Flashback: Yamano, The Saviour

Yamano open his satchel and grabbed a list of items Mama Lumina asked him to buy. He inspect the list and put it back in his satchel.

" Here we go." Yamano sighed.

The orphanage is on top of the hill in Mamono Village. The hill is a little bit steep so Yamano needs to walk slowly to reach the bottom of the hill. After that, he walks a few kilometres to the village. Some of the villagers recognize Yamano because they all knew Yamano is the only boy who lived in an orphanage for a monster girl.

" Oh, Yamano-kun. Hello there." One of the villagers greeted.

" Hello, Uncle. How are you??" Yamano asked.

" I'm good. Just waiting for my paddy to be harvested. Where are you going anyway??" he asked.

" Oh yes. Mama Lumina asked me to buy some groceries for the orphanage. You know, there are so many mouths to feed by the way." Yamano replied.

" Luckily, they have you to take care of them. A lot of things happen these days. There's still a large group of human hate monster-girl because of who they are. Monster-girl only wants to live free with humans." the man said.

" What about you, Uncle. Do you hate monster-girl??" Yamano asked.

" They just want to live free so that's fine by me. As long as they didn't do any trouble." the man replied.

" Well, I should get going now. Nice talking to you, Uncle." said Yamano.

" Run along now, and be careful out there. Some people still hate anyone who associated with monster-girl." the man advised.

" I will. Bye now." Yamano smiled.

Yamano bowed in front of the elderly man and continue his journey. When Yamano walk away, the elderly man talked to himself.

" Yamano Yusuri. Such a mysterious young fellow. Behind his smile, there's a lot of things that wandered in his mind." the man said.

Meanwhile, Yamano reaches the town. There is a lot of people there such a merchant from the Human World, sea traders across the Mamono Region and many more. The hustle and bustle sound of the town able to fill Yamano smiled.

" Maybe I should buy groceries first. That way, I can explore the town." said Yamano.

He quickly ran towards the groceries shop to buy the goods. Twenty minutes later, Yamano rented a cart from a merchant and asked him to deliver the goods to the Mamono Orphanage. The cart is on the move and Yamano continue to explore the town. There's one time that Yamano almost enters the red light districts and quickly walk away from there. He's trying to find a large section of the town called " MAKAN STREET " where all types of delicious food are sold there.

" The smell of delicious delicacies. I can't wait to try some food." Yamano wiped the drool from his lips.

He entered the street and he can smell a lot of things. From the smell of freshly baked potato buns to the fragrant fried noodles. Mostly, Yamano will taste the free sample. If the taste of the food is suitable with his pallets, he will buy the food. It is quite a dilemma sometimes. He didn't know what to eat actually when suddenly...

" YOU FREAK!!!" someone screamed.

It looks like a bunch of thugs vandalised a bakery. They vandalised the store but where is the owner??

" WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE STORE THAT RUNS BY A MONSTER-GIRL FAMILY. MONSTER-GIRL ARE PARASITES THAT WE NEED TO EXTERMINATE!!" the leader screamed.

Yamano joins the crowds as they helplessly watch the bakery being destroyed. Yamano asked a random stranger what just happened.

" Excuse me, sir?? What happened here??" Yamano asked.

" It's the owner's daughter. The thug already beat her half to dead." the stranger said.

" Are we just going to stand here and do nothing?? The bakery is going to be destroyed if we didn't do something." Yamano is furious.

" Easy for you to say, kid. Defending Monster-girl's freedom is like a death threat. People who hate monster-girl will come and find you and God knows what will they do to you." the man said.

Yamano stood silently. Racism against monster-girl are quite serious since the Carved Stone Massacre. From that very genocide, humans started to hurt or kill any monster girl they can find.

" Maybe this can teach you some manners. Boys!! Beat her up!!" the leader said.

The thugs stop vandalising the store and start to beat the unknown girl. People don't want to involve themselves when it comes to a monster-girl related problem. Yamano cannot stand watching this anymore. He steps outside the crowds.

" Hey, kid?!?! Come back here!!" the stranger screamed.

The crowd started to panic as Yamano shouted.

" HEY!! STOP!! LET HER GO!!" Yamano shouted.

The thugs stop and look at Yamano.

" Don't be a hero, kid. Get lost while you still can. We won't hurt our own race." the leader said.

" Well, the owner of the bakery is a human. Why do you still beat her??" Yamano asked.

" Are you blind or something? She is a monster girl. Just look at her ears and tail. You know that humans starting to face extinction when human males start to make love with monster-girl." Said the leader.

" You can't control someone else's life. God has planned each of every living being's life from birth to death. You cannot change it. None of you will." Yamano exclaimed.

" I'm starting to feel irritated. Go, be a coward and get lost or my men will beat you up." the leader said.

" All living beings deserve to live even for monster-girl. That is why I choose to stand up to them. Maybe they are a monster but they're more human than you are." Yamano replied.

" Stand up to them?!?!?" the leader shocked.

Suddenly, one of the thugs whispered something to his boss. The boss chuckled same as his thugs.

" HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The thugs laughed.

" What's so funny about it??" Yamano asked.

" You're the only human male that lives in that orphanage on top of the hill, right?? No wonder you look brave but boy, you already lose your virginity in that orphanage. That is funny." the leader taunted Yamano.

Yamano starting to lose his patience. Yamano clutched his fist.

" What's wrong, boy?? Are you angry?? Now, there's more reason for me to beat you up, you miserable boy. I hope you realized that you have wasted your seed for monster-girl." the leader continues to taunt Yamano.

Yamano's body started to shake. Anger consumes him.

" We have wasted such a long time. You two, go beat him up. After this, we're going to pay a visit to that very orphanage." the leader said.

[ WARNING. INCOMING VIOLENCE ACTION ]

The thugs are charging towards Yamano, who is standing still on the street.

" WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU, KID!!!!!!!"

" THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH US!!!"

Suddenly, Yamano chokes the two thugs on the neck on raising them high. He quickly slams the two thug's heads on the cement very hard that blood starts to splash and it hits Yamano's face. Yamano has been consumed with anger, rage and frustration. Yamano roars. The sound of his roars is a mixture of thunder and a sound of a horn that has been blown from on top of a mountain. The crowd covers their ears because the sound is so loud.

The leader was shocked. He turned his attention to Yamano.

" It's him. We have finally found what we are looking for." The leader exclaimed.

Without thinking, Yamano runs towards the leader and push him to the ground. Without any mercy, Yamano punched the leader's face so many times that his face begin to deform. The leader coughed blood and splashed on Yamano's face. The young man's face is expressionless.

" Please..... have mercy..... on my soul. I'm begging....you. Please." the leader begged.

" Ripping your soul out of your body is the only mercy you got." Yamano is furious.

Yamano lifted his fist and was about to deliver the final blow when suddenly, he missed and punch the floor instead.

" But I am a human like you but killing innocent beings will make you worse than the monster itself." Yamano smiled.

Yamano stands up and calls one of the thugs.

" You over there, take your boss away from here and never to return here ever again." Yamano spared the thugs.

One of the thugs carried the leader on his back and never look back. All of them quickly ran away from Yamano. After that, Yamano turns his attention to the crowds. They look shocked because they saw Yamano beat up his humankind. Suddenly, one of the monster-girl, specifically a holstaur walks towards Yamano.

" You know that you don't need to protect us. We don't want any human to get hurt because of us. We know that our presence could cause some trouble, but what you did back there, thank you for standing up for us." the holstaur lady thanked Yamano for his good deed.

" Just sitting and watching you guys being harassed by humans won't solve anything. I respect monster-girl because they saved my life and I owed them." said Yamano.

Yamano turns his attention to the injured girl who is still lying on the floor. He walk towards the girl and remembered what the thug said. The injured girl is a monster girl specifically, a nekogirl named Luna. When Yamano is heading towards Luna, Yamano starts to lose consciousness and fainted.

" What happened to me??" Yamano collapsed.

The crowds quickly surround Yamano.

"QUICK, GET HIM TO THE NEARBY HOSPITAL. BRING LUNA TOO. BOTH OF THEM NEED SOME SERIOUS TREATMENT." one of the crowd said.

When in hospital, Yamano started to imagine things.

" Is...that...an...angel...coming for...me?" Yamano said in a delusional state.

A doctor and a lamia nurse look at Yamano.

" He's delusional, doctor. What should we do now?" the nurse said.

" Just let him rest. Someone told me that this boy almost killed one of the notorious thugs in the town. This boy did good but something bad will happen when someone stood up for monster-girl." the doctor said.

" What do you mean??" the lamia nurse asked.

" We don't want THAT incident to happen in this town or else, this town will be like Carved Stone Massacre all over again." the doctor replied.

Both of them leave Yamano to rest. On the next day, Yamano opens his eyes slowly.

" Where....am...I. What is this place??" Yamano asked.

Yamano rubbed his eyes when suddenly.

" Oh. Hello, nyaan." The nekogirl greeted Yamano.

Yamano was suprised when the catgirl's face was so close to his cheek. If one of them move an inch close, they will end up kissing each other.

" Who are you??" Yamano asked.

" The question is who are you?? Are you the one who saved me from the evil human yesterday??" The catgirl asked.

" Yes. It was me." Yamano said.

" The doctor told me that you almost killed them. This is the first time I saw a random human want to save a monster girl. You are brave." she praised.

" I almost killed them?? That's not what I wanted to do?" Yamano rubbed his dizzy head.

" Sure. Mind if I ask you this?? Tell me your name. I want to know the name of my knight in shining armour." the catgirl said.

" My name is Yamano Yusuri. What about you??" Yamano asked.

" My name is Luna. I am a nekogirl. Nice to meet you, nyaan." Luna smiled as he look at Yamano.

[ TO BE CONTINUED]