Chapter 71 : Frontline: The Satsujin Otoko Clash

A day of classes finished. It is 2 p.m.

Sakolomé walks at a nonchalant pace, hands in pockets, eyes half-closed. Beside him, Sally, a smile at the corner of her lips, chats.

Sally: Sakolomé, don't you think there's something wrong?

Sakolomé (looking at her calmly): Oh yeah? What is it then?

Sally (looking at her exam sheet, frustrated): Normally, I made no mistakes… but they took away a point just because I wrote the date wrong!

Sakolomé (smiling softly): Ah, that's your problem? Be proud already to have passed. Many didn't get it. Me… meh. I was lucky.

Sally (staring at him): Lucky? You still keep underestimating yourself, huh?

Sakolomé (looking down, more thoughtful): Maybe… I don't know.

Sally: Pff, we already talked about this, right? I always wonder why you do that. You got 80% on the test, and you still talk about luck? It makes no sense.

Suddenly, Sakolomé stops abruptly.

Sally (perplexed): What is it?

Sakolomé (slowly raising his head, hard look): I still feel… trouble.

Sally: Trouble? What trouble?

Oscar and his gang appear out of nowhere. Disheveled clothes, open shirts, vicious looks. An air of provocation hangs in the air.

Sally (annoyed): Damn… those clowns again!

Oscar steps directly toward Sakolomé, a mocking smile on his lips.

Oscar: Well, well… Sakolomé. How did you manage to get more than 80% on the test, huh? While I got… 50%?

Sally (laughing): 50%? You really got lucky, though!

Oscar: Pff… Sally, you should stop hanging out with him. He's a Satsujin Otoko. You don't even know what kind of shit you're getting into!

Sally (rolling her eyes): Blah blah blah… you're blocking our way, you know?

One of the guys in the gang speaks up, visibly irritated.

Brute: That girl… the way she disrespects you annoys me. I don't understand why you never put her in her place!

Sally: If he doesn't put me in my place, you do it then. What are you waiting for? His permission, you little lapdog?

The brute gets angry and pretends to attack, but his comrades hold him back.

— Calm down, dude. She's a girl, they're all the same.

— Drop it.

— She's not worth it.

Sally (provocative smile): I wonder why you're holding him back. Let him come. We'll see what we'll see…

Sakolomé remains silent. He observes. This agitation, this tension… everything seems to revolve around Sally. She attracts the lightning, just because she doesn't want anyone to mess with him.

Sakolomé (internally): You are a flower, Sally…

He sighs. Then raises his head, determined look.

Sakolomé: Enough.

All eyes turn to him.

Sally (worried): What are you doing, Sakolomé?

Sakolomé (calm, cold, sharp): If any one of you dares to bother Sally again, even for a moment… he will pay.

Sally (grabbing his arm, panicked): What? No, Sakolomé, don't do that!

The brutes burst out laughing. Oscar laughs the loudest.

Oscar: And you think you can do what, huh? Killer man, right?

Suddenly, a small voice rings out in the crowd, soft but firm.

??? : Excuse me...

Everyone falls silent. Heads turn. A figure steps forward.

Salomé.

Her purple hair tied in a simple bun. Her yellow eyes shining, full of life and determination.

She runs to Sally and jumps into her arms.

Salomé: Sally!!!

Sally (smiling): Ah, Salomé… You came to get us?

Oscar (annoyed): SHUT UP!!

Silence falls. All eyes converge on Oscar. But the atmosphere has changed.

Something bigger than their little threats has just settled.

Oscar (dryly, gaze fixed on Salomé then on Sakolomé):

So it's her, huh?

The little sister of the Killer Man.

He approaches slowly, each of his words weighing like a slap.

I wonder what it feels like…

To share the blood of monsters.

How did you grow up, Salomé? With knives instead of toys?

And you, Sakolomé… Have you never wanted to finish what your family started?

You pretend to be a nice guy, a calm guy, but we all know what you are.

He comes even closer, almost nose to nose with Sakolomé, eyes shining with contempt.

A Satsujin Otoko remains a Satsujin Otoko.

You were born to kill.

It's in your veins. You can't deny it.

You are a stain on this world.

The gang bursts out laughing. Loudly. Cruelly.

— Yeah, look at them, the two psychos!

— We should cage them before they lose it.

— Imagine? She hugs you and bam, no more arms!

— Seriously, I'm afraid they'll kill us in our sleep, those crazies…

Salomé lowers her eyes a bit but says nothing. Her face remains calm. Sakolomé too, impassive. A wall.

Sally (gritting her teeth, furious):

You're really pathetic.

You talk about blood and veins, but you know nothing.

NOTHING.

She stands in front of Sakolomé and Salomé.

You think you know who they are because of a name? A rumor?

You think you're better because you're ignorant?

The real monstrosity is what you show.

Laughing at a family's past without knowing what's really behind it… is that what being human means to you?

Oscar raises an eyebrow, intrigued by Sally's fierceness.

Oscar (smiling, venomous):

Oh, but I forgot… you're their lawyer now? Or…

You plan to marry a killer? Huh? Dangerous guys turn you on?

His gang chuckles even louder. But Sally doesn't flinch.

Sally (voice colder, deeper):

I'd rather hang out with them a hundred times…

Than with cockroaches like you.

Silence. The tension becomes electric. Salomé slightly clenches her fist, then releases it. Sakolomé remains expressionless, his gaze almost empty, almost… beyond all that.

Sakolomé (calmly):

Say what you want, Oscar.

But if other people's fear gives you a semblance of existence…

Then I pity you.

Oscar (icy voice, palpable disgust):

Wait… that's all you have to say?

"Sal, assassin"?

You can't know how much your family disgusts me.

How can we let such mistakes roam free? It's stupid, honestly.

A growl rises from the gang behind him. They start yelling, screaming.

— Killers!

— Parasites!

— Go back to your coffins!

— All Satsujin Otoku should be locked up for life!

Sally tries to speak, but her voice is drowned out. Heartbeats echo like a war drum. The uproar becomes deafening.

Salomé's look hardens, her gentle expression vanishes. Sakolomé's gaze becomes razor-sharp.

Oscar (with sadistic excitement):

So, Killer Man?

Nothing to say?

You're going to hunt us at night, right? Kill us because we disrespected you?

What are you waiting for, a mental signal from your cursed blood?!

Sakolomé slowly turns his head toward Salomé. Their eyes meet.

Blood red against solar yellow. A suspended moment.

Silent Sally watches this unreal scene. Something inside her whispers that Oscar just crossed an invisible line.

Oscar smiles, confident. His gang too, provocative, fierce… but unaware.

Then… a burst.

A laugh.

No… two laughs.

Loud. Clear. Terrifying in their nonchalance.

Salomé and Sakolomé laugh heartily.

Silence falls immediately, frozen by the strangeness.

Oscar (frowning):

What are you laughing at… Killer Man?

Salomé (crystalline laugh, mocking):

You were so intense… it's hilarious!

Sakolomé (wiping a tear of laughter):

Hahaha… seriously, you're a joke all by yourself.

The gang looks on, puzzled.

— Am I dreaming or are they mocking us?

— They think we're clowns?

— We need to settle this with them!

Sally smiles, a little relieved. It's their answer, full of dignity.

Sakolomé (regaining his calm, gaze fixed on Oscar):

Assassin, killer, demon, heartless, degeneration…

What haven't we heard already?

Change the record a bit… Oscar.

Oscar (losing it):

What?!

He lunges forward and tries to hit Sakolomé with a furious hook.

Sakolomé dodges with disconcerting fluidity. Oscar hits only air. His fist cuts through the air.

Sakolomé (calmly):

You want to give me trouble, huh?

Don't try to fight me.

You clearly don't stand a chance.

(The gang chuckles, embarrassed.)

— Who does he think he is?

— He's cocky just because he dodged…

— What an idiot, seriously.

Oscar (spitting on the ground, boiling with rage):

"Don't stand a chance," huh?

All words.

Come on, now. One on one.

And after beating you in front of your shitty little sister…

I'll ask my gang to break some bones. So you understand.

Sakolomé steps forward slowly, very slowly. He places a hand on Oscar's shoulder.

Sakolomé (softly):

Oscar…

Oscar looks at him. Sakolomé lowers his head slightly. Then suddenly raises it.

His eyes… his eyes are no longer human. Incandescent red, dark, deep.

Sakolomé (icy voice, dreadful gaze):

Don't you ever dare…

insult my sister again.

Oscar feels a pressure in his throat, his breath catches. His eyes open wide, frozen by visceral terror.

He sees in that gaze… his own end. His own death.

Written there, like a sentence.

His body trembles. His jaw too.

Suddenly, Sakolomé gently taps his shoulder, like an old friend saying goodbye.

Sakolomé (with a soothing, almost tender smile):

I hope you understood me well.