After a while he caught up with the group of hooligans, and out of breath from running, in a rage, he shouted at them.
Fang spun around, shouting in amazement, "Naritu? What is he doing here?"
Naritu rushed towards them, shouting as he ran.
At that moment Tada, not far off, was struggling to his feet, rubbing his nose. He muttered through his teeth, "Damn. They weren't being polite at all, the idiots." He glanced at the few hooligans ahead of him and added darkly, "Bastards. Next time I see them they won't get off so easily."
Then he looked further up the street in surprise and asked, "What?"
Meanwhile Fang shouted to one of his comrades, "You go around that way. We'll surround them."
The guy got it. Fang froze for a second, taking in the situation, and then asked, "Seriously, what is Naritu doing here? Nobody said anything like this could happen."
His thoughts raced. We won't be able to carry out Mr. Inui's orders like this. Damn it. Is there anything I can do? Everything should be fine. I still have that trump card.
He barked again. "Hey, guys. Call Mr. Ken Onodera. Immediately."
One of his henchmen asked in confusion, "Mr. Onodera? Do we really have to call him over such a trivial matter?"
Fang howled with tension. "You just have to call. We've been in a tough spot for a long time. Naritu is a dangerous guy."
With those words he rushed forward again.
Tada cautiously peeked around the corner and muttered quietly, "These guys showed up just in time."
And Naritu, throwing his glasses aside, with a dull growl hit the nearest bully in the face and barked, "Out of the way. Get out."
One of the guys, smirking, intercepted the bat and muttered, "He wants to get past us."
His partner chuckled. "Too bad. We don't know who he is or where he's from, but he isn't getting past us."
Naritu clenched his fists and spat, "Are you even in your right mind?"
And the bully asked, "What, are you scared?"
At that second Ranzuki, noticing Naritu, screamed, "Futano!"
At that moment Fang roughly grabbed her arm and the girl cried out in pain.
Naritu screamed, gritting his teeth, "Let her go. Get your hands off her."
The next second someone jumped on him from behind, trying to knock him down. But at that very moment a sharp kick landed in the attacker's face. Naritu spun around, stunned, crying out, "What the—?"
And then he saw Tada. He hung in the air in a spectacular jump, then landed with a dull thud and shouted loudly, "Help has arrived."
Naritu looked at him silently and thought, I thought he was supposed to be my next opponent.
Tada in turn glanced briefly at Naritu and silently noted, so this is Naritu? Not bad.
Without wasting a second, Tada rushed to attack. Naritu froze in surprise for only a split second.
"You're Naritu, right?" Tada shouted as he ran.
Naritu was surprised. "So what?"
"I don't fully understand what's going on here, but the main thing right now is to save that girl, right?" With those words he slammed his fist into the jaw of one of the hooligans and added, "Besides, these guys owe me something. It's time to return the favour. Let's go."
He and Naritu clashed with them in a general fight. Tada grabbed another opponent by the hair and, striking him again, shouted, "Take that. And one more. Take that."
Their fists flashed in the air. Blows rained down one after another. For a moment Naritu's and Tada's gazes met, and in that gaze a silent understanding flashed.
But then Fang, seeing that almost all of his guys had already fallen, abruptly put a knife to Ranzuki's neck and yelled, "Stop! Not a step closer. Otherwise she'll be left with scars that never heal. Can you hear me?"
Ranzuki sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Fang shouted, "If you don't want that, you back off."
Tada froze and glanced briefly at Naritu. He asked, "Hey. What now?"
Naritu frowned. "It won't work."
Fang grinned evilly. "What are you mumbling about?"
Naritu muttered through clenched teeth, "Just let him try."
With a sharp movement he flicked the bat lying nearby up into the air.
Tada immediately barked, "Don't move rashly."
The next moment Naritu swung his leg, and the bat crashed into the wall with a crack, literally a centimetre from Fang's head. He turned pale, convulsively clenching his teeth.
Ranzuki, taking advantage of the momentary confusion, screamed piercingly, "Let me go!" She lunged forward, breaking free of Fang's grip, and ran.
Fang stretched out the hand with the knife, shouting, "Stop!" The blade flashed forward, but at the same second Naritu lunged and intercepted his hand, keeping the knife from reaching the girl.
Ranzuki gasped in shock. "Futano."
Fang, trying to free his hand, yelled, "Let go!"
Naritu snapped coldly, "Enough. Stop this right now."
And without giving his opponent a chance, he swung and delivered a crushing blow straight into Fang's face. He flew back and hit the wall with a dull thud, then slowly slid down to the ground and went limp.
Tada, watching this, thought, amazing. So it really is him. Naritu. The very person he was looking for.
Naritu immediately rushed over to Ranzuki and shouted, "Are you okay?"
The girl, sitting on the ground and breathing heavily, nodded. "Yes. My legs just gave way."
"We have to get out of here," Tada said.
Naritu nodded in agreement. He extended his hand to Ranzuki and said, "Come on. Can you get up?"
He had barely finished speaking when he heard a sharp sound behind him. He turned around and saw that Tada was no longer standing next to him, but lying against the wall.
"What?" He looked further and froze.
Onodera was standing there. Shaon High School, second year, class one.
Onodera looked at him coldly and seriously.
Suddenly Tada, despite the pain, jerked to his feet. Fury flashed in his eyes. His joints cracked as he straightened up. He charged and shouted, "How dare you do such a thing? Take that."
He put all his strength into the punch, aiming at his opponent, but his fist only slammed dully into Onodera's torso, and Tada froze, stunned. "What the—?"
The next second Onodera raised his clenched fists high above his head and brought them down sharply.
Naritu extended his hand forward and shouted, "No!"
Onodera's clenched fists fell with crushing force straight onto Tada's head. Tada dropped to the ground.
Naritu stared in surprise at Onodera, who swung his fist. Naritu dodged quickly and kicked him. He thought, this guy—
Onodera caught his leg, swung it and threw him aside.
Ranzuki screamed in fear. "Futano!"
Naritu got up and rushed to attack, clenching his fist. He punched Onodera in the face as the man was about to strike back. Onodera swung his leg, and Naritu responded in kind. He frowned.
Ranzuki screamed in fear, "Futano, we need to give this man first aid immediately."
He turned around, and Onodera clenched his fist and prepared to attack.
Naritu jumped to the side and hauled Tada's body up over his shoulders. He turned and ordered Ranzuki to run.
"Yes," she replied.
Onodera looked after them and remained silent.