Once a mobster, now Masachika Kuze

Kuroi ran desperately towards Riko, her eyes wide with concern.

"Lady Riko!"

Riko turned to her, still gasping for breath, but forcing a smile.

"I'm fine, Kuroi!"

But before she could finish the sentence—

BAM!

The dry sound of a gunshot cut through the moment.

Riko froze.

Her eyes widened as she saw Kuroi fall to the ground, lifeless.

Riko's breath hitched, and a scream of pure despair began to form in her throat.

"Ah—!"

And then—

Time warped.

The scene rewound in the blink of an eye.

"Lady Riko!"

Kuroi ran towards Riko.

Riko, perplexed, turned automatically.

"I'm fine, Kuroi!"

Meanwhile, Ryan scratched his head with the gun, exhaling a long, bored sigh.

"Okay... I shot just for fun." He thought to himself. "After all, I'm pissed off that they messed up my date with the hottie Alya."

A few minutes earlier Ryan's phone vibrated.

He looked at the screen and sighed when he saw the name. Gensei Suou.

With an eye roll, he answered.

"Plans have changed," Gensei's voice came from the other side. "You need to protect a girl until the arrival of the Six Eyes boy."

Ryan frowned.

"Six Eyes what boy?" He asked, visibly confused. After all, his mind was in a much more pleasant place at that moment: Alya.

Alya, beside him, tilted her head, curious.

"Our target is near you." Gensei continued, without patience for further explanations. "And, by a stroke of luck, they've put a 30 million bounty on her head. Some assassins are already moving."

Ryan ran a hand over his face, already foreseeing the headache that was to come.

"Okay, I get it... And what exactly do I have to do?" His voice carried pure boredom.

"Protect the girl and deliver her to a man named Satoru Gojo. He should be arriving soon."

Ryan took a deep breath, trying to find the slightest motivation to care about it.

"Right, I should have a thousand questions..." He huffed. "But I know you'll ignore half of them, so I'll just ask one: who is the person?"

"I'll send you a photo to identify her." Gensei's voice carried a slight tone of satisfaction.

Ryan, on the other hand, smiled with disdain.

"Don't get excited, old man. You'll have to make it up to me for getting me into this ahead of time."

"Humf... It will depend on your performance at the moment." Gensei's tone was slightly sarcastic.

Ryan sighed, already losing patience.

"Is that all?"

"For now, yes."

And the call ended.

Ryan stared at the cell phone for a moment before grumbling:

"What a pain... He always throws me into these messes without explaining anything properly."

Alya blinked a few times, worried.

"Kuze-kun... Did something serious happen?"

He relaxed his shoulders and forced a smile, looking for a way to minimize the situation.

"Yes, unfortunately..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "I'll need to solve a big problem for my grandfather. But I still want to be with you, so..." He smiled sideways. "How about I go to your house after I finish this 'cleaning' for the old man?"

Alya's eyes widened, blushing immediately.

"M-My house?"

Ryan tilted his head, feigning innocence.

"Yes. Any problem?"

"N-No! No problem!" She shook her hands, visibly nervous.

Ryan approached her, his sharp eyes analyzing her every reaction.

"Great. Then wait for me... I'll be right there."

Before Alya could react, Ryan placed a kiss on her cheek—but so dangerously close to her lips that the girl was completely speechless, her skin burning with embarrassment.

Satisfied with the effect he caused, Ryan smiled sideways.

"I-I'll go buy some things to wait for you!" Alya said hastily, quickening her pace and leaving Ryan behind.

Ryan stood still for a moment, one hand on his waist and a playful smile on his face.

"She's really cute... Glad I managed to get around the situation by abusing her embarrassment."

With a satisfied sigh, he picked up his cell phone and opened the photo that Gensei had sent.

And then, his eyes widened.

"Damn... It's the fish girl!"

He chuckled, incredulous.

"So that's why there's so much explosion out of nowhere... I better pick up the pace too."

And so, Ryan headed for the C-1 wing, where he knew he would find Riko. After all, it was he who had said that the swordfish would be there.

And that's how Ryan had gotten here.

"Lady Riko! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Kuroi helped Riko up, relieved, but soon gave Ryan a suspicious look.

"Who are you?"

Riko, still a little dizzy, raised her hands hastily.

"Calm down, Kuroi! He helped me with that guy!"

Ryan crossed his arms and smiled sideways.

"Look, I know there's a lot of weird stuff going on... But there's still one breathing over there."

The two turned and saw the man who had invoked the curse earlier. He growled with irritation, holding a wounded arm.

"Damn... Looks like in the end I'm the one who's going to have to do everything alone. Well, at least the reward is all mine."

He crouched down, making strange gestures with his hands. At the same moment, a new creature began to form. This time, it was a humanoid aberration, slender and twisted, with deformed limbs and a grotesquely large mouth.

Ryan wrinkled his nose, taking a step back.

"Seriously, what's with you guys and these hideous things? Never thought about summoning something at least minimally pleasant to look at?"

Riko blinked, confused.

"Hideous...? Wait, you're seeing them and don't know what curses are?"

Ryan scratched his chin, as if trying to remember something.

"Ah... That's right! These shits are called curses, right?"

The man laughed mockingly, while the creature jumped towards them.

"What bad luck! A newbie doesn't stand a chance!"

Before the thing could reach them—

BAM!

Ryan lowered his hand and pulled the trigger unhurriedly. The bullet hit the creature's head squarely, causing it to plummet like a sack of potatoes.

The silence was immediate.

Kuroi and Riko stared at the scene, incredulous. The man, in turn, widened his eyes, his mouth opening in an incredulous whisper.

"H-how the hell did he hit a curse with a gun!?" He gritted his teeth in anger. "You bastard... It's a cursed tool, isn't it!?"

Ryan spun the pistol on his finger and gave a lazy smile.

"No, it's just an M1911. Beautiful, don't you think?"

He then pointed it at the man again and pulled the trigger.

Click.

Nothing.

Ryan blinked.

He looked at the gun.

He looked back at the man.

And then smiled sideways.

"Whoops... Forgot to reload."

"HOW DO YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" Riko and Kuroi shouted in unison.

The man grinned mockingly, twirling a knife in his fingers as he sneered:

"What an idiot... Without that tool, you seem so defenseless."

Ryan, unhurried, tucked the gun into his waistband, as if he didn't even care. His smile was pure mockery.

"Well... Looks like we'll have to settle this with our fists, what do you think?"

The man made a face of disgust, but his posture remained arrogant.

"I'm going to rip your tongue out, you arrogant..." he growled, tightening his grip on the blade.

Ryan shrugged, as if it were the most trivial thing in the world.

"Looks like I brought my fists to a knife fight..." He tilted his head slightly, as if he were really reflecting on the situation. Then, he flashed a confident smile. "Poor knives."

The man lunged forward with speed, but Ryan didn't even seem worried.

Kuroi, about to intervene, was interrupted by a casual comment from him:

"Take care of the girl, I think she hurt her foot."

She hesitated, but when she looked at Riko, she realized that Riko really felt pain when she put weight on one of her feet.

Ryan, on the other hand...? He moved as if it were just a warm-up.

He dodged the blade with ease, grabbing the enemy's arm at the same moment. Before the man could react, Ryan twisted the limb with a dry snap—the bone broke like a twig.

The scream of pain echoed in the corridor.

Without giving him time for anything else, Ryan struck his face with his elbow, spinning the man with a precise kick that made him fall to his knees.

"Damn... You weren't even worth a whiff."

But, before Ryan could finish the job, a voice cut through the air:

"Hey, you. We'll take over from here."

He raised his eyes, finding a young man with white hair, sunglasses, and dark clothes. His expression was full of superiority.

"You can leave the rest to the stronger ones."

Ryan raised an eyebrow, his sideways smile widening.

"Stronger ones?"

The white-haired boy shrugged, maintaining his pose.

"Don't take it the wrong way, kid. I may have arrived a little late, but it's better to leave the cleaning job to the professionals."

Meanwhile, the man was still screaming, writhing while Ryan held him, immobilizing his movements with an iron grip.

Ryan narrowed his eyes, and his sarcastic smile became even sharper.

"Ah... I think I get it now."

And then, without warning, he lifted the man as if he weighed nothing—a movement so fast and brutal that it surprised everyone around.

And threw him with all his might towards the young man with white hair.

"He's all yours! Enjoy~"

The violence of the impact was absurd. The man's body was torn in half in the process, flesh and bones shattering as it flew through the air.

But something strange happened.

Just before the man's remains hit their target, they simply... stopped in the air. As if an invisible barrier had frozen them in time.

The white-haired young man frowned, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh, man... There was no need for that."

His tone was nonchalant, but behind it, there was something more. Something that made Ryan raise his eyebrows, intrigued.

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Hellooo, Readrs! 💕 I'm absolutely loving your comments! What do you think about Ryan's relationship with the girls? Hehe~ You won't believe what's coming next! 😏✨

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