"Oww..."

This is going unexpectedly wrong but I guess that's expected?

"W-What's happening...?"

A really pointless question just came out from Sana, who is standing in the outside border of the scene while watching me get absolutely annihilated by this so-called guard's baston.

What's more, his attacks are making every part of my body numb as soon as they connect with the respective parts. My two forearms feel dead and if he hits me one more time in the face then it feels as if my head is gonna come off...

"I will once again apologize... Please forgive us... We didn't mean to do what we just did."

"Apology accepted! Now suffer!"

That's not how the apology process works...

And I can't even fight back, because all I'm doing is forming a stand whenever he tries to attack Sana. I have no doubts, if Sana gets a single hit of this baston, then she will be heavily injured.

Given that he was about to launch yet another heavy attack on her, I guarded using my left shoulder this time.

Nevertheless, I got immediately trashed onto the locker. For further mention, being ravaged against the steel lockers hurt like hell. Especially because my back is in deep trouble right now.

"How is this even allowed..."

The insides of my mouth were starting to taste like iron... Which was due to the fact that I was starting to considerably bleed.

And...

"I-I-I-I-I.....!!"

She's panicking all over the place. Sana's probably confused right now because her initial intention was to vent her emotions onto someone like me who has been annoying her all day long but now, she can't decide what to do since I'm the one preventing her from being hit.

Unless there is something more.

However, this isn't the time for horse-play. I need her to do something right now.

For that to happen, I gather every ounce of my strength to get up from the floor.

But it was no good. Because I was already far too weak.

I have to bet on the chance that she hears my low voice...

"Sa.....na....."

Ah shit, this isn't going to work, is it? Luckily for me, the guard just keeps on slow-walking in my direction instead of delivering the finishing blow.

I suppose that he must be feeling prematurely cocky...

Which is bad, since I won't be able to defend her anymore. Therefore, she needs to go.

But...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

What the hell...?

Why is she panicking this hard? I don't get it...

"Look at what you have done! Not only are you at fault for all of this but you even made your companion cry... Have you no shame?!"

After saying those hypocritical words, the guard proceeded to perform a horizontal slash onto the lockers above me for some reason.

If that hits me, I...

No, more importantly...

I must reach out to her someway... She has to stop looking down while crying in order for this to work.

Something... Something to make her notice...

I need an object to throw at her so she can notice me, but I don't have any strength left in my body to stand up. And besides, there aren't any objects near-by.

.................

No, that's not entirely true.

My phone is still in my pocket, so...

"Don't blame me for this, it's the orders from the principal. You understand, don't you? That you have erred and so, you need to be punished. Punishment is a natural course of life, for whatever you do wrong must receive a certain penance..."

He kept on slashing the lockers in order to inflict a possible dreadful sentiment onto my soul and...

It's working... Shit, I'm so scared to even reach out to the phone that's in my right pocket...

W-What if that hits me...?

He's not even going to show a single shred of mercy, is he?

No way he is...

But... It's been on my mind for a while. Every time I look at those horizontal slashes, they bring up a certain reminiscence to which I have no recollection yet every time I look at it, it just so happens...

Why is it that every time that reminiscence occurs there is someone immediately knocking me out...?

It's so confusing because I can only see the movement and not the one who is doing it...

"Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

.............

This isn't good. I can't be afraid if she's even more afraid. No help will come at this rate because no one will bother to stand up to him and accordingly, this is correct from his perspective.

Even though the other class' students are forming a circle on the outside of the block, they are far too afraid to come in...

And...

Are those cheers that I'm hearing...?

"Hear that? You can hear them, can't you? Do you want me to tell you what they are shouting?"

Unfortunately, I could listen to those shouts loud and clear.

Yet my voice was far too weak to even start chanting itself...

"I'll tell you regardless. 'Get this trash out of here!' 'Kill them!' 'Make them pay!' and many other lines. Do you now understand? No one wants the likes of you here. Get out of here."

Oh, I really want to retort back to this bastard and every single one of those cowards back there, but I just can't.

"Not to worry though! Even in the case that I am not getting through you, I will show you just how serious I am. Without order, there cannot be peace and so, the ones in charge of reinforcing peace are the authoritative forces who have the power to empower peace itself! In other words, I!"

"What are you talking ab--- GAAAAAAH!"

"Silence!! You don't get to talk back!! How dare you interrupt me while I'm speaking?! I'll murder you, you fuck!"

Shit! Shit! Is he seriously hitting my back with that monstrosity!? At this rate, my spine will...

"After I'm done with you, she's next! It doesn't matter the order, because you both will not escape."

Regardless of his words, he kept on pounding my back with his baston to the point where my voice wouldn't leak out any scream or shout in response to the physical trauma that I was going through.

Since I was lying on the ground with my face down on the floor, my whole body was lying in the same position as well. Nevertheless, he wasn't noticing my actual goal...

He is far too caught up on his delusion.

"How do you like that, huh!? So painful that you can't even speak!? Serves you right! You damn criminal! You'll never steal from me again!"

Huh...?

When the hell did I steal from him...?

I don't have time to pay attention to this guy's delusions. While I was miraculously enduring the barrage of strikes unleashed from his massive steel baston, I looked right in the direction of the essential piece that would potentially fix this situation.

However...

"Hm? Where are you looking at? Isn't my beating enough, is that what you are saying? Oh, I see. I get it now. You like to pretend to be righteous by trying to make me think that you have someone to save, don't you? So that's why you keep on looking at her, don't you?!"

Shit, he noticed my intentions! I thought that he was far too consumed and drunk on delusion to notice such a thing but I underestimated him!

Yet something instantly caught my intention.

I could not feel pain anymore nor see his brash movements against me.

"H-Hey, where are you...?"

I can't possibly raise my head high enough due to the fact that my back is hurting like hell, but I can't help but to feel extremely worried right now.

Where did he go...?

"No, stop! Let go of me! Let go of me!!"

"Don't resist, you damn bitch!"

Paow.

Just like that, I heard a concrete sound that echoes throughout the empty hall all the way to my eardrums.

Out of instinct, I looked in Sana's direction and she was being assaulted right now.

The guard had her wrists fully captured. Just from his left hand, her two wrists were united while he had paused his baston on the right side of the wall.

Sana's lachrymose expression was a visible expression to every sight that dared to capture that moment. Brutally, he was taking ahold of her bangs as well after slapping her left cheeks.

Furthermore, she was getting pushed to a brick of a wall.

"See? This is the weight of your consequences. Rules are there to be respected and those who do not will receive their respective consequences. I did say that after I was done with you that I would go to her, but..."

Why is he putting his knee in the middle of her legs...?

No way is he planning on...?

"Don------"

Once again, my voice will not reach out. It's far too weak.

"Poor you. He's trying to speak out but he can't. Hahahaha!!! Would you look at that? He's probably thinking along the lines of 'I must save her' or 'It's my duty', but, those are lies!"

Even after getting slapped once again, Sana did not yell or scream. She's far too terrified to even scream.

And me?

No hope left. Call this pessimism, but it's impossible to change this situation on my own. My plan was to throw my phone at Sana so she would look in my direction.

Furthermore, I was going to tell her to reach out to one of our teachers but it's completely useless now.

I understand how negative I am about this situation, but there is nothing that I can do.

I'm useless and hopeless. It's not very surprising but as far as I can remember, my own inner will was never strong enough in the first place.

However, that's me. I comprehend my own flaws and that they cannot be changed in mere time. It's impossible to simply change them just because I want them to change. This weakness overpowers me day by day and night by night, yet I can't do anything about it.

It would be fine if I was the only one who suffered from this negative circumstance but that's unfortunately not the case, because right now, there is someone who is in far worse shape than I am.

Sana isn't even trying to resist it at this point. She's not strong-willed, she just puts up a strong front.

And that's why as long as she is kept by his hands, she cannot do anything.

.................

This isn't to say that she will be able to do anything afterward, but there is a small chance that she might. Right now, she won't because she can't.

Therefore, I need to change that, somehow.

"I................ I'm really sorry............. I won't do it again........."

"What? I can't hear you. Speak louder."

I don't have time to try and understand the situation at hand, because from what I can tell, his attention is fully on Sana right now.

It's beyond me how this is even allowed, but no point in questioning something that is already in motion.

Nevertheless, to assure this has a chance of working, I need to gather every strength in this feeble body to do so.

Every fiber, every vessel, my own blood that rushes through my veins right now, give me the strength I need to pull this out...!

"!"

.......Too weak, huh?

"What is this? A phone?"

But he noticed. Even though my throw was ultimately weak, it was enough for him to notice and to take ahold of my phone. His curiosity turned out to be his ultimate flaw here.

And simultaneously, to investigate the object I just threw at him, he had to let go of Sana to do so...

Which gave me the perfect chance to perform the necessary actions.

However, given that my strength was noticeably weak, there was only this shot.

"Sana!! Can you hear me!? Sana!"

Fuck, my whole body hurts just by making a single movement! I had no idea that moving even my tongue could be this painful...

This painful sensation evokes a searing feeling spreading through my whole body like it will form ruin.

My blood vessels feel so mutilated that they refuse to give me the benefit of moving my body minimally.

But, Sana was far too terrified to look at me. And while this was happening, he had caught up.

Though, there is still time. He's still analyzing my intents.

"Sana, you need to reach out to our teachers! Sana!! You must do this or else we are done for! No one will help us!"

"N-No one? No... That's just impossible... I'm sure that someone will not overlook this..."

"That's not true! No one is giving a damn about what's happening to us! He's got the principal's order to punish us even though we didn't do anything to deserve that! Nonetheless, you have to reach out to them----- GAAAH!!!"

Without letting me finish my sentence, the bulky guard steps on my right hand with his boots and crushes a few of my metacarpals instantly.

The pain that I felt was something I wish was transient yet it felt staggering long.

"Well, well, aren't you getting a bit too high of yourself, criminal? You think that in the face of ME, you can hope to talk your way out of this!? As I thought, I must get rid of you first before getting rid of her! Very well then! I'll personally address a fitting punishment for you! A simple beating won't do... Therefore... Let's give the crowd a bit of joy, shall we!?"

W-What is he talking about...?

C-Crap, my body can't stop shaking... Shit, this isn't the time to think of negative things but I just can't help but think that I am in deep trouble...

Why is he coming in my direction?!

"What the hell are you going to do...?"

"The crowd outside is hungry. Entertainment is an underrated form of living, in my opinion, and that's why I have to show everyone just how useless your endeavors were. In other words, I'll give you a public beating because this wasn't enough. Blame yourself, since you brought this upon yourself with your hypocritical acts!"

When did I ever commit hypocrisy...?

Fuck.... Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

I can't get up. No strength and my will are completely shattered while my paranoia is outgrowing any positive thoughts I have in my brain.

I'm doomed, aren't I? I'll be realistic. I have no way to escape this situation and there is nothing in my power that I can do to alter that.

If that's the case, then I must come into terms with my own situation.

While it is hopeless to hope for a change there is something that I must do before meeting my demise.

"Sana! I know you can hear me! Stop crying! What happened to the very girl that had the guts to argue against me a while ago!? Ha! I guess she just doesn't exist anymore, huh!? Well, what a shame! I guess you'll forever be weak! You said something about not being a fool but what happened to that?! You'll stay a fool forever, then! Prove me wrong, I dare you!"

That took everything I possibly had.

Whether those words reached out to her or not, I don't know. Because right now, the guard is grabbing my right ankle while dragging me outside of the block.

There, I looked up and saw unknown faces smiling at me with a shred of malice behind those smiles.

I would like to know what is going on and why I'm being treated this harshly but I can't even muster the strength to think positively.

Fear has fully consumed me as I abandoned all hope.

"I have no idea what those words were all about but let me tell you something, you filthy criminal. No teacher will help you in this situation. Also, this is officially a public beating, meaning that anyone can partake in this!"

As soon as he finished uttering those words, he threw me to the ground by doing an ankle throw. Needless to say, I started to receive kicks on my stomach for absolutely no reason at all.

I wanted to guard but it was meaningless, my whole body was numb from all the previous hits.

"Please stop..."

Unable to say stronger words, I instantly cried out for help.

Yet the kicks wouldn't stop. My face was welling up as well.

"Hey Rodrick, you said that we could do anything we want, then does that mean that I can pull his hairs out too?"

One of the guys who was kicking me non-stop asked the guard that question suddenly.

"Of course! Give him everything you have! No one is allowed to hold back, you hear me? The principal has allowed this, there are no possible consequences for this! Go wild!"

He can't be serious is he seriously going to grab my hair?!

"N-No, stop! Not that! Stop, please!"

Crap. Even my tears are coming out.

I'm too afraid to even be conscious in the first place, so I lost consciousness while reflecting on my situation.

Thus, Akihiko tinged the state of what was called unconscious.

"Hey... Rodrick, he's not even conscious anymore. What the hell? Hahaha. Did he get too scared to the point where he can't even be conscious? That's fucking hilarious! I can't stop laughing, hahaha!!!"

Coming from class A, a boy named Zen who was partaking in this one-sided beating mentioned to Rodrick, the block's guard, the current situation.

Rodrick right now was far too focused on presenting a plausible scenario for every spectator to watch. Every boy from class A was partaking in this one-sided beating but as soon as Akihiko lost his consciousness, they all were stunned for a moment.

They did not know what to do and that was confusing Rodrick since this middle-aged man was expecting a perfect demonstration of his abilities yet the sudden act of fear from Akihiko was totally beyond his wildest dreams.

In the middle of this, every student would stare intensively onto Rodrick's face to see what he would say or what the next step would be. In other words, they were massively confused about whether or not they should continue to beat Akihiko, who was not presenting signs of being conscious.

"Don't stop! Observe well! He's a typical criminal and so, he thinks that he is good at acting! Don't fall for his bluff, he isn't actually conscious!"

To further illustrate, Rodrick took hold of Akihiko's head and smashed it to the cold ground.

Everyone was stunned by the amount of brutality Rodrick was using on an unconscious person and they began to question whether or not they should even continue this.

Rodrick, however, noticed this event and the fear in their eyes. Their expressions emitted a signal of weakness and that all past bravery was completely shattered.

Additionally, Rodrick began to think that this couldn't go on and that if this prolonged itself any longer, then all of his past words would ring hollow forever. Therefore, he had to take drastic measures.

"There's no reason to be afraid! You will all do it, right?! There isn't another alternative! If you let this little feeling inside your heart which goes by the name of 'fear' consume you then you will all stay weak! Are you all weak?!"

Class A had a strong pride for their top grades and excelling at everything. Surrendering to fear was not an option.

So, they abandoned all possible human traits and began to pursue what their egos told them.

To not surrender to fear. That was the main philosophy of class A.

"...I'll show this kid... Who does he think he is!? Criminals are not above me! They will never be!"

"He's full of crap! Beat him up! Make him regret breathing the same air as we!"

"Piece of shit! I hope you'll learn your lesson after this!"

Onto the unconscious Akihiko lying on the ground, the rest of the boys landed multiple barrages of kicks onto his abdomen, skull, shoulder, legs and even his intimate parts.

With that, Rodrick had gained his lead yet again.

While this was happening, Sana, who was previously shaking in fear, took the chance to flee the scene. Although she had gathered her will, she couldn't stop crying and shaking in response to the current situation.

It was incomprehensible to her why Akihiko was going through such physical bullying.

Nevertheless, once she steeled her resolve, she sought help from the two teachers that could possibly fix the current situation.

However, Sana was far too scared to think and couldn't form a single thought. All that she had in mind was to find either her homeroom teacher Yuka or Basara. Yet that was impossible for Sana.

Just like previously, fear would take full control of her body and thus, she hid inside the girls' bathroom out of safety.

Sana was far too experienced in scenarios of fear.

Meanwhile...

"A-Aren't we going to kill him at this rate...?"

Sugimoto, the weakest classmate of Zen, asked that question as he forcefully kicked the unconscious Akihiko's abdomen reluctantly.

Even though he was doing this, he wasn't exactly feeling confident about this.

"Sugimoto, what are you talking about? So what if we kill him? This is allowed. And besides, it's just a criminal. Criminals are bad people. They don't deserve second chances in the first place!"

Zen had finished those words while delivering strong kicks onto Akihiko's crotch.

"But..."

"No buts, Sugimoto. Are you in or are you out?"

Sugimoto, feeling pressured by Zen's words, couldn't simply ignore them. Throughout his years of life, Sugimoto had always been pressured by Zen's superior actions and doings which would lead to an inferiority complex on Sugimoto's part.

Unbeknownst to Sugimoto himself, he kept on delivering blows with all of his might onto the unconscious boy out of fear of losing to Zen in this contest.

To Sugimoto, this wasn't about beating up someone but winning against Zen.

"I'm in..."

After Sugimoto had confirmed his resolution, Zen lightly smirked in response. In the meantime, Rodrick was simply observing the scenario with grace.

There was nothing more satisfying to him than this.

Ever since his young age, Rodrick had been bullied throughout his life by drug addicts who would steal his money daily and in case if he didn't have it, they would beat him up.

Regardless, he was constantly receiving physical bullying which would later add far more psychological pressure onto his consciousness.

In order to possibly change his situation, Rodrick moved out to another school yet unfortunately and coincidentally, his former bullies didn't let him escape and transferred to the same school as Rodrick.

Rodrick was, without a doubt, losing hope. Yet, his hatred for criminals remained. He often thought to himself that it wasn't okay nor it was right to allow this situation to go on.

Thus, to change his situation, at the age of 16, Rodrick went to the army to fully become a soldier who would later turn out to be someone with considerable skills in martial arts. Furthermore, his body was fully marked with scars of both his training and real-life situations where he acted as a true soldier.

Years later, the criminals couldn't recognize Rodrick due to how much he had changed.

Firstly, they attempted to sugarcoat their way of the situation yet Rodrick fully massacred every single one of them on sight.

Unknown to the public, Rodrick additionally killed every other drug addict that was swarming around his neighborhood.

While this gave Rodrick premature happiness and the feeling of fulfillment, he would soon realize that it wasn't enough.

And that there are still criminals out there. That it didn't matter whether or not he cleared all the criminals that were close to him. Evil was still lurking around in distance.

After many years later, Rodrick's endeavors had earned him fame for putting down many criminals and that caught the attention of the government where they proposed him to attend a school as block A's guardian.

What was unknown to the public would be that the government gave Rodrick full authorization of putting down any of the criminals that were on the list, regardless of how it was done.

However, despite this, Rodrick was only allowed to perform such acts if the criminals would step out of the line.

Given the current scenario, Rodrick could not have asked for more and he was fully looking forward to his time in this school.

Even so, he failed to calculate the upcoming scenario.

"W-What the hell!? How can he be?!"

Shocked by seeing Sugimoto sent flying by a high kick, Rodrick's comfort atmosphere was immediately shattered.

Never did he imagine that the present scenario would happen. Instantly, he attempted to draw conclusions of what was happening yet Rodrick had never for once witnessed such a thing.

What was currently happening was surreal to him and anyone else watching this scene.

"Sugimoto...?"

Zen, also in shock, stared down at the fallen Sugimoto who had just received a kick so powerful that sent him flying to one of the classroom's glass window. Of course, the glass was completely shattered in the process.

Everyone had taken a step back since they could not possibly believe the scenario that they were perceiving at the moment.

"What is happening right now...?"

Clausolas, yet another student from class A, couldn't help but form that obvious question, which was, in fact, a common question in every mind of the current spectators.

"Hey, Rodrick, how is this even possible?! He was practically on the verge of death, so how--"

"Shut up kid! I'm trying to think!"

Yet it didn't matter what Rodrick thought, he would not be able to form a single concrete guess as to why Akihiko was standing up despite his own eyes being closed and his whole physical figure instinctively shaking.

After concluding that he could not come up with any reasonable conclusions, Rodrick had made up his mind.

This was no time to be afraid because there was no reason to be afraid, or so he thought.

"Whatever the case is, strike him down! Put him down at this instant!!"

There are four stages of competence, accordingly.

The two stages of competence revolve around unconscious competence and conscious competence while the two stages of incompetence likewise revolve around the duality of unconscious incompetence and conscious incompetence.

Someone who is unconsciously competent will never believe in scenarios of victory, nevertheless, they are competent to the point of pulling out such winning scenarios, yet why?

What simply gives such people the upper edge? This stage, which is, the unconscious competence fully delves the possibility of someone being extremely competent despite their shortcomings regarding their believes.

Akihiko Kogami is one of those people.

His mentality tells him that he is consciously incompetent but the reality reflects something different.

Someone like him, who is unconsciously competent without knowing why, can never believe that he will ever be competent in any possible regard.

"I don't know how this is possible, but you are going down regardless! Hyaaa!!!"

Clausolas, without understanding the situation at hand firmly rushed to the standing figure of Akihiko who was not conscious yet standing.

In an attempt to strike Akihiko on the nose with his right fist, Akihiko fully intercepted it with his elbow.

If a powerful fist is delivering upon an elbow that has all the arm's physical strength backing it up, then who performed the punch, upon clashing with the elbow, will have their border metacarpal edges completely broken.

Furthermore, the clash will send an instant physical trauma to the whole body should the weight behind the punch be immense.

Which, for someone like Clausolas, who has considerable experience in boxing, is.

"AAHHHHHH!!!! What the fuck!? My fist! It's broken!! What the hell did this bastard do?!"

Clausolas, unable to comprehend why Akihiko had just performed a movement out of his calculations, kneeled down on the floor and cried in agony.

However, that cry would be put to an immediate stop since Akihiko ultimately and subsequently, delivered a knee strike on his sphenoid bones which are right upon his forehead.

The impulsive figure of Clausolas fell on the floor after a swift turn of events.

Scientific studies upon the consciousness, indicate that as long as there is a minimal brain activity that there is a 10% chance of your brain state completely not hitting the state of unconscious.

Furthermore, in the case of multiple concussions in the brain, there is highly any chance of truly remaining conscious throughout the whole thing.

However, people often confuse being unconscious and being knocked out. All of Akihiko's surroundings assumed that Akihiko himself was unconscious and if such was the case, then chances are, he would not be able to stand.

Yet, such was not the case. Akihiko was knocked out which changes the scenario completely.

While in theory, if there is no brain activity, the human being cannot form any possible physical stands, that's only assuming that you do hit a stage where you will not have any brain activity.

To remain unconscious means you do not have any brain activity, yet what would happen in the case of a person being knocked out while still having brain activity?

The students of class A and Rodrick were witnessing such a scenario and this was completely unknown to them.

"What is going on...? Where did this guy learn all of this...?"

Zen, who was analyzing the situation could not possibly understand why Akihiko was even standing in the first place because under his own perception, Akihiko was not knocked out, but unconscious.

What they fail to realize was that Akihiko's consciousness had hit a stage of paranoia which forcefully turned enough brain activity down so he would not have to think about such thoughts of fear.

Ultimately, in response to enough physical trauma, if even the minimal brain activity is present within someone's brain, the person could alternatively, stand up.

Even though the chances are minimum, the possibility still remains there. Nevertheless, without proper martial education, this cannot be pulled off.

"All of you, back off... This isn't the playground anymore. See, this is what I was talking about. Criminals are able to put on such acts to allude the audience. This is one of those scenarios. By allowing us to beat him up, no one thought that he would be capable yet what just happened? Two of you guys were immediately knocked out."

Rodrick's own perception told him that he was not wrong and that the only possible way for Akihiko to be silently standing was through an act.

In response to Rodrick's words, every single student from class A backed off from Akihiko, who was not showing any signs of truly being there yet in response to physical attacks, the results could be...

Lethal.