off guard by it. Then, with a small grin, he gave a casual wave. "Likewise, Kotonoha-san."
With that, she turned and disappeared into the evening, while Keiji remained standing there for a moment, watching her go ahead...
Keiji watched Katsura disappear around the corner before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Well, so much for a quiet walk..." He turned on his heel, moving down the same path she had taken. It wasn't intentional—this just happened to be the direction he was heading in the first place. A coincidence.
"..."
Or, maybe not.
Katsura hadn't questioned it yet, but if she noticed him still behind her, she probably would. And he really didn't feel like explaining how they both just happened to potentially live in the same general area.
The distant sirens grew louder, their wailing cutting through the quiet streets. Keiji quickened his pace. He had no plans of sticking around to answer any unnecessary questions. Not that he was particularly worried. There weren't any cameras, no real evidence either—just seven guys who picked a fight they couldn't win.
Still, best not to be there when the authorities arrived.
A few meters ahead, Katsura glanced over her shoulder. Their eyes met for the briefest second before she frowned, slightly hesitant.
"You're, still following me?"
Keiji groaned internally. "I'm sorry, it's not on purpose. I'm just heading this way too."
She studied him, clearly suspicious... "You better not be lying."
He smirked. "Like I've also told you before, I don't really particularly make a habit of lying."
Katsura huffed, clearly still unsure, but didn't press the issue further. "Fine. Just don't do anything weird."
Keiji chuckled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Heh. Define... weird."
She shot him a flat look. "Eh? You know exactly what I mean."
They continued walking in silence, the tension from earlier slowly fading into something a little more, tolerable this time...
Keiji glanced at Katsura from the side of his eye...
Despite everything that had happened, she didn't seem as scared anymore. Cautious maybe, but not scared. Other than that, he quietly admired her, 'She's really beautiful... Hell, beautiful doesn't even do a girl like her justice either...' He thought off-handedly.
For a moment, he found himself wondering—what kind of person was she, really? And why was he even curious?
'Tch... This world really knows how to throw surprises at me...' He quickly shook his head, focusing on the path ahead.
Whatever the case wad, he knew he'd eventually figure it out, eventually...
PING!!
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SIDE QUEST: Explain to Katsura about what happened here... (Claimed)
REWARD: 1 Silver key and 1 Bronze key
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Ayano instantly felt his pocket being filled. 'Not bad, I can get a new passive out of this.' He thought.
After walking down a few more blocks, he saw Katsura stopping at a relatively sizeable household. Keiji watched Katsura stop in front of her house, her hand resting on the doorknob. He didn't want to push her any further, so he gave her a small nod...
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways..." he said, his voice calm.
"I guess it is... I'll see you at school tomorrow...?" She said. Keiji nodded, "Ah, yeah of course, wouldn't miss the lectures for the life of me."
Keiji gave her a small, easy-going smile. "See you tomorrow then," he said, giving a casual wave as he turned to walk away...
Katsura watched him leave for a moment, her gaze lingering on his back before she shook her head, almost as if dismissing the thought. 'He's quite the strange one..' she muttered under her breath, but there was a bit of curiosity in her tone-
"Onee-Chan!!" A childish voice came from behind her. Katsura turned around, seeing her little sister, running towards her.
"Ah! I'm so sorry for coming home so late Kokoro, I had some club activities to take care of..."
Katsura smiled softly, bending down to ruffle her sister's hair. Kokoro, her younger sister, was beaming up at her with wide, innocent eyes. "It's fine, Onee-chan!" Kokoro said, clutching a stuffed animal in her arms. "I just missed you...!"
Katsura chuckled, standing back up. "I missed you too, Kokoro." Her tone softened as she looked at her sister. "Did you finish your homework?"
"Yup!" Kokoro nodded proudly, holding up a crumpled piece of paper with some doodles. "He-He~ I did everything, even the math!"
Katsura raised an eyebrow but smiled. "Good job. Now, let's get inside. It's really late, and I don't want you staying up too long."
"Ok, Onee-chan."
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END