.

"Please try not to die"

Kazuya grabbed the person nearest to him by the wrist and pulled. The boy couldn't believe the strength used to pull him. Before he could react, he felt extreme pain caused by the bones in his wrist cracking followed by a devastating blow to his abdomen that immediately made him vomit everything he ate this morning.

"One down" casually turned to face the others. He raised a palm and taunted them to come.

"Get him!" the leader shouted as the remaining four brandished their weapons to attack him simultaneously.

*SWISH*

The wooden swords hit nothing but air. Kazuya had no trouble dodging their basic attacks. He kicked one of them behind the knee, causing the enemy to fall on the ground immediately followed by a fist to the face. Blood dripped on the ground as the poor boy slowly fell on the ground before losing his consciousness.

"Are you guys taking this seriously?" he mocked.

"You're dead!" the remaining three were not good people but they, as bad eggs stuck together. They couldn't forgive Kazuya for mercilessly knocking the other two out as their attacks intensified.

*SWOOSH*

Their speeds increased as adrenaline started kicking in. They forgot about the money and were attacking ruthlessly to avenge their fallen comrades. Kazuya's cheek got grazed by the wooden sword as a red line had appeared on the left side of his face.

"Good, too bad you've received your quota on hits today" he touched the burning sensation on his cheek. He stood in the front of the two boys protecting their leader and suddenly threw a wheel kick followed by a quick and devastating spinning back heel kick to their faces. The two fell before Kazuya without realizing what happened but their leader saw it all. It was so effortless that he made it look easy.

"This is wrong… you shouldn't be so strong without—"

"Without this you mean?" he picked up one of the wooden swords on the floor. He swung it with one hand and a slash mark appeared on the concrete floor.

"Hyiiii!" the leader fell to his backside after witnessing it. A wet and warm sensation on his lower body but ignored it because he couldn't afford to let this monster out of his sight.

"See why I didn't use it?" Kazuya approached the retreating leader who had backed up into a wall. He avoided the wet concrete and grinned. "You'd either be dead or crippled. Do you see why I only use one hand in the competition?"

"W-what do you want!?" he stuttered. He regretted taking this job now.

"What else? Information. Each time I hear 'I don't know' I will break a bone of yours" Kazuya positioned the wooden sword on top of the leader's thumb and pressed to hold it in place.

"What information do you w-want to know? I didn't lie when I said that all I got was the request!"

"How did you get that request?"

"Through mail. That's the only way the requestor communicates. Whoever that person is, they only send instructions on how best to deal with the targets with little to no consequences. That's all I know!"

"You don't get to decide that. From the way you're telling me about this mysterious requestor, this isn't your first request, right?"

"N-not it's not"

"Tell me who you five are. Show me your ID to prove it"

"H-here…" he showed his id and told him all of his companions' identities. They turned out to be middle school students that were using the identities of their underlings' younger brothers. They planned on escaping after doing what they needed to and already had the cooperation of the people whose identities they were borrowing.

"It was indeed a good plan. Too bad the person who requested it against someone he shouldn't have. I have recently produced a certain kind of hatred for those who try to plot against me from the shadows"

"C-can you l-let us go now?" He was embarrassed. He knew that he had peed himself and wanted to get away before it dried up and started releasing a repugnant odor.

"Not quite. I can spare you but you have to promise to do a bunch of things for me. First of all, you will give me a list of all the people that you've targeted via this requester. I will also contact you to get more information about how this whole relationship started. Do you understand the conditions for sparing you five?"

"Y-yes. I will do as you say"

"Good" he raised the sword away from the leader's thumb "Now give me your phone and show me the details of the request on me"

"O-okay" he nervously took out his phone and navigated it before handing it over with both hands respectfully. Kazuya skimmed through the information and sighed.

"K-kazuya-kun? Are you alright?" Mahiru who was still in shock after witnessing everything that just happened called out to him nervously. The chilling atmosphere still had not left after the danger had been dealt with. It was getting heavier instead.

"Mahiru-senpai, do you know what I hate more than enemies or schemers?"

"No, I don't. More importantly, we should get back to the arena befo—"

"It's traitors" Kazuya threw the wooden sword on his hand. It landed directly in front of Mahiru and embedded itself in the concrete. "I really hate traitors the most" Mahiru fell on her backside and trembled. She was no longer under the pressure of the chilling atmosphere but was suffocating under the threat of his bloodlust.

"W-what are y-you… talking about… I'm…?" she couldn't stop trembling.

"I've already had my suspicions earlier. Of today's matches, you have not won a single match aside from the first. It would always end up in a draw due to time running out even against opponents that were clearly weaker than you. That is until a certain person arrived and changed the continuous draws into losses"

"T-that's not—"

"You weren't the only one doing it. That short haired girl never won a single match too. While hers was deliberate, you were stalling for time. Thanks to your hesitation, all of us looked at her but I have better eyesight than others so I could tell that the person sitting behind her directly was non-other than the coach with these guys"

"!!"

"It was only suspicion though. You may have had mixed feelings about your mother being here or something else but what convinced me is the moment you brought me here. Not to mention these guys showing up, they treated you like you didn't exist even as they found out that they were in over their head"

"Kazuya-kun… this is all a coincidence!"

"Then where is the mother who asked to meet me?"

"..."

"Still being stubborn?" Kazuya pointed the screen of the phone in his hand to her face. "This undeniable evidence no?"

[Do not touch the girl after following. She is the informant and will lead the target to a suitable location]

"Is that not enough?"

[The informant says that it would be advisable that the target be faced without a weapon. It will greatly increase the success of this request]

"I have never talked about that with anyone else. I remember clearly being asked if I was weaker with a sword but did not bother to mention that I was useless without it. You see I have an issue with trusting people. I died trusting the wrong people but was actually brought back" hearing Kazuya's last statement made her think 'what if he really did die'. Since the one who requested it went though all the trouble, what was his actual purpose?

"K-kazuya-kun It's true. Everything you said is true. I'm truly sorry but I had no—"

"Bullshit! No one ever has 'no choice' do you understand?" he grabbed her by the neck and slowly squeezed. "In the end all you people care about is yourselves. Sacrificing people from your own side, fooling them into trusting you while you hold a knife at their backs. You make me sick to my stomach"

"Ka…" Mahiru couldn't speak. His grip got tighter and tighter as his agitation grew.

"That's enough kid, let her go before you cause something irreparable" Jirou appeared from the corner with a serious tone.

"So this is when you finally decide to come out huh? Your really can't stop that bad habit of yours can you?" Kazuya turned his head and met Jirou's gaze.

"I said that's enough!" Jirou felt a cold chill after meeting his gaze. He had a bad feeling that he might actually suffocate the poor girl to death.

"Relax grandpa Jirou" his expression softened as he let Mahiru's neck free from his grip. "You really didn't think I would kill her, did you?" he laughed dryly.

*wheeze* *cough* *wheeze*

Mahiru gasped for air and coughed. Her vision was still blurry from the lack of oxygen but she clearly heard everything that was said. She didn't believe it, she would have been suffocated to death if this old man didn't show up.

"If you ask me, I went too easy on her. If not for the fact that she was hesitant to do it all this time…" Kazuya pulled the wooden sword from the ground and gripped the handle tight with the help of his mana. "I wouldn't have shown mercy so easily when I can just do this" the handle cracked and then broke. Several wood fragments fell to the ground together with the sword.

""!!"" Both Mahiru and Jirou's mouth gaped open. They realized he really wasn't joking when he said that he went easy on her. Mahiru's neck could have easily ended up like that wooden sword's handle if he wanted to.

"Now then, I trust that grandpa Jirou and the other instructors still hiding about can take care of the aftermath. I have to get back to the arena for the final matches" he walked back to the group's leader who was still frozen at what he just witnessed. "Here is your phone back"

"T-thank you for g-going easy on us" he kneeled with his head on the concrete floor to give a sincere dogeza.

"I'll be seeing you soon. Remember, I treat my enemies better than I do traitors" Kazuya patted his shoulder with the same hand he used to crush the wooden sword. The leader shuddered but he made sure that he didn't reject it.

"Kid, you were also right about the other girl. She was asked to lose by a person she identified as her father's boss. I've called Miyamoto about it and she said that she wasn't told about any accomplices"

"Oh? Which company does her father work at?"

"A small subsidiary company of the Kurogane Conglomerate"

"Now that's the Lee I know. Stupid, careless and predictable" He laughed. "Her parents don't even know about it right?"

"Not likely, those idiots will have to deal with unlawful termination if it was done. They made sure to use the little girl's naivety. It's a good thing that Miyamoto's known to be a good teacher or we would have never convinced her to come clean"

"Leave it to mom and big sis. They would be much better in handling the short haired girl's situation even in the event that her parents know about it" he put his confidence in the ladies of his house.

"There is also another problem, who among the two girls do you think can still go on with the tournament?"

"Why choose one? Have the short haired girl and this long-haired girl replaced with the reserve members. We have a much better chance with them for the remaining matches"

"That's the thing, There can only be one tactical substitution. We can only change players once unless theres a situation where participants can't join"

"Then that's easy" Kazuya turned around and walked towards the dazed Mahiru. She had been demoted back to being called 'long haired girl' by him. A feeling felt by her hand made her realize that Kazuya was the one beside her holding on to it. She thought that this junior of hers had chosen her to continue despite what she did. His other hand landed on her shoulder and a popping sound immediately came after.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Mahiru screamed as the pain of getting her shoulder dislocated for the first time. She couldn't believe it, he even left her to fall on the ground in pain after doing what he did. Jirou couldn't stop it because he never expected him to do it.

"You're quite ruthless kid" he sighed.

"Grandfather taught me that being kind to your own enemies, especially traitors is being ruthless to one's self" Kazuya nonchalantly walked past him and headed back to the arena. Jirou repeated his statement over and over in his mind and smiled.

After getting a distance away from them, Kazuya immediately placed a hand over his cheek and used his mana to heal the red mark on his cheek. A few wooden splinters have entered the skin on his palm. He grimaced while bearing the pain as he forced the small wooden pieces out.

"Ruthless to one's self huh… If only old Kou told me that back in the day" Jirou laughed. He ordered the instructors who came out to bring the children to see the medical team from the event. He called Miyamoto and told him about what happened. Jirou headed inside himself with the intention of taking the short haired girl Ainu to meet Kyouko.

.