After school, the setting sun leaned against the mountains.
In a quiet, unremarkable alley sowhere in the town, several delinquents had surrounded a middle school boy.
"Wait up, friend."
"W-What… What do you want?"
Looking at the tall delinquents before him, the boy asked in fear.
"We're a little short on money right now. Could you lend us so?"
"T-That's…"
Hearing that, the boy looked troubled.
He wanted to gather his courage and refuse, but before he could speak, an iron pipe slamd hard against the wall beside his ear, letting out a sharp, piercing clang.
The boy's legs gave out, and he fell to the ground.
The delinquent leader rudely snatched away the boy's wallet, wearing a fake smile.
"Ah, what's that? Ten thousand yen? You're telling us not to hold back? Wow~ You sure are generous for your age, bro! Co on, everyone, hurry up and thank him!"
"Thanks! From now on, we're brothers!"
"We'll co play with you again later. Looking forward to it."
Seeing the delinquents's malicious smiles, the boy's face went pale. He looked toward the street as if begging for help. But this road had few pedestrians to begin with, and even when soone passed by, they simply hurried on with a powerless expression.
In that instant, the boy felt as if his heart had fallen into an icy pit.
"Hey, that is enough. A group of adults gathering together to bully a middle schooler… I feel sorry for you just watching it."
"Huh?!"
At that mont, a voice that did not fit the scene rang out.
The delinquents narrowed their eyes and turned around unhappily. Standing at the entrance of the alley was a high school girl with blue hair tied into a ponytail. She carried a sword bag on her back and stood there with her arms crossed.
Seeing that the girl looked even smaller than the boy, the delinquents first stared at one another for a few seconds, then burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! I was wondering who showed up, but it's just so little girl."
"Little lady, this isn't sowhere you should be."
"Looking at that thing on your back, are you learning kendo? Heh, then wanna see my holy sword too?"
"Take this as a lesson. Don't go sticking your nose into other people's business next ti."
Listening to their crude and vulgar words, the girl did not move. She simply watched silently as the delinquents approached.
The instant one delinquent reached out to grab her shoulder, he suddenly felt his footing vanish. His whole body seed to float, and his vision spun upside down.
By the ti he realized what had happened, his back had already smashed into the concrete road, and the impact made him scream in pain.
"One down."
Lightly brushing the dust from her hands, Takamiya Mana said calmly.
"Y-You bastard! All of you, get her!"
Seeing what happened to their companion, the delinquents, who had always bullied the weak and feared the strong, imdiately started to shrink back. But their opponent was still only a high school girl. The leader shouted to boost his courage, then grabbed his iron pipe and swung it at Mana.
So slow.
Looking at the man's wasteful, clumsy, and completely unskilled movents, Mana could not help feeling a little speechless.
With one sidestep, she avoided the iron pipe.
Then, as if taking a leisurely stroll, Mana slipped past the others trying to grab her and circled behind them.
…
Looking at their completely exposed backs, Mana unconsciously reached for the sword bag.
After hesitating for just an instant, she pulled her hand away again.
"Second."
Mana kicked one delinquent into a trash can.
"Third."
She grabbed another delinquent by the collar and tossed him into the dirty drainage ditch.
"And the last one."
Seeing the leader swing the iron pipe again, Mana raised her leg and kicked the pipe with the sole of her shoe. The delinquent only felt the iron pipe fly out of his hand uncontrollably.
A dull thud ca from his forehead, and his vision went black as he fainted.
"Consider this a small lesson. If you keep doing this kind of thing, I will not go easy next ti."
Taking back the wallet from the delinquent's pocket, Mana warned them in a low voice.
"D-Damn it!"
"You'll pay for this! Don't think this is over!"
Ignoring the delinquents as they fled while shouting threats, Mana walked over to the dazed boy and pulled him up from the ground.
"How are you? You are not hurt, are you?"
"Mm, I'm fine. Thank you, nee-san."
After recovering, the boy nodded gratefully.
"That is good. Here is your wallet. Do not walk through dangerous places alone next ti."
(You're alone too, aren't you?)
The boy wanted to say that, but after rembering how easily this girl had beaten down several weapon-wielding delinquents, he silently swallowed those words.
"Anyway, thank you. Um… if it's all right, could you tell who you are?"
"No need to mind that. I am only a kind passerby who happened to be here."
Mana smiled and waved her hand casually.
"More importantly, you should hurry ho. This place is not safe. Do not take shortcuts like this again."
The boy nodded again in thanks, then carried his bag and left the alley.
Not long after watching him leave, a noisy set of footsteps ca from behind Mana.
"Boss, it's her!"
"They ca back with reinforcents… Honestly, can you people not understand my concern?"
Mana turned around and spoke with a helpless sigh.
"Hey! Brat! My brothers were in your care earlier. Since you're so good at fighting, why don't you fight a few more rounds with us?"
"Ah… Fine. I suppose this is my own doing. This ti, I will be a little more serious."
Looking at the dozens of delinquents before her, each holding an iron pipe or a wooden bat, Mana resigned herself and shrugged, then untied the sword bag from her shoulder.
"Do not worry. I will use the back of the blade."
Swinging the bamboo sword in her hand, Mana was silent for a mont before adding like a joke
"Of course, this sword does not have a blade inside."
…
"I'm sorry, obaa-chan! I am ho late!"
Mana hurried into the house, looked at the sky outside that had already begun to darken, and apologized shafully.
"Welco ho… Mana… Mm?"
Yumi ca out to greet her as usual, but after seeing Mana covered in dust and dirt, she could not help asking with concern,
"What happened…? Your clothes are so dirty."
"This… On the way ho, I t a few noisy children, and I played with them at the park for a while. I accidentally ended up like this."
Mana scratched her cheek and looked away guiltily.
"They must have been very noisy children…"
Yumi gave Mana a aningful look, then sighed helplessly.
"…You got into a fight again, did you not?"
"Ahaha… As expected, I cannot hide it from obaa-chan. I am very sorry."
Once her nonsense was exposed, Mana did not try to cover it up. She gave a bitter smile and frankly admitted it.
"But obaa-chan, I can promise you that I absolutely did not abuse violence, nor did I do anything shaful like bullying the weak."
"Do not worry… I know you are not that kind of person… I just hope that when you act bravely, you will pay more attention to your own safety."
"Yes, yes— I shall engrave it deeply in my heart."
Although Mana nodded seriously, Yumi could tell that she had not truly taken the words to heart. She could not help sighing again.
"Forget it… Go take off those dirty clothes first. After your bath, co eat dinner."
"Okay, obaa-chan."
Mana nodded and was about to go upstairs to her room.
Then she suddenly thought of sothing and asked sowhat shyly,
"Right, obaa-chan… the drama that aired on TV today…"
Yumi sighed helplessly.
"Do not worry… I recorded it for you ahead of ti."
Hearing that, Mana's eyes lit up, and she showed a cheerful expression fitting her age.
"Thank you, obaa-chan! I'll go change first!"
…
Inside the bathroom filled with mist, Mana tilted her head back and closed her eyes, letting the hot water from the shower wash the dirt from her body.
"Hoo~"
A refreshing feeling spread through her whole body. After letting out a breath, Mana opened her eyes, lowered her head to look at her own body, and could not help feeling slightly moved.
"To co out unscathed after fighting so many delinquents… I really am strong."
This was not arrogance or conceit.
Mana was simply stating a fact, calmly and objectively.
It was not just a difference in physical strength. Reaction speed, judgnt, courage, battle experience—Takamiya Mana had possessed overwhelming advantages in all of these from the beginning.
If she had wished to, during that earlier brawl, she had at least a few dozen chances to kill them.
Just as she had told Yumi, those delinquents's actions might seem extrely violent and dangerous to ordinary people, but in Mana's eyes, they truly were nothing more than children playing around.
"Could I have been an assassin raised by so evil organization in the past?" (TL:kinda)
The mont she said it, Mana could not help laughing and shaking her head.
She had once said sothing similar in front of everyone before, only for Kaguya to treat her as a kindred spirit and drag her into a whole night of conversation.
To be honest, Mana had once worried about her own abnormality.
Who was she? Why did she have this kind of power? Could this power hurt everyone?
But as ti passed, those worries gradually beca unimportant.
She no longer had mories of the past. Aside from her na, anything related to her identity had most likely vanished along with the spacequake. If she still had any other family alive, they would have contacted her long ago.
Rather than being bound by a past with no answer, it was better to open her heart and sincerely stay beside her current family.
As for this power of hers…
"Good and evil are not decided by the sword, but by the samurai who wields it. Rather than be controlled by the sword, I wish to use it to protect my family, uphold good, and punish evil… That line was truly beautiful."
Recalling the protagonist's line from last night's period drama, Mana sighed from the bottom of her heart.
…
"Takamiya-san! Please, join the kendo club!"
"If you're with us, we can win the national tournant!"
The next day at lunch break, just as Mana was planning to eat lunch with Yoshino or Natsumi, she was suddenly stopped by several seniors from the kendo club.
"Um… I am very grateful for your kindness, senpai. But I study kendo rely as a hobby. I do not intend to compete with others for victory or defeat."
Mana scratched her cheek awkwardly and tried to refuse as tactfully as possible.
"Please don't say that. Could you at least co experience club activities one more ti before deciding?"
"Exactly, exactly! The club president said that as long as you're willing to join, she'd even let you beco the kendo club president!"
(I have absolutely no interest…)
Mana could not help feeling embarrassed.
Looking at these two overly passionate seniors, she glanced around with a headache, trying to find a chance to slip away.
Suddenly, at the school gate, she saw the boy who had been extorted yesterday wandering outside.
"…I'm sorry, senpai. I suddenly have sothing urgent to handle. I will think over your proposal and give you an answer later."
With that, Mana ran toward the school gate without looking back.
"Ah, hello…"
Seeing Mana, the boy timidly greeted her.
"What is wrong? Were you threatened by those delinquents again?"
Mana frowned and asked.
"Mm, kind of… I was stopped by them on the road, but they didn't ask for money this ti. They just asked … to give you a letter."
The boy himself seed a little uncertain.
After speaking, he anxiously handed a piece of paper to Mana.
Mana took it and looked.
Written crookedly on the paper were a ti and place, telling her to et them.
(A challenge letter?)
After that word appeared in her mind, Mana fell into thought.
Originally, after teaching those delinquents a lesson yesterday, she had thought that even if they did not reflect, they would at least restrain themselves for a while and not dare to do evil.
She had not expected them to co knocking after only one day.
(Do they have other companions? Sigh. Upholding good and punishing evil in real life really isn't as easy as in a period drama.)
Mana sighed sowhat gloomily and felt a little troubled.
She had been wearing her uniform at the ti. Otherwise, the boy would not have been able to find this school.
Although Mana could ignore this challenge letter, there was no telling if they might co make trouble at school next, or even harass her family.
"U-Um! I'm really sorry for dragging you into this! I should just lend them the money after all. If I do that, they probably won't cause trouble."
After hesitating for a long ti, the boy finally made up his mind and said that.
Hearing those words, Mana was first stunned. Then she smiled and firmly shook her head.
"There is no need for that. Your compromise would only make evildoers grow more and more excessive. Leave this matter to ."
Copying the way Yumi usually scolded people, Mana flicked the boy's forehead lightly.
In her heart, she made her decision.
…
That evening after school, Mana followed the instructions on the challenge letter and arrived at an abandoned convenience store plaza in the town.
It seed to be the delinquents's secret base.
After climbing over the old broken wire fence, Mana saw the delinquents from yesterday gathered together and waiting for her.
However, even though that was the case… the situation was slightly different from what she had imagined.
This group of delinquents did not have yesterday's aggressive killing intent at all. Many parts of their bodies were wrapped in bandages and plasters, the bruises on their faces had not yet faded, and they looked pitiful with their swollen faces. So of them even needed crutches just to stand properly.
(Uh… Did I really hit them that hard yesterday?)
Mana, who had thought she was fully prepared, suddenly felt a little unsure.
She was afraid that the next thing they would do was ask her for dical expenses.
"Um… What… do you need from ?"
Mana asked tentatively.
The instant her voice fell, the delinquents seed to move according to a prior agreent. They knelt down, lowered their heads toward Takamiya Mana, and shouted in unison,
"Boss (Anego)!"
"Please! Take us in as your underlings!"
"—Eh?"
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