It was a trick, after all. The sly brute made an abrupt spin on his heel, turning to lung his knife at Shouichi's stomach.
"Shouichi-senpai!" The wailing scream from his two juniors, Emi and Misaki, their horrified eyes widened, fixating on him.
Unexpectedly, Shouichi smirked deviously. "Hahaha," He chuckled, his eyes glinting with mischief. In one swift motion, he seized the brute's arm and hurled him to the ground. The man's large frame slammed headfirst onto the hard surface, the air knocked from his lungs.
With precise, unrelenting force, Shouichi drove a vertical punch straight into the brute's face. The impact warped the man's features, his skin and bone momentarily moulding to the shape of Shouichi's fist before snapping back with a sickening jolt.
Meanwhile, Shinji struggled to get up on his feet, but his legs gave out and he fell back onto the floor.
Shouichi approached and sat down next to his friend as they both caught their breath. Miraculously, Shouichi's stomach appeared to be intact, unwounded.
"Good thing I put some books on," Shouichi revealed, his speech shallow. He then pulled out the damaged books — the hidden protection he had tucked inside his waist and jacket sleeves. With no further use for the ragged books, he tossed them to the ground.
Emi and Misaki rushed toward the dazzling duos, crouching close. "Senpai!" They gasped, their expression filled with worries, tears streaming down their cheeks.
"It's alright, girls. We'll be fine." Shinji said as he extended his fist and bummed with Shouichi's. The tall boy put on his tough facade and his usual smugness as ever, something only a cool guy like Shinji managed to pull off with ease.
Running his fingers through his busted head, "Dang it, that bastard really knocked me out cold for a while." Shinji cursed while glaring at the man lying motionless on the floor.
When they thought that was the end of it. The shrieking scream echoed through the hallway from the upper floor followed by the shuffling noises as the second-year students hastily stumbled down the stairs. Shouichi could see the pure terror in their pale faces.
"Misaki, Emi, you two. Get out of here right now!" Shouichi quickly commanded the girls. "Go!" He shouted sternly. They nodded obediently and ran off to the exit.
"Guess… It's time for round two…" Shinji raised up on his feet, his eyes glancing forward with determination.
"Hahaha, let's end this!" Shouichi uttered confidently, standing next to him. The duo exchanged a knowing glance, it was ride together or die for them!
***
A few moments earlier, the fat teacher rushed into the faculty room in full panic, hands swinging erratically. The room was located in the old building just behind the main building.
"There's a mass~mass~mass~mass…" He stuttered hysterically.
"Osamu-sensei, take a deep breath. What happened?" Takeshi-sensei asked with a frowned face, rubbing the distressed teacher's shoulders to calm him down. The other teachers directed attention toward the fat man, straining their ears to listen to what he had to say.
"There is a knife attack happening in the main building right now!" He eventually got the words out, crystal clear this time.
Rinae-sensei anxiously sprung up to her feet, "Are you sure?!" She asked in disbelief as she walked toward to door.
"Don't go out, let~let~let~let… Let's call the police!" Osamu-sensei told her, using his massive belly to block the door.
"If that's really happening, I need to see it. Please get out of the way." Rinae-sensei hurriedly said as she pushed the fat teacher away and exited through the door.
***
"Are you guys crazy?! Get out of here right now!" The elegant math teacher, Rinae-sensei, screamed at the duo. Further behind, the school nurse, Nakamura Maria, was tending to the injured. It seemed they were trying to save as many students as possible, unfazed by the terror ahead of them.
"Sorry, Rinae-sensei." Shinji shouted, glancing at his friend. Shouichi returned a nod in anticipation. With that, the duo sprinted upstairs, not listening to a single command from the teacher.
On the second floor, the aftermath of the slaughter was a horrible sight resembling those scenes in slasher movies. Blood and bodies were scattered on the ground, nothing but crimson red.
Two brutes strutted out of the president's room, both drenched in dark red liquid. They had achieved what they were sent to do.
"Crap! We are too late." Shouichi told the silver-haired friend.
According to the syndicate, they deemed that Sakurai Hiroshi was more of a liability and evidence that needed to be eliminated. The brutal attack on the school was the means to silence him for good. Hiroshi's emergency message was simply a beacon for the reaper to come reaping, an invitation to his gruesome death.
"Sup!" Shinji taunted the perpetrators with his smirk, his tone playful and unwavering.
"Should we run?" Shouichi asked, hesitant.
"For them to stab us in the back? Didn't think so," Shinji remarked sarcastically. The enemies exchanged incredulous glances, how foolish of those brainless brats, they thought.
"Let's go!" The duo stepped in with their fists up. Bracing for the battle to come, the evil men bared their teeth in anger and gripped their weapons tight.
Those two appeared to be relatively weaker than the large one they fought earlier, Shouichi managed to fall the scarred face with just a few hooks. While Shinji performed a stepped kick on the muscular brute sending him up in the air, only to collapse into the hard floor. A loud thud reverberated as his body slammed, limps flopping lifelessly.
"Haha, nice kicks. You learnt that from somewhere?" Shouichi spoke while his fingers brushed gently on his blood-dripping knuckles. They were busted from the impact earlier.
"Anime, of course. Hahaha," Shinji chuckled.
Soon, the muscular figure lay spasming violently on the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably as froth spilled from his mouth. Something bizarre in his motions, almost demonic.
"Eh? Is he dying?" Shouichi puzzledly turned to ask his friend.
"I dunno…" Shinji responded and frowned.
The brute sat up and stared at them eerily. There was something different in his eyes this time. The hollow gaze sent a shiver down Shouichi's spine. An unsettling familiarity gripped him — it was unmistakably the same stare as the injured man from the truck accident more than three months ago.
"Shinji… be careful… I think something is off about him." Shouichi warned his friend, raising his arms to the sides.
"AWAWAHWWAHWWAW!" The growling sound escaped his mouth. The brute went completely psychotic, limps twisting and vibrating in awkward motions as if he forgot how to get up.
Eventually, the madman managed to scramble up on his feet, and, without a warning, he lunged toward the duo at full speed.
"YAH!" Shinji swung his high kick aiming at the head. The powerful sweep connected to his neck, but somehow the brute caught Shinji's foot between his neck and shoulder, pinching Shinji in place. Shinji's body froze in bewilderment.