CHAPTER 50: THE COURAGE OF AOSHI

«Well, well... isn’t it a small world, Hiroshi?» Kaito sneers, nudging his friend in the ribs with a playful elbow. «I thought I’d never see the idiot who got me stuck in the ER for half a day again, and yet... here we are.»

«W-What do you want from me now?» Aoshi stammers, trying his hardest to look intimidating — but standing in front of two guys twice his size, it’s beyond hopeless.

The two men practically choke back laughter at how pathetic he looks.

«Now, now, is that any way to greet old friends?» Kaito mutters with exaggerated disappointment. «Come on, why don’t you leave your tiny girlfriend here and come take a walk with us? We won’t hurt you, I promise — just a nice, quiet little chat between friends. Go on. Let me buy you a drink — you know, to make up for that little mishap at the water park.» he adds, his voice dripping with a sinister, almost mocking tone that completely contradicts his supposedly friendly intentions.

«Kaito, answer me this... is this the girl you were talking about?» Hiroshi asks, puzzled, jerking his chin toward Ayane. «You told me she was the hottest girl you’d ever seen around, but to me she looks like a total wreck.»

Ayane lowers her gaze — terrified and humiliated at the same time — wounded far more deeply by those words than any other insult could have managed, especially because she knows exactly who he’s referring to: Eliss.

Th-They’re right... compared to Eliss, I... I’m just this — a pathetic mess. She’s so beautiful, so perfect... wherever we go, everyone only looks at her, while I don’t even get a glance. Even if I wore the most elegant dress I own and she wore rags, she’d still steal everyone’s eyes. She’s just... too beautiful. And how can I blame Aoshi? How can I even ask myself why he gets so jealous over her? Eliss beats me in everything, every possible way... and between her and me, no one in the world would ever choose me... not even Aoshi...

«Of course she’s not the girl I was about to fuck at the water park. You really think I’d waste my time with a wreck like this? I’d be way too embarrassed to be seen with someone whose hair looks like a unicorn came all over her head!» Kaito says, bursting into laughter, doubled over with tears in his eyes. «Seriously, what the hell happened to your hair? Did you get into a fight with your hairdresser?»

«S-Stop talking... talking about her like that!» Aoshi shouts, mustering every drop of courage in his body. «Ayane is beautiful, and you have no right to disrespect her like that!»

«A-Aoshi...» Ayane whispers, placing both hands over her chest.

Hearing such determined, sincere words sends a warmth flooding through her unlike anything she’s ever felt — she’s breathless, her heart pounding as if she’d just finished running the New York Marathon.

Th-Thank you, Aoshi. Thank you so much...

«Oh, so you do have balls, toothpick,» Kaito snickers. «Back then you managed to hit me and run off with that blonde slut only because you caught me off guard — but this time, things are gonna be different. Count on it.»

Kaito and Hiroshi take a few steps toward Aoshi and Ayane, and both of them instinctively step back in fear.

Their instincts scream at them to turn around and run, but logic tells them they’d never outrun these two — and trying to escape would only spark their violence.

«T-Take one more step and I swear... I swear I’ll start screaming!» Ayane blurts out, just as terrified as Aoshi, her fear rising with every second.

«Shut your mouth, slut,» Hiroshi snaps, not even bothering to look at her.

«If you really wanna scream, once we’re done with your little boyfriend I’ll take you to my place and show you just how loud you can get. Though with how tiny you are, I’d probably tear your pussy apart if I shoved my dick in,» Kaito adds, cracking his knuckles, his eyes fixed solely on Aoshi.

«I-I already told you... I already told you not to talk to Ayane like that!» Aoshi shouts, completely losing control.

Then, driven by anger and desperation, he suddenly lunges at Kaito, aiming a clenched fist straight at his face — pouring every ounce of strength he has into the punch.

Back on the Chikuma River trail, Eliss told me it’s stupid to fight someone way stronger — that all you get from it is a beating. And I’ve always agreed with her, but... how am I supposed to stay still after these two pumped-up assholes insulted Ayane like that? She’s got a heart of gold — kind, generous, selfless — the last person in the world who deserves to be treated that way! And I... I can’t let their insults go unpunished! Even if they break every bone in my body, I swear I’ll make them swallow every single word they said!

Aoshi’s fist shoots toward Kaito’s jaw... but Kaito catches it in his open palm with humiliating ease. His fingers tighten around Aoshi’s knuckles like an iron vise, bones popping one after another — and with each crack, a raw, agonized scream bursts from Aoshi’s lips.

People walk by without even glancing, indifferent, slipping around the scene like water flowing past a stone, continuing on their way as if nothing were happening.

«K-Keep your hands off Aoshi, you bastard!» Ayane cries, throwing herself toward Kaito in desperation.

But before she can even get close, Hiroshi steps in — grabbing her arm, yanking her toward him, then pinning her from behind, trapping her in his grip.

«You know, I gotta admit... seeing you up close like this, you’re actually pretty cute,» Hiroshi murmurs slimily into her ear, pressing his erection against her small backside, barely outlined under her elegant red dress.

«L-Let me go... let me go right now!» Ayane screams, frantic.

She thrashes, kicks backward, tries elbowing him, even tries to bite him — but it’s useless. With such a tiny frame and no experience in hand-to-hand fighting, she doesn’t stand a chance against the mountain of muscle pinning her down.

«Ayane, I-I’m coming!» Aoshi cries — his eyes glassy with tears of rage and frustration.

But before he can take even a single step toward her, Kaito kicks him hard in the shin, sending him stumbling forward.

Aoshi tries to get back up immediately, but Kaito is already on him — knocking him down again with another trip, making him crash forward a second time, almost as if he’s toying with him rather than actually fighting.

And yet Aoshi refuses to give up — Ayane’s muffled screams, smothered under Hiroshi’s hand clamped over her mouth, give him the strength to keep pushing himself up again and again, despite the blows to his leg.

Aoshi lifts his gaze toward Ayane once more — and a surge of rage unlike anything he’s ever felt explodes inside him when he sees Hiroshi’s left hand slip through the low neckline of her dress and into her bra, squeezing her small breasts hard.

«Boobs this small don’t even give the slightest bit of satisfaction. What a disappointment...» Hiroshi mutters with an exaggerated, mocking sigh.

Then he pulls his hand out of Ayane’s bra and places it on her waist, letting it slowly slide lower and lower until it reaches the beginning of the long slit in her dress.

Ayane squeezes her eyes shut, her mouth clamped tight in terror.

Hiroshi’s hand slips through the slit, closing firmly around her thin thigh.

«Let’s see if your little ass is as disappointing as the rest, or if it’s actually worth the trouble.»

The disgusting display of violence makes something snap inside Aoshi — something he never imagined he could feel.

I-If only Eliss were here... I-I’d ask her to... to... I always believed no crime in the world could justify the death penalty, but... h-how can anyone not think it now? How can I not want, more than anything else in the world, for these two bastards to die — not for what they’re doing to me, but for what they’re doing to Ayane! Maybe killing a man is wrong, but... these aren’t men — they’re animals! And animals like this don’t deserve mercy! E-Eliss... p-please... save me... save us... Eliss... please... kill them!

«Toothpick, this is for the hit you gave me at the water park!» Kaito growls.

He raises his fist high, ready to bring it crashing down onto Aoshi’s skull, but—

«You two — let go of those brats and get out of my sight. Now.»

A cold, steady female voice freezes Kaito in place before he can strike.

«E-Eliss...? Eliss really came to save us...?» Aoshi murmurs, dazed from the blows. «N-No... that’s not Eliss’s voice. That’s...»

With his face pressed to the ground, Aoshi can only see a pair of tall, elegant black heeled boots. He forces himself to lift his gaze — first catching the long, toned legs wrapped in black tights and the short skirt ending mid-thigh. Then he sees the hourglass waist, the sculpted hips, the generous chest.

Finally, surprise and relief flicker across his bruised expression as his eyes meet those of the tall, striking girl standing just a few steps away.

Miori Yukinaga.