Back in the mixer, Minoru had just stepped over two of the four men he knocked out as he approached the remaining three, the smoker's cigarette still laced with white powder.
"Now that all the distractions are gone..." Minoru muttered, his gaze direct yet indifferent.
"Can you answer my question? What were you guys planning to do with my sister? I couldn't care less about her, but the mafia boss I work for will blow a gasket when he hears about this, so I need the full story," he said, scratching his head in irritation.
'He's definitely from Black Letter... That strength... And still so young, what, 19? 18? It's not too far-fetched to think he's really from there. And the boss he's talking about... No, it can't be. He didn't know what we were doing here, so it can't be that guy... Another faction within that cursed organization?' The smoker thought rapidly, his mind racing for answers.
"She actually wanted to touch me. I'm doing all I can not to throw up right now. How are you going to make up for this?" Minoru continued, his patience thinning as they remained silent, shock written across their faces.
"W-wait.." The smoker stammered as he stepped forward from the group, "We didn't know it was your sister. We were just looking to grab some high-schoolers for a job, but she was unfortunately one of them. I assure you if we had known—"
"If we had known...? Man, that's rich," Minoru interrupted sharply.
"So you mean to tell me, you'd have kidnapped her and drugged her regardless of my intervention?"
The smoker grew flustered, his eyes darting around, as Minoru's irritation became palpable. The tension among the smoker's associates was mounting.
"That's..." "And what did you drug her with? I'd rather know what it was than scramble around. I'll let you off if you tell me," Minoru pressed.
'Wait... He doesn't know what we used...? Even after seeing her like that...!? I thought he was just bluffing to intimidate us... So that means...'
His lips twitched as he suppressed a smile.
'...He doesn't know! And he has no connection to our operations... I can use this to my advantage... We'll deal with his boss later!'
"Right.. We used this," the smoker said, pulling out a bag from his pocket filled with a white powder.
'I'll show him the FD-01 first..!!'
"This drug is quite complex... It doesn't just do one thing," he began, his eyes gleaming as he noticed Minoru's growing curiosity.
"Hohh...? What's it do? Be quick, then," Minoru urged, stepping closer.
"I'm afraid if I explained that, we'd be here all night... But look here," the smoker said as he slowly reached into his other pocket, producing another bag with similar white powder.
'Now, I'll pull out the MD-01... And when he least expects it...!!'
"This is the antidote. It negates all the effects of the other one," he explained, holding it before Minoru's face. Both of the smoker's associates watched intently.
Minoru sighed as he closed his eyes, "Sorry," he started.
'...I'LL BLAST HIM WITH THE MD-01!!!' the smoker thought as he hurled the bag of MD-01 straight at Minoru's face.
"...Tricks like that just stopped working against me a long time ago," Minoru said, his expression melancholic and resigned as the smoker, baffled, found his own face blasted with the white powder bag he had attempted to throw at Minoru. Minoru had quickly stepped back to avoid inhaling any of the powder.
To the onlookers, it appeared as though...
...the smoker had thrown it onto himself.
"Even without listening to your breathing, a child could tell you were up to something. Give me a break..." Minoru muttered.
The bag spread to the other two, who jumped aside in panic - a moment too late.
Then, they all stared at each other intensely as they gulped.
"What the hell...?" Minoru called, arching an eyebrow as he watched the remaining three ferociously charge at each other, ripping each other's clothes off...
...And brutally make love.
Minoru silently clenched his teeth and fist in silent anger.
"No...!!!"
"HOW..!!?!" Minoru called in confusion.
"THEY FOUND ME...!!?"
-----SIMULTANEOUSLY, JUST OUTSIDE THE MIXER-----
Sendo stood resolute in front of the bouncer, his gaze intense and unyielding as he faced the larger man.
"Shit... Kid, that ID's fake, isn't it? No 15-year-old hits like this..." The bouncer muttered, rubbing his chin, sizing Sendo up with a mix of respect and suspicion.
"Da fuck do I care!?! All I know is you ain't gettin' past me!" Sendo retorted defiantly.
"I'm not trying to 'get past you' anymore, kid," the bouncer began, his voice dropping to a menacing tone, "I'm going to fucking kill you, and then I'll go after the other two escapists. Shit... Maybe I'll only break your limbs and force you to watch your friends getting brutalized until they're dead." His threat was cold and brutal, fueled by rage.
"I ain't one to go easy on someone just because they're a kid," the man declared as he launched a punch in Sendo's direction.
'It's slower than Aniki's punches...!!'
'...But heavier!!!' Sendo quickly assessed, realizing the critical need to dodge the powerful left aimed at his chest as he lunged forward.
Sendo parried with the metal bar, the clang of metal ringing sharply through the air, but the force staggered him back a few steps.
'What da hell...!! It feels like I blocked a cannonball..!!' Sendo grimaced as he clenched his teeth, feeling the weight of the hit reverberating through his arms and torso.
Seizing the moment, the bouncer swung a heavy right hook, undeterred by the pain from hitting the bar.
'F-fuck..!!!' Sendo thought in alarm.
"DIE, YOU FUCKING BRAT!!!" The bouncer yelled.
'Move... My body...!! MOVE..!!!' Sendo willed himself, straining to dodge as he stared at the fist flying toward him.
The punch grazed his cheek, sending a sharp sting across his face.
'Dat would've broken my face..!' Sendo realized, his survival instincts kicking in as he noticed the bouncer's lower body exposed.
'I can hit him there!!'
Regaining his footing, Sendo countered, sweeping the metal bar in a wide arc aimed at the bouncer's legs. The bar connected with a sickening crack against the bouncer's knee.
"GODDAMN IT, YOU FUCKIN' KID!!!" The bouncer screamed, stumbling but not falling.
'He ain't going down from this..!!? I'm sure I cracked his knee!' Sendo grimaced again.
Growling in anger and pain, the bouncer charged again, his movements more reckless this time. Another fist flew at Sendo, a raw expression of rage and desperation.
'He's slower now!!' Sendo realized, seizing the opportunity for precision. He sidestepped the wild punch and brought the bar down hard across the bouncer's forearm.
"GRAHH!!" Sendo grunted.
The impact broke the bone with a clear, horrifying snap, causing the bouncer to howl and drop to one knee, clutching his injured arm.
'Got him now... He's got nothing left..' Sendo thought, sensing victory.
However, the bouncer was relentless. Ignoring the pain, he surged upward with surprising agility, landing a heavy blow to Sendo's ribcage just as Sendo thought he had the upper hand.
"GARRRRRHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Sendo coughed violently, the breath knocked out of him as the impact reverberated through his torso, a rib crackling under the sheer force.
"Ha... ha..." Sendo wheezed, struggling to regain his breath.
'What's with this guy...!! He's unlike anyone I've ever faced... He's...'
As he caught his breath, Sendo gazed up at the towering bouncer,
'Real strong!!'
With renewed vigor, Sendo swung the metal bar, but his movements were slowing, fatigue and pain gnawing at his strength.
"Heh... You're getting that slow over a single punch, you shitty brat!!!?" The bouncer taunted, blocking the strike with his good arm. He snatched the bar from Sendo's grasp, tossed it aside, and launched a brutal uppercut. "YOU'RE TOO FUCKING WEAK!!!" Sendo's head snapped back, and he tasted blood.
'Ah... What... What just happened... It's all black...' Sendo's thoughts fuzzed as he momentarily lost consciousness, his legs buckling beneath him.
He tumbled backward, beginning to fall to the ground.
"I'M NOT DONE, FUCKER!!!" The bouncer bellowed, driving his fist deep into Sendo's gut with a surge of adrenaline-fueled rage.
"Gah-ha...!" Sendo cried out, once more gasping for air that wouldn't come.
Sendo spat blood onto the cracked concrete, right outside the mixer, his body crumpling from the impact as he collapsed onto his back.
He coughed and gasped, clutching his abdomen.
'I feel like my guts are torn up...!! I... I can't breathe..!!' He thought grimly, each cough bringing up more blood, the taste metallic and sharp in his mouth.
As Sendo's vision blurred, each throb of his heartbeat echoed painfully in his head. He lay on the ground, writhing in agony, desperately trying to catch a breath that seemed to elude him.
Above him, despite his own evident pain and broken limb, the bouncer loomed menacingly. His face was a twisted grimace of pain intermingled with anger. A cruel sneer formed on his lips as he grasped Sendo's leg, positioning it precariously under his foot. He lifted his good leg, poised to deliver a crushing blow.
"It's ONLY FAIR I TAKE BOTH OF YOUR LEGS NOW...!!!" the bouncer bellowed with savage intent.
Sendo clenched his eyes shut, tensing every muscle as he braced for the excruciating impact he knew was imminent.
"Kendo, huh...?" A casual voice interrupted the tense moment. The bouncer paused his movement to turn around, curiosity and irritation mixing in his expression.
There stood Minoru, nonchalantly picking his nose, appearing almost bored by the scene unfolding before him. His clothes were immaculate, in stark contrast to the violence of the situation.
Sendo slowly opened his eyes, confusion fleeting across his face as he saw Minoru standing behind the bouncer.
"You're that scrawny brat that came with this fucker earlier, weren't you!? How the fuck did you get out of there!!?" The bouncer bellowed, his foot still hovering threateningly over Sendo's leg, though now slightly lowered as he diverted his attention.
Minoru glanced briefly at Sendo, his expression unreadable.
"The way you breathe... Or, more like, can't breathe... tension pneumothorax, is it now...? What a pain... This is why I hate kids... Except for Shiori," he commented dryly to Sendo.
"By the sounds of it... Looks like I got a minute or so, huh...?" Minoru deduced calmly.
"Regarding your question," Minoru continued, turning back to the bouncer with a casual, blank expression, "I just walked out. I can't fly or teleport, last time I checked." He sauntered over to the reception counter and picked up a first aid kit.
'Alright... This will do nicely,' he thought to himself, catching sight of a broomstick in the corner of his eye. With swift movements, he plucked out its brush, leaving himself with a long wooden stick.
'This bastard... He acts like I ain't even here!!?' The bouncer fumed internally, his teeth clenched in mounting frustration.
Clutching the stick firmly in one hand and the first aid kit in the other, Minoru approached the bouncer, who now regarded him with a wary eye. "Punk, since this is probably the only time we'll see each other, let me show you," Minoru called out to the struggling Sendo, twirling the stick with practiced ease and a hint of mockery in his tone.
"...Just how embarrassing your Kendo was just now," Minoru concluded, his voice thick with disdain as he casually advanced towards the bouncer.
"TOUGH TALK FOR A TWIG LIKE YOU!!!" The bouncer roared, charging at him with unrestrained fury.
'Shit... Dat guy... He charges at him like I didn't break anything...!!' Sendo thought, his consciousness wavering as he struggled to draw breath, his efforts increasingly futile.
'Da homeless dude's in trouble!!' Sendo worried.
But what he witnessed next left him utterly shocked.
'Those moves... I... I just used them... But they're... better...!' Sendo marveled as he watched Minoru masterfully wield the stick. Each movement flowed seamlessly into the next, with no wasted motion. As the bouncer attempted to land a blow, Minoru deflected his herculean strength effortlessly, making the massive man's efforts seem as light as feathers.
'He a master...?' Sendo thought, awestruck, as the stick in Minoru's hands seemed to transform into a sharp blade with each precise maneuver.
Sendo's thoughts blurred as he no longer had the strength to hold his head up, his vision dimming as it dropped to the ground, his lungs still desperately gasping for air.
"SHIT, SHIT...!!! YOU FUCKER...!!!" The bouncer bellowed in frustration, lunging forward with all his might, every muscle screaming in agony.
"Yeah, sounds about right... The only thing a brute like you could do right now is scream... So scream," Minoru taunted, his voice cold as he struck the bouncer's windpipe with a swift, surgical precision.
"...Until I'll take that as well," he concluded, his tone chilling as he nonchalantly tossed the stick aside and walked over to Sendo.
Seconds later, the bouncer's body hit the floor with a heavy thud that reverberated throughout the establishment, marking the end of the confrontation.
Minoru knelt beside Sendo, who was still gasping for air, struggling with each breath. He briefly placed his ear against Sendo's chest, his expression focused.
"Hm... This one, huh?" Minoru murmured, identifying the second intercostal space on the left side of Sendo's chest where he detected diminished breath sounds.
"Alright... Stay still, Punk. This is going to sting," he warned casually, opening the first-aid kit. He sifted through its contents with calm precision, searching for a 14-gauge needle—a critical component for what he needed to do next.
Finding the needle, Minoru prepared it with a practiced ease, positioning it precisely between Sendo's ribs after ripping open his shirt. With a swift, assured motion, he pierced the pleural space, allowing the trapped air to escape with a faint hiss, providing immediate relief from the tension pneumothorax.
"There, you should start feeling better soon. I'll call you an ambulance, and—" Minoru began, turning to walk away when suddenly Sendo clutched his arm.
'He's still a kid after all... How bothersome. Am I going to have to reassure him now...?' Minoru thought with a resigned sigh as he turned back to face Sendo.
[SELIN SORAL - ETHEREAL]
To his surprise, Sendo was smiling—an enthusiastic, warm, and awestruck smile, despite the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and the evident ache in his battered body.
"H-hey... Dude... Join..."
"Ma'... Kendo... Club..." Sendo managed to say before his eyes fluttered shut, his consciousness slipping away.
Minoru stared at him, slightly stunned, feeling the grip on his arm loosen.
"Hah." Minoru let out a single chuckle.
"As if, you stupid idiot." He muttered, watching the smile spread further across Sendo's face as he drifted into unconsciousness.
"It's a rarity," a calm voice called from outside the mixer.
Minoru's head snapped up in full alert, scanning for the source of the voice.
"...Seeing you smile for real, Minoru."
Minoru's mouth fell open, his expression one of shock.
"Mr..."
"Kurose...!!? Kurose... You're Kurose Seichiro, right!!?" he exclaimed, his voice tinged with disbelief and urgency.