In the middle of lunch break,
*Bump!*
"Ack-!"
.....A boy got dragged and thrown into the walls of the corridor. The loud thump attracted the attention of many students who were passing by.
He lost his footing and fell on his butt. He looked up and saw the one responsible for this. He approached him with pressuring footsteps.
The girls and boys were afraid of the scary appearance of the one that caused this ruckus.
A tall and muscular figure with a bald head stood like an unbudging wall.
He had a malicious grin that was aimed at the one he threw.
"W-Wait Goro-Senpai! I can definitely explain this."
"Oh, you can? Then tell me right now."
His coarse and loud voice terrified the surrounding. As a result, they all jogged away from the site and went on with their business whilst whispering that event.
Back to the 2 delinquents, Goro waited for Ito's response.
".....A.....masked guy came to me and beat in just a flash. He is strong and threatened me to do this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done this stupid thing. It is the truth!"
Goro raised one of his eyebrows, suspicious of the credibility of his story.
It definitely feels like a made-up story but Ito's reaction made Goro reconsider his thoughts.
After much contemplating, with an authoritative tone, he asked.
"And why haven't you told me about this?"
"...that...Uummm..."
"Well? I am waiting."
Ito averted his sight from Goro's face and pondered if it is the best option for him to put forward his honesty.
"....."
"You know that I am very much short-tempered.....do you?"
Veins were visible on his forehead and he smiled widely, showing all his white teeth. He was at the end of his patience so Ito said the truth.
He cannot think of any other solution so he has no other option.
"I.....I was scared..."
"Scared?" Goro's wide grin disappeared instantly. He then continued, " More scared than me?"
He brought his scary face closer to Ito's. Afraid, he flinched and stuttered. But he did not stray from the truth.
"I-I can't help it! My friends have either a broken arm or a broken leg! They are in the hospital, suffering!..... That mysterious masked guy just let me off with small injuries but warned me to not disobey him or else I would be in a worse state than my friends!....."
Ito let it all out. The fear blatantly showed on his facial expression. He imagined the scenery and the feelings he harboured on that day.
The meaning of being so powerless was a textbook example that the masked student showed to Ito.
Goro observed Ito closely and decided to adopt his more casual stance.
He held out his hand to Ito and ordered, "Get up."
Ito hesitantly took his hand and got brought up from the floor. He felt unsure about Goro's feelings since he knew that Goro was not going to easily believe Ito's words.
"From how you are acting, I assume that you are probably telling the truth."
A ray of hope was there for Ito. He could be saved from this dire situation he was in.
"T-Thank you for trusting me, Goro-senpai..."
Ito bowed respectfully to his senior.
"You don't have to do that, Ito-kun." Goro put both his hands on Ito's shoulders and lift his head up.
Ito was relieved when Goro's tone softened. However, when Ito saw his expression, he gulped with difficulty.
"Besides, if my assumptions are wrong, then.....," He grinned wider, filled with bloodlust, ".....I am going to make you experience a public execution."
His crescent moon shaped eyes curved upwards as it indulged in the exhilaration he felt.
He could not contain the excitement seeping out. The state that Goro's face was in was disturbing to Ito.
Ito has only seen his senior Goro like that.
And it was at the beginning of the semester,....during a public execution.
Well, a public execution does not mean killing someone in front of everyone but senselessly beating someone until that unfortunate person is unconscious or injured terribly.
And Goro was the creator of such a cruel event.
Ever since Goro was in his second year, he was unmatched in terms of strength and fighting. So he forced himself through and became the top in this school through sheer power.
He is the leader of all the delinquents. He came up with this 'public execution' stuff for anyone who causes trouble to him or anyone who pisses him off.
And Ito guessed that he is in the latter part, in which he will be subjected to even more pain and injuries.
Ito has witnessed it all, as he said, at the beginning of the semester.
An unlucky first-year delinquent was the victim of Goro's wrath.
From what Ito heard, the first year delinquent bumped into Goro and did not even apologize. At the time, the delinquent did not know who Goro was so he did not give it much thought.
A big mistake from him.
Later, he truly knew hell and Goro was the warlord that controlled and revelled in his suffering.
At that moment when Goro was brutally beating the delinquent down in front of all the delinquent groups, he had that same expressing as he is doing it right now with Ito.
When Ito reminisced that scene, he felt a strange creepiness crawl under his skin. It was as if, he was waiting to get toyed by Goro.
Yes, that is what his eyes conveyed.
Ito did not have to worry about that since he is telling the truth, yet, that made him scared if things somehow does not go his way.
"Let's go."
Goro grabbed Ito by his shoulder and dragged him alongside with him.
"T-To where Goro-senpai?"
"To your master."
".....Sorry?"
"The kid who you were buying things for."
It felt bitter for Ito to hear that Suzuki and him were in a master-servant relationship from Goro's perspective.
Heck, everyone would see Ito like a servant to Suzuki.
The embarrassment turned into anger and Ito had a thin grin that was unnoticeable to Goro.
The reason for that is that Ito thought that it was time. With Goro-senpai's presence by his side, there was one thing that was surely going to happen.
Payback.
They walked to class 1-C.
The atmosphere around those 2 delinquents, especially Goro was scary. They came to a halt at their destination.
Goro sneered before making his entrance.
*Slam!!*
"Hello, freshmen!!"
All attentions were towards the front door.
Two figures came in view, in particular, the tallest and biggest one was more overwhelming in terms of presence.
"Who is that gorilla?"
"Shhhhh!! Are you trying to get killed!"
A girl covered up a boy's mouth from uttering another word that would get him in trouble and she whispered angrily near his ear.
They were having lunch far from where Goro was so they were safe.
The girl signalled him to not say anything about Goro. Since he did not know who that big and tall guy was, he was saying what was on his mind.
He did not know he was treading on some mighty thin ice here.
"Why are you so afraid?"
"Don't you know who he is!?"
".....No?"
She leaned near him and said as quietly as possible so that Goro won't hear about it.
"He is Goro Teruma. The third-year that is rumoured to be the strongest person in this school. From what I heard and saw, he is not a guy that should not be messed with."
"...What did he do?"
"He-"
The girl told the story about the first year delinquent that bumped into Goro and did not apologize. Then, the consequences that come with pissing off Goro.
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah, that is why you should shut up and not look into his eyes at all."
"....."
The boy learned his lesson and did as he was told.
Whilst the girl was reprimanding the boy for his actions, Goro walked in-between arranged desks that formed a square for each group of friends that ate together.
He made his way through and arrived at the far end of the class.
And then, he stood in front of Suzuki.
"Well then, aren't you taking advantage of my precious junior Ito-kun here?
He pulled Ito close to him and pretended to be a worrywart towards him. Suzuki, unbeknownst to the identity of the senior next to Ito, stuttered his words due to the terrifying pressure Goro exerted.
"U-Um, w-who are...you...?"
The rest of his friends, meaning Kirika, Keiko, Ren and Asahi were on guard. Well, Yoichi was clueless about the situation and wondered why everyone stopped eating.
He looked at the tall third year who was in their space. Yoichi deduced he was the cause and he remained silent because he did not know what to do.
He blended in with the others.
"The name is Goro Teruma. Third-year. A good friend of Ito-kun. I came here for a not so good cause."
Kirika and Keiko glared intensely at Goro.
"I heard that someone gave him a hard time and he was compelled to do this unforgivable act. You know what I am talking about, right?"
Suzuki tensed up and exactly knew what he was pointing at. Ito got exhilarated when he saw Suzuki get backed into the corner.
It did not matter that he was cowardly and hiding behind a stronger being but what is wrong with that?
It was another way to survive for him.
"So, I am asking you a simple question and I need a truthful answer from you."
Goro smiled wider creepily.
"Did you beat up Ito-kun? Are you the mysterious masked guy?"
Suzuki gulped and tried his best to get the stuck words out of his throat. Yet, he was scared to even speak up to the fearful senior.
"Well? I am waiting."
Goro brought his face closer to Suzuki and made him sweat even more from his chilling gaze.
".....N-No.....That-s.....n-n-not.....me....."
"ARE YOU SURE!!"
"Kh-!?"
Goro suddenly grabbed Suzuki's collar and made him stand up from the chair.
"ARE YOU LYING TO MEEEE!!!!"
The loud scream attracted all the gazes of the freshmen, even from passers-by through the corridor peeked inside the classroom.
Suzuki got the most frightening jumpscare in his life.
Ito himself was surprised at the quickness that Goro acted. He was amazed and afraid simultaneously.
"COME ON!! SPIT IT OUT!!!"
*Smack!!*
Goro's hand got viciously removed from Suzuki's collar in a matter of seconds. Goro himself was dumbfounded as he did not see it coming.
Hell, he did not even know that there was someone brave enough to stand up against him.
Well, that fact isn't something that Goro is worried about.
It is because he truly believed that he is stronger than everyone here.
"Hoh~ Then I should assume that you are the mysterious masked guy that picked on my junior, Ito-kun."
He looked at the brave soul that faced against him fearlessly.
"I am not who you are searching for."
"Then why are you meddling with what I am doing?"
"Because you doing something wrong."
"Heh. Who are you to tell me what I am doing?"
"The name's Sato Asahi."
Goro laughed at Asahi. He changed his target from Suzuki to the courageous freshman. He wasn't as tall as Goro but he was still considered tall compared to the others.
This time also, as his habit, Goro leaned close to his face and sneered.
Goro does this every time he is interested in someone for a particular reason. For Ito, it was information about the masked guy and for Asahi, his bravery.
"Sato huh.....To me, I think that you are the person that I am searching for."
"He is telling you that he is not!"
Keiko interrupted between Asahi and Goro. However, Asahi did not want Keiko to get involved in this matter.
"Keiko, stay out of this."
She saw how worried he became so she forced herself to stay silent.
Goro on the other hand seems to enjoy where this was leading.
"I think that I am the one who will judge that you are not the one that I am searching for, right?"
He giggled mischievously and proposed to him. No, more specifically, he threatened him.
"How about you show me if you are not the masked guy."
Goro clenched his fists hard enough that his veins seems like they would pop out blood. Asahi noticed and was prepared for the worst.
For an instance, Goro's expression disappeared and then, he was ready to throw hands with Asahi.
"You are going to regret this."
With that said, Goro lifted his hand and threw a punch.
*Whoosh!*
Asahi dodged it and stepped back from him.
Goro was ready to launch another attack, however-
*Trrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnggggg!!*
The bell sound chimed and it signalled the end of lunch break.
Goro stopped in his track and retracted his hands. He chuckled and said,
"Heh, That is too bad. I don't want any teacher to see me fight."
Asahi was still on guard around him even if he is admitting to not fighting right now.
But it is good to know that he could avoid this fight. From that single punch, Asahi knew that Goro was strong as hell. Taking that punch head-on would definitely not be good.
"But..."
Goro grabbed the shoulder of Asahi and whispered in his ears.
"We are having this fight on the rooftop after school. I know you are going to come up if I said that that girl named Keiko would not be in a good position if you refused."
"You-!"
Asahi tried to punch him away but he stepped back in time and grabbed Ito by his side.
"Let's go, Ito-kun. Later, Sato-kun."
With that, Goro left the classroom in dismay. The mumblings increased gradually after he left.
"H-Hey, Asahi-kun. What did he say?"
Kirika worriedly asked about what Goro whispered in his ears that Asahi was so perplexed.
"...."
Kirika turned to Keiko and did not know what to say. She took her turn.
"Asahi-kun, tell me. What kind of rubbish did that savage say."
".....Nothing."
Asahi sat down amongst his worried friends, knowing that he had to oblige with Goro's warning.
He has heard rumours of Goro and they were pretty bad. Scared of the consequences, Asahi was coerced to decide.
There is no other way to protect Keiko than to accept his duel.
"Heh....."
Asahi scoffed to himself and chuckled at his thoughts. Goro's strength is no joke.
'What duel? This will be an execution.'