Before I could decide on what to do, the guy that was trying to catch Yuki suddenly was hit by a flying stone right into his face and fell to the ground. Everyone turned in the direction from where the stone was thrown. There was Toshihiro standing there… Oh, I can't do it anymore. It just doesn't sound right to call him that. I'll call him Shirogane and his sister — Yuki…
So, he managed to free himself from the cross and now was standing on the ground. His face was twisted with anger and one more feeling that I had no time to discern because suddenly, he run straight in my direction and grabbed me by my shirt. His eyes were burning with fire.
"Why did you lead her here!?" he shouted at me.
Well… Will he understand if I say that a nasty crazy clown forced me to do it?
"It wasn't me," I answered while looking at him calmly.
"It was you."
He blinked, and a moment after bit his lower lip.
At last, he put me free and shouted without even looking at Yuki, who was staring at her brother with a lost expression:
"Get away from here. I will try to hold them," he gazed at the people around.
A good proposal, but sadly, I'm a hero, and heroes never run away.
"No you won't," I said loudly.
"I won't be abandoning anyone," I added.
Shirogane looked at me with the same gaze that you would give an insane person.
"Idiot."
No, you.
Meanwhile, the people around were getting closer and closer. There were about two dozen of them, all equipped with metal sticks. Mishima was standing on the side and giving commands. Her gaze was fierce. I sighed and was about to try breaking free from the encirclement when suddenly, I heard a scream from somewhere in the distance.
From the direction of the entrance.
I turned to face it. Everyone else did as well. People were confused. Mishima frowned.
Suddenly, several seconds after, a person appeared there. He didn't look too tall at first, but as he was getting closer and closer, his height was steadily growing until I saw that he was more than two meters tall.
"Ah!"
"It's… It's the GOLIATH!"
"He…" Shirogane, who was standing close to me, widened his eyes. Then, following his good old habit, he provided me with an exposition:
"Goliath... He used to serve a gang from the different street, but then it was destroyed, and he became a free mercenary… He's very strong. The last time I heard, he was approaching a Daimyo level…"
Daimyo… I remembered what Ryunosuke told me about the local power-level system. Then, seeing the worried look that appeared on Mishima's and her girlfriend's faces, I analyzed Goliath with my special eyes:
[Str: C+
End: C+
Int: D-
Character type: Minor Villain]
'Minor' my ass…
This time my own eyes went wide. I haven't seen a human with STR in [C] range before, only a gorilla, and now, one appeared just before me. What is even worse, he had [C] with [+]…
At last, Mishima walked forward and confronted the giant:
"Goliath? Why have you come here? I was proposing to hire you, but you haven't been answering my messages."
"Why?" the giant, a man with thick lips and yellowish face smiled and said:
"Oh, that's simple. I have come to destroy you, Mishima, and your pathetic bunch! Ha-ha. You were trying to hire me, that's true, but someone else could give me much more than you… And he wants to have you gone!"
His voice was deep and scary. Many people from Mishima's gang gulped.
"You…" the girl became angry. She put the hand on her waist and took out a chain. Meanwhile, the Ringo girl made several signs with her hand, ordering the other people to surround the giant.
They weren't very enthusiastic, to say the least.
"Who hired you?" shouted Mishima.
"You know I can't say the name… It will be unprofessional," smiled the giant.
The air was getting tenser and tenser every second.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I lightly punched Shirogane to attract his attention, then placed my hand on Yuki's shoulder and said to the siblings:
"Let's get away from here…"
We should run while they are so busy...
Shirogane hesitated for some reason and was about to say something to me, but after looking at his sister, he remained silent nodded. Yuki, who was very pale, nodded as well.
After that, while everyone else was preparing to battle the Goliath, we started carefully getting away from the soon-to-be battlefield. Everything was going well. No one was paying attention to us. We almost reached the distance from which we could start running when suddenly, I heard a familiar crunchy sound.
It was the sound of rubbers wheels connecting to the ground.
I turned to the source of the sound, and my eyes went wide. I saw a red light, then I heard a shout: here we go!
A bicycle with a white-haired driver approached a concrete springboard, passed it, and flew into the air.
The bicycle made an ark above people's heads. Once it's fell on the ground, the rider jumped to his legs and, while still carrying the momentum, threw his bike right at the face of confused Goliath.
BOOM!
The guy crashed to the ground.
A fountain of blood spring up from his nose.
Everyone, just everyone, Mishima, Shirogane, and myself looked at the rider.
She made a deep breath, raised her head, and uncovered the shiny face from the messy white hair.
Then, Murakami smiled and said:
"Ta-da!"
"…"
"Have I made it in time?.."