Toroma then began to manipulate light and then simply made one glowing wooden sword. Alex being the wimp he was, looked for a way to escape, he turned around and thought about running. He could just tell by the aura and power that Hijiri was resonating that he was gonna lose this fight, but as soon as Alex turned around Hijiri spoke up threatening Alex.

“Don’t run you, dirty human. If you do….”

Hijiri as he spoke, put his foot lightly on the fallen Daizen’s head as he did the pool of blood Daizen’s face was in, moved.

“I’ll kill this kid. Your friend Daizen.”

Hijiri said as a derivative smile emerged on his face and he kept his eyes on Toroma and Alex.

“Damn it!”

Alex thought to himself as he turned back around, he then began to control his breathing and desired to strengthen his body. Then his black-colored aura began to surround his body as it did before.

Toroma then realized something, how did he know his and Alex’s abilities. He then questioned Hijiri about this.

“How do you know our powers and how do you know we know Daizen?”

Hijiri smirked as he thought for a second or two. He then responded to Toroma with an angry tone.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m gonna kill you both right now after this fight! Now come at me!”

Alex was shaking, but still, he was rash. He didn’t like Hijiri’s attitude or the fact that he beat up one of his closest friends, Daizen. But even with all of Alex’s fear, Alex still found a way to push past his trembling and shakiness. He quickly dropped his book bag and ran to Hijiri. Hijiri evilly smirked as he awaited Alex’s first move. Toroma spoke from afar, warning Alex.

“Be careful, he knows both of our powers!”

Alex thought he was faster and stronger now since he activated his aura. That was true his physical capabilities did double but Hijiri was stronger than Alex thought. Alex then attempted to throw a punch toward the man’s solar plexus with his right hand. Hijiri was four inches below Alex and so Alex had to bend his arm downward which took extra time and slowed down the velocity of his punch. Hijiri smirked slightly while laughing as he caught Alex’s right hand with his right hand and held it. He then used his superior strength and speed to pull Alex closer to him. Then he made his left hand into a fist and punched Alex right in his jaw. After his punch, he let Alex’s hand go causing him to be pushed back. He yelled in pain.

“Ow! Fuck!”

After seeing Alex was in trouble, Toroma instantly dropped his bookbag and dashed toward Hijiri passing Alex and as soon as he got close, he attempted to use his blade and hit Hijiri by his right shoulder. He did this by pulling his sword backward and then bringing it back to hit him in that area. He did this so the swing could have more speed and velocity.

Hijiri yelled and looked at Toroma as he attempted to hit him with his sword.

“That’s the spirit! But you're still gonna bite the dust!”

Hijiri said as quickly dashed backward dodging the attempt at a sword attack from Toroma. Alex by this time had regained his composure, he touched his jaw since it was in pain. Toroma and Alex were now standing side to side from each other, Alex whispered his plan to Toroma.

“You distract him, I’ll grab Daizen and we’ll try to escape.”

Toroma nodded as he spoke.

“Alright, I’ll try my best.”

Toroma quickly ran Hijiri once more and attempted to hit him on the right side of his neck. In the meantime, Alex ran over to the bloody and collapsed Daizen and attempted to pick him up, but since he was heavier than Alex he was struggling and instead of picking him up he kept dropping him back into the pool of blood.

Hijiri smirked as he saw what they were trying to do, but as soon as Toroma’s sword came into contact with Hijiri’s aura. Hijiri spoke one word that made Toroma’s sword burn and repelled it.

“Flow: Fire Defense.”

Toroma’s sword when it came into contact with the aura surrounding HIjiri went on fire. This shocked Toroma and made him drop the sword because he didn’t want flames to spread to his skin. He had been slightly burned on the palm which also made him lose attention due to pain and shock. Hijiri took advantage that Toroma wasn’t paying attention and he had no sword to defend himself with. He took advantage by covering his right fist in flames and then crouching to punch Toroma in the solar plexus area, which caused him to slightly cough up blood and fall to the floor immediately. The flame punch also made a burn hole in Toroma’s school uniform stomach area.

Alex being the weak dude he was, was barely dragging Daizen. Hijiri smirked as he ran past the collapsed and in pain Toroma and ran straight at Alex. Alex hearing footsteps behind him, naturally turned around, and when he saw Hijiri approaching and Toroma collapsed he thought of what to do to avoid the attack. He slowly dropped Daizen’s body that he was dragging by the arm, but that’s when he thought of it, his power to stop time clicked in his head. At the last second, Hijiri reeled his left arm back and was about to hit Alex. Alex quickly thought in his head and yelled out a word at the same time.

“STOP!”

Alex said and like before, Hijiri and everything came to a halt, but just like before, he felt a burning sensation in his stomach, and then he felt the need to vomit. Before he did, he held the vomit in his mouth and then quickly rushed over to Hijiri and gave him a quick two jabs to his chest. He then proceeded to vomit on the floor for around five seconds. The demonic voice sighed and spoke angrily in Alex’s head.

“You know this is gonna happen. It’s an exchange for using my ability. You have already used my ability today.”

Alex, after ten seconds of using his time stop ability, felt as if he couldn’t breathe so he quickly thought of a word in his head.

“Continue.”

Time continued.

Alex wiped the vomit from his mouth with his palm. Hijiri, not knowing what happened, pushed back and almost lost his balance, but he tightened his muscular leg muscles and it gave him more support strength. Hijiri was confused. How Alex’s time stop ability was portrayed to other people was a quick glitch freeze for a second, and then it continued. But actually, the freeze of time was for ten seconds. Hijiri smirked evilly as he did before. He then yelled loudly, he loved a challenge and he loved being hit. The flames surrounding his body became more channeled and rash as he yelled, his fist and legs became covered in flames as he was about to use them to beat up Alex.

“Good good! You dirty time stopping human! Hit me again! I’m gonna go all out now!”

Hijiri said as He quickly rushed at Alex. He was faster than before and Alex noticed this. Toroma got up and tried to look for Hijiri but he was so fast he couldn’t keep up either. Toroma thought about making a new sword and even tried, but he had a weakness in his power. Once a sword is destroyed it would take around five minutes to make a new one. Toroma regretted not making his sword out of metal, he looked around for Hijiri but couldn’t find him.

“Damn it, where is he?”

Alex and Toroma both thought, but then Alex heard a very loud yell from behind. He knew the yell was definitely Hijiri. He was going to turn around but it was too late, he was hit in the back causing him to fly forward. It also hurt tremendously, on top of that due to the fist being covered in flames it caused a burnt hole in the back of Alex’s uniform and it also burnt his skin. He flew back far and bumped into Toroma. Toroma caught Alex by his shoulders. Alex nodded as he spoke.

“Thanks.”

Toroma responded.

“Thank me after we beat this guy! He’s coming at us again.”

Alex, in pain, still looked in front of him and saw Hijiri coming at him. He then attempted to try and use his time-stop ability. He then tried to speak the word in his head, but once he did nothing happened. He whispered to Toroma after his attempt, he knew Hijiri was almost to him.

“My time isn't working.”

Toroma responded with a calm face.

“Try it again.”

“Alright!”

Alex then said “Stop” in his head once more, but it didn’t work. It was too late Hijiri was already close enough to strike. Toroma spoke loudly as he pushed Alex out of the way causing Alex to fall right on his butt.

“Alex watch out!”

Alex put his arm up expecting an attack, but when he pushed out the way he closed his eyes due to fear. About 10 seconds later, he opened his eyes to see something that shook him to his core. He saw Toroma getting punched in the diaphragm, Toroma passed out as his body went limp to the floor. Normally that wouldn’t have knocked out Toroma, but due to Hijiri’s superior speed and velocity he had built up by running and caused more damage. He also hit Toroma in his diaphragm which interrupted Toroma’s normal breathing pattern and caused him to pass out from anoxia. Toroma’s other bodily injuries also added to the fact that Toroma was knocked out. He already had received a punch to the stomach, which just kept building up to him being knocked out.

“Heh.”

A sadistic smirk came onto Hijiri’s face as he let Toroma’s body go limp on the floor. He laughed loudly, his laughs filled the dark alleyway with pure fear. He turned to Alex who was on the ground. He then spoke as his crazy eyes made eye contact with Alex.

“I hit him a bit too hard. I guess it doesn’t matter anyway, It just speeds up the process.”

Alex looked at Hijiri with fear in his eyes, at that moment he knew he was gonna die. It was over for him. He began to rethink his life, which he felt had no purpose. He looked down to the ground as two tears fell in both of his eyes. Hijiri laughed at the boy's weaknesses, and then began to ridicule him.

“You weak human. You let your friend get hit for you and be knocked out and you do nothing about it. You really are a wuss! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Hijiri kept laughing at Alex, Alex's tears kept flowing down his face. Hijiri slowly walked to the grounded Alex, Alex didn’t move or react as he did before. Hijiri then looked at Alex as he spoke from above.

“Not even gonna run this time? Not gonna fight back when Toroma sacrificed his life for you?”

“There’s no point.”

Alex said in his hopeless tone as his shaky and scared eyes stayed on the floor. He was in a pessimistic mindset that couldn’t be changed.

Hijiri’s face turned into disgust. He hated this feeling. There was no challenge, he hated the fact that Alex was now starting to bore him. He yelled loudly as he reeled his right leg backward, he fully expected Alex to dodge his attack but surprisingly he was hit in his face causing a cut to open on Alex’s lip and further causing blood to fall down his chin. Alex was in pain, but something had snapped in Alex. He realized how much of a useless and powerless kid he was.

But his mental mind had been fucked all of his life, his mind was stronger than his body and that mind was blank and filled with sadness and depression. Even if portrayed himself to be an optimistic kid, he was actually a sad and powerless one, no matter how many times he tried to push that fact down it kept coming up again like raw sewage. Hijiri’s anger continued to build as he kicked Alex causing multiple cuts to open all over his face. Every time Hijiri kicked Alex he yelled. A giant cut had opened on the top of Alex’s forehead, the blood slowly fell into Alex’s eyes blurring his vision.

“FIGHT ME BACK HUMAN! SHOW ME AN ALTERATION!”

Hijiri picked up the lifeless Alex by his shirt burning through it. He then began to punch the solar plexus multiple times for around a minute straight. Hijiri breathed in and out as he took up a bunch of stamina from repeatedly punching Alex over and over again. Hijiri wanted Alex to fight back to fuel his adrenaline, but when he didn’t and just stood there he took out his anger on Alex.

He let Alex’s body drop to the floor, the blood from his forehead had now covered the left side of his face. Alex’s shirt had burned off during the fight, his shirt couldn’t hang onto his body anymore. Hijijri then left his body alone, as he began to walk over to one of the other random victims and quickly set his clothes on fire. He then began to throw some of the victim’s clothes to both exits of the alleyways making it somewhat impossible for Alex to leave the alleyway. He then shot a fire energy wave at Alex’s right as he left. Before he left, he spoke some cold words that would leave an impact.

“Weakling Trash.”

Hijiri would then speak to someone, he touched some buttons on his phone and then said some more words.

“Phoenix, Kazan. The job is done.”

Hijiri then disappeared into the shadows.

Alex didn’t hear Hijiri’s words about a phoenix but, those two words left an impact on Alex because he knew they were true. He heard the flames start to cover the surrounding area. He closed his eyes as he lay face-first on the concrete floor. He knew he deserved this, he began to think about all the regrets and negative things he had done in his life. He was an envious little perverted prick, he was a wannabe hikikomori. If he was a regular Japanese man he would have become one a long time ago. He regretted not thanking his mom, sister, and even yes, his absent father. He was ungrateful for everything he had, he knew it was a selfish and stupid goal to wanting to be the main character but, still, he wanted it so bad. Anime helped through his tough times. He never got a girlfriend when he felt he needed one, he never got a dad when he needed one but what he did have was friends. Friends that cared for him. From the beginning, he didn’t deserve any friends in the slightest. He was a loser but still, his friends liked him and supported him.

“I guess this is it?”

Alex thought to himself as tears filled his eyes up once more his voice trembled. He began to clench his right and left palm making it into a fist. He drove his sharp fingernails into the flesh of his palms causing rapid bleeding and blood to go down his knuckles. He then began to slam his head onto the concrete floor as he began to say sorry to his loved ones out loud. He trembled as he spoke.

“I’m sorry mom, for not getting good grades. I’m sorry Aya for teasing you. Dad, Even though you're never with me I’m sorry also. I love you all. Toroma, I'm sorry for not being able to protect you.”

Alex said as looked at Daizen’s and Toroma’s lifeless and unconscious bodies.

“You too Daizen, I’m sorry. Fuzumi, I’m sorry for never calling you pretty and treating you harshly, I said things like that cause I’m actually too shy to tell you I like you. Hiroto, I’m sorry, I’ll miss snarky remarks and smart replies. “

Alex began to thank everyone who supported him all this way, but he was saying I’m sorry because, in reality, he wasted all their efforts to make him succeed and feel better. After all, he was going to die right in this burning alleyway. He was sorry for everything he did, he was sorry for how he acted. How he treated everyone like they were side characters. He was sorry for treating girls like sexual objects. He was sorry for disrespecting and interrupting his teachers. He was even sorry for skipping school today and not doing school work.

He wanted to think he was special just like every other otaku. He was an average otaku, he hated being ridiculed, he feared being publicly embarrassed, he acted just like every other Shonen protagonist. That was because he wanted to prove everyone wrongs just like how his favorite characters did but he was detached from reality. He was now ready to die, he let go of all of his regrets and sins. He was a human filled with good and bad, just like anyone else. He closed his eyes and then He then let out his last breath-

But then he heard the same angelic and demonic voice in his head say something in his head that shook him to his core. Something that was so inspiring but at the same time so simple. The angel spoke first.

“Never give up! Never say die!”

Then the demon.

“Wake up and fight for me, dirty mortal!”

Alex had heard this from his favorite protagonists of multiple series and shows. He then remembered all of the people in his life who told him the same thing. His mom, his dad, his friends, and yes even some of his teachers. He bit his lip as he was suddenly filled with a strong will to survive, wait for no. That wasn’t it, he wanted to protect his friends, more than himself. He loved his friends, his family, and even random strangers more than he did himself. He clenched his fist as he struggled to get up, the smoke from the fire inhaling into his lungs made him cough. He quickly stood up after the 3rd time of him failing to. He tried not to breathe in too much smoke, he channeled his glow and it surrounded his body barely. The pain from his body was unbearable but still, he walked over to both of his fallen friends Daizen and Toroma. Tears falling onto both Daizen and Toroma’s lifeless bodies, he yelled at them even in their unconscious state.

“I don’t care if *Cough* Die. I will protect you both!”

Alex said with his strained voice and his strained and hopeless tone. He picked up both Daizen and Toroma, he held both in one of his arms holding them by their bottoms. He then began to use the little glow he had to cover his friends and not himself. He began to walk through the flames burning both his hair and his entire body. His arm muscles ripped and tore due to his skinny arms carrying so much weight but still, he kept going. He didn’t catch on flame immediately due to his clothes mostly being burned off during the fight.

He then made it onto the main road where he smiled, It honestly should have been too much for him. The damage and burns he already had gained from fighting Hijiri were fatal. Still, he survived, he then dropped Toroma and Daizen on the sidewalk. A smirk came onto his face as he then passed out onto the sidewalk, his eyes closed as Alex then died. The damage that he had sustained had killed him and his lungs had inhaled too much smoke, but at least Alex died protecting his friends. He died with a smile on his face. It was 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐟 𝐀𝐧 𝐎𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐮.