Thug King

Kenji stared at the kneeling mountain of a man before him. Maruyama Jiro, "The Bear," was pledging fealty on a quiet residential sidewalk, his head bowed with the reverence of a knight swearing an oath to his king.

Kenji's brain, a finely tuned machine for analyzing combat and physics, struggled to process this new social data.

"A request to follow," he analyzed. "To walk in my shadow. This is a common behavior in pack animals. The beta submits to the alpha and follows, gaining protection and status. But we are not wolves. This is inefficient. He will be a significant visual anomaly, making my goal of blending in more difficult."

"Please stand up, Maruyama-senpai," Kenji said, his voice holding a hint of confusion. "People are staring."

Indeed, an old woman watering her bonsai on a nearby balcony had frozen mid-pour, her eyes wide. A salaryman walking home had stopped and was pretending to look at his phone while trying to discreetly film the bizarre scene.

Maruyama rose to his feet, but his posture remained deferential. "Your command is my will, Tanaka-senpai. But my request stands. I will follow you. I will be your shadow."

"A shadow is silent and unseen," Kenji pointed out logically. "You are… very large. You will be a very conspicuous shadow."

"I will learn to be quieter!" Maruyama declared with the passionate conviction of a new convert, completely missing the point. "I will be the most inconspicuous giant you have ever seen!"

Kenji sighed internally. This was a problem his grandfather's teachings had not prepared him for. Rule #21 was about ending a challenge decisively. It had no sub-clauses on how to handle the challenger becoming a devoted disciple afterward. He decided on a temporary solution.

"Do as you wish," Kenji said, finally. It was the path of least resistance. "But do not interfere with my daily routine."

Maruyama's face lit up as if the sun had just risen. "Thank you, Senpai! You will not regret this! I will be the best shadow a man could ask for!"

And so it began.

When Kenji turned to walk to his apartment, Maruyama fell into step exactly three paces behind him and one to the right, a position of a bodyguard. His footsteps, which were normally heavy thuds, were now consciously softened, resulting in an intense, flat-footed shuffle that was somehow louder and more awkward.

When Kenji entered his apartment building, Maruyama stood guard outside the main entrance, his arms crossed, his face a granite mask of grim determination. He looked like a Yakuza debt collector waiting for a target. Several residents took one look at him, turned around, and decided to take a very long walk.

Kenji, alone in his small apartment, felt a new kind of weariness. His life, once a simple matter of training and survival, was becoming increasingly complicated.

The next morning, the legend had a living, breathing monument.

When Kenji left his apartment, Maruyama was there, standing in the exact same spot, as if he had stood guard all night. He hadn't, but his devotion was such that he had arrived at 5 AM, two hours before Kenji would even wake up. He bowed deeply as Kenji emerged.

"Good morning, Tanaka-senpai! I have secured the perimeter. There were no threats during the night."

"...Thank you, Maruyama-senpai," Kenji replied, unsure of what else to say.

The walk to school was a spectacle. The slight, average-looking Kenji walked in front, and three paces behind him stomped his new, gigantic shadow. The message it sent to the entire student body was unambiguous and more powerful than any rumor.

The Bear of Seiryu now served the Thug King.

Students didn't just part for Kenji anymore; they fled. They saw the duo coming from a block away and would cross the street or duck into alleyways to avoid them.

When they arrived at the school gates, they were met by a new sight. Rina Sato was there, leaning against the wall, a box of what looked like homemade cookies in her hand. She was wearing the Suzaku High uniform, a blatant act of defiance. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kenji.

Then she saw Maruyama.

Her amber eyes narrowed. "What's this? You got yourself a pet bear, Bean Sprout?"

Maruyama stepped forward, placing himself between Rina and Kenji. "Show respect to Tanaka-senpai, woman of Suzaku!" he growled, his voice a protective rumble.

Rina's hand drifted to the hilt of her katana. "Get out of my way, meat shield. I'm here to talk to my future husband, not his luggage."

"You will not address Senpai with such insolence!"

"I'll address him however I want! He's the only one strong enough to tell me otherwise!"

A tense standoff ensued between the Crimson Oni and the Bear, two of the district's most powerful fighters, about to come to blows over who had the right to stand next to Kenji.

Kenji watched the scene, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes. His quiet, observational life was disintegrating before his very eyes. This was the opposite of blending in. This was a walking circus.

"Enough," Kenji said. His voice was quiet, but it cut through their argument like a knife.

Both Maruyama and Rina instantly fell silent and turned to him, their expressions like scolded puppies.

"Maruyama-senpai," Kenji said, "do not engage. Rina-san," he added, turning to her, "it is improper to bring weapons and unofficial food items onto another school's grounds."

"It's not unofficial! I made them for you!" Rina protested, thrusting the box of cookies at him. They were slightly lopsided and some were a little burnt. "To thank you... for the lesson."

Before Kenji could accept or decline, another voice, as cold and sharp as ice, entered the fray.

"Sato-san. Maruyama-kun. What is the meaning of this commotion at my school's gate?"

Akari Ishikawa stood there, flanked by two other student council members. Her face was a mask of cold fury, her grey eyes sweeping over the chaotic scene with utter disdain. She looked at Rina's cookies, Maruyama's subservient posture, and Kenji, the calm eye of the storm.

Three of the most powerful and influential students in the district were now in a deadlock at the school entrance. And all of them were revolving around one quiet, confused boy.

In his darkened room behind the gym, Yamata Kazuya took a drag from his cigarette. One of his lieutenants had just finished reporting the morning's events.

Yamata didn't look angry. He looked... amused. Deeply amused.

"So," he mused, a slow, cruel smile spreading across his face. "The Bear has become a lapdog. The Oni has become a schoolgirl with a crush. And the Queen is being forced to come down from her tower to deal with the mess."

He chuckled, a low, rasping sound. "This Tanaka Kenji... he is more entertaining than I could have ever imagined. He is a walking catalyst for chaos. He tears down the old order without even trying."

He stood up and crushed his cigarette under his heel.

"The time for testing is over," Yamata declared, his eyes glinting with a terrifying, decisive light. "He has gathered too many powerful pieces to his side. It's time to remind everyone who truly owns the board."

He turned to his lieutenant. "Spread the word. To everyone. To Honda and his boxers. To the Kendo and Karate captains. To every thug and delinquent who wants to make a name for themselves."

"Spread what word, King?"

Yamata's smile was pure venom.

"Tomorrow, after school. In the main courtyard. An open invitation. Anyone who can land a single clean hit on Tanaka Kenji will get a personal favor from me. Anyone who can take him down... can have my throne."

He had just put the largest bounty in Seiryu's history on Kenji Tanaka's head. He was about to unleash the entire school's fury on one boy.

"Let's see," Yamata whispered to himself, his voice filled with sadistic glee, "how the Thug King handles his entire kingdom turning against him at once."