Thug King

"You're amazing."

The words, spoken with a trembling, breathless sincerity, hung in the air, more shocking than any threat or curse could have been. The crowd, which had been buzzing with Kenji's victory, fell silent once more, utterly bewildered. The Crimson Oni, the terror of Suzaku High, had just been defeated in the most humiliating way imaginable, and her response was… hero worship?

Kenji blinked. This was an illogical outcome. He had anticipated fear, anger, a vow of revenge, or a strategic retreat. He had not anticipated a compliment. He had no protocol for this.

"The human heart is the most dangerous beast of all," his grandfather's words echoed. He was beginning to understand. It was also the most unpredictable.

Rina took a shaky step forward, her eyes, burning with that wild, feverish light, never leaving his. The pain in her leg and stomach was a dull throb compared to the roaring inferno of revelation in her mind.

"That… that control," she stammered, gesturing vaguely at him. "The block… the nerve strike… the palm… You weren't trying to beat me. You were… teaching me." The realization hit her with the force of a physical blow. He could have broken her leg. He could have ruptured an organ. He could have knocked her unconscious. He did none of those things. He had used the absolute minimum amount of force required to demonstrate his overwhelming superiority without causing permanent damage.

It was the most profound act of mercy she had ever witnessed, and coming from a place of such immense power, it was more terrifying and awe-inspiring than any act of brutality.

"Who… Who the hell are you?" she whispered, the question now devoid of challenge and full of pure, desperate curiosity.

Before Kenji could formulate a response to this increasingly complex social situation, a new sound cut through the air: the wail of sirens. Someone, likely a terrified teacher, had finally called the police. The sight of a girl with a katana challenging a student at the front gate was not something that could be ignored.

The crowd gasped and began to scatter. The last thing any delinquent wanted was to be caught in a police roundup.

Rina's second-in-command, the girl with the spiky blue hair, rushed forward and grabbed her arm. "Rina-sama, we have to go! Now!"

Rina didn't budge, her gaze still locked on Kenji. It was like she was trying to memorize every detail of his being.

"Rina-sama!"

The urgency in her lieutenant's voice finally broke the spell. Rina allowed herself to be pulled away, but she kept looking back over her shoulder at the boy who stood unmoving, a pillar of calm in the dispersing chaos.

"This isn't over, Tanaka Kenji!" she shouted as she was dragged away, her voice carrying a promise that sounded less like a threat and more like a vow. "I will find you! I need to know more!"

Within seconds, they had vanished into a side alley, leaving Kenji standing alone in the now mostly empty schoolyard as the police cars screeched to a halt nearby.

Two officers got out, their hands on their batons, and their eyes widened when they saw him. They had received a call about a massive gang fight. They found one boy, looking utterly placid, and the lingering scent of ozone and adrenaline.

"You! What's going on here?" the older officer demanded.

"Good morning, Officer," Kenji said with a polite bow. "There was a disagreement. It has been resolved. I am now going to class, as I am running late."

His tone was so matter-of-fact, so devoid of guilt or fear, that it completely disarmed them. They looked around. There were no victims, no weapons, no signs of a struggle other than a palpable tension in the air. They questioned a few lingering students, who were too terrified and confused to give a coherent story. All they could stammer was Kenji's name and something about "the Oni."

Finding no grounds to hold him, the confused officers could only give him a stern warning and let him go.

Up on the second floor, Akari Ishikawa watched the last of the scene play out from her Student Council room window. Her knuckles were white where she gripped the windowsill.

She had seen it all. She had seen the impossible speed. She had seen the clinical, perfect neutralization of a fighter as renowned as Rina Sato. But most importantly, she had seen the aftermath.

She saw him catch Rina. She saw him speak to her. And she saw the look in the Crimson Oni's eyes as she was dragged away—a look of fanatical, obsessive awe.

A cold dread trickled down her spine.

"He didn't just defeat her," Akari whispered to the empty room. "He converted her."

This was infinitely more dangerous than she had imagined. Creating fear was one thing. Yamata did that every day. But inspiring this kind of loyalty and obsession in a defeated enemy… that was the power of a true King. The kind of power that built empires.

Kenji Tanaka wasn't just a barbarian at the gates anymore. He was a charismatic leader who didn't even know he was leading. People were going to flock to him. Powerful people. Unstable people. Like Rina Sato.

The fragile balance of power in the city, not just the school, was about to be shattered. And this quiet, oblivious boy was the hammer.

Meanwhile, in an alley several blocks away, Rina was leaning against a wall, trying to catch her breath while her lieutenant paced nervously.

"Are you okay, Rina-sama? Your leg…"

"Forget my leg," Rina grunted, though she rubbed her shin, which was already turning a dark shade of purple. The pain was real, but her mind was elsewhere. She replayed the 'fight' over and over.

The perfect block. The feeling of his hand on her head, the world spinning away. The palm strike that felt like a bell being rung inside her body. The way he held her, preventing her fall. His words. "Your anger makes you predictable."

He was right. Her rage, her greatest weapon, the source of her "Oni" reputation, had been turned against her. It had blinded her. He had seen it, exploited it, and then explained it to her, all in the space of a few seconds.

"He's on a different level," she muttered, a grin slowly returning to her face. It was a grin of pure, unadulterated excitement. "A completely different plane of existence."

Her lieutenant stared at her, worried. "Rina-sama, you're smiling. He just humiliated you in front of your biggest rival school."

"Humiliated?" Rina pushed herself off the wall, her eyes blazing with a newfound purpose. "He opened my eyes! For years, I've been the strongest. I've had no one to look up to, no one to chase. It's been so… boring."

She clenched her fists, the pain forgotten, replaced by a surge of revitalizing energy.

"Find out everything about him," she commanded, her voice ringing with a conviction her lieutenant hadn't heard in years. "Where he lives, what he eats, who he talks to. Everything."

"What are you going to do?" the lieutenant asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

Rina's grin widened, becoming sharp and predatory.

"Do? I'm going to make him my man, obviously."

The lieutenant's jaw dropped. "W-what?!"

"A man that strong, that controlled… a man who can see my weaknesses and still show mercy… He is the only one fit to stand by my side. Or, more accurately," she amended, her cheeks flushing slightly, a rare sight, "the only one I am fit to stand beside."

Her obsession had been sparked. The Crimson Oni had found a new purpose. It wasn't just about fighting anymore.

It was about conquering the only man who had ever conquered her. And she would pursue that goal with all the relentless, fiery tenacity she possessed. The game had changed.