Welcome to Prison [3]: Countdown to Battle

"I think that's enough Mister. I'll rather you don't cause trouble for my cellmate"

Arc said with a polite smile.

"You've got some nerve stepping on my arm like that, if I didn't dodge, I could've gotten injured from your weight"

"I could say the same about you pulling her hair like that"

"This doesn't concern you, get los—"

"Didn't you hear me earlier? This is my cellmate"

The furious Oni was staring daggers at the gentle smiling boy with a look ready to commit murder.

"Stay out of it, this is my problem"

Rei said from behind him but was stopped by Melissa. Otto smirked and said while waving his hand

"Listen to her boy, it's for your own good. Now run along and go play with your toys"

Arc turned to face Rei with a smile, ignoring Otto's taunts

"M-Ms Melissa, please can you help her back to her cell, we'll handle things here. Rei, please help yourself to some of my food... and Shu's too, haha"

He said ruffling the hair of the embarrassed Shu who added to Arc's statement

"I know you respect those arrogant adults too much to stand up for yourself, so just let us handle it"

"No! Go awa—"

Otto furiously swung his fist at Arc in the middle of Rei's protest but he dodged it effortlessly, spinning in the air and landing a critical kick on Otto's neck, knocking him out cold.

"Well...that was easy"

The sound of Otto's large body hitting the floor resonated through the cafeteria, after which silence followed. Everyone was too shocked to say anything, including Rei.

"You little freak!"

Another oni seated at Otto's table stepped up and closed the distance with incredible speed. However, as he shot his straight punch, Arc jumped back a little, placing himself a couple centimeters out of range and once his feet touched the ground, he charged forward, instantly entering his opponent's personal space and landing a counter punch to his chin, knocking him out.

Everyone else on Otto's table got up to join the fight, about thirty or so in total

"*Gulp"

[Onis might be incredibly powerful in close combat, however, these chumps currently lack the heightened physical abilities that comes with ygg, so kick their asses!]

*BOOM

An.... explosion? That's probably the best way to explain it. There was a loud, heavy crash in the space between Arc and the onis which blew both sides back a little.

Out from the dust,smoke and debris rose a giant....no, a man, a prisoner with fairly long silky black hair, fierce blue eyes and an intense presence that made everyone around shiver from the cold sweat trickling down their skins.

"Why don't we stop here. If you start a riot, the guards will come running"

He said that with a smile but his presence wasn't any less intimidating.

"But Chief.....You can't expect us to just let them get away with thi—"

He raised his hand and the oni fell silent instantly. The 8ft muscle Chad stepped forward, towering over Arc and his comrades.

"Like I said, a full on brawl will attract attention, so how about the two of us battle it out, winner take all"

"Please reconsider, Chief Tetsuro! He's just a child"

Rei intervened, stepping between Arc and Tetsuro after escaping Melissa's grip.

"Age doesn't matter on the battlefield, only power. From what I can tell, he's the strongest fighter you've got"

Those words were a blow to the lightning oni's pride, especially since she herself had lost to Arc once before.

"Nevertheless, he's still a child. Let me fight in his plac—"

"I accept"

"What?"

[WHAT?!]

Arc stepped forward with confidence

"When I win, I want you and your companions to apologize to Rei"

"Apologize? Hey guys, what did you do?!"

The onis turned their heads, clumsily trying to dodge the question. Tetsuro scratched his head in embarrassment.

"*Sigh— It seems my guys are the ones at fault here, I'm apologize for that. Nevertheless, as the chief of the oni clan, I'm duty-bound to defend the honor of my two guys you knocked out so....."

He cleared his throat

"If I lose, we'll all get on your hands and knees and apologize, in addition, I'll do any one thing you say, if you lose, you'll do any one thing I say. How about it, short stuff?"

"You think you're such hot stuff just cause you're tall?!"

"I didn't say that, haha"

Tetsuro chuckled, realizing he'd touched a nerve.

"You're on!"

Arc agreed, assuming a fighting pose

[Are you crazy or just stupid? Think about this! He jumped from the fourth floor and there's not a single scratch on him. Monster doesn't even begin to describe this guy]

"Doesn't matter! I'm going to kick his as—"

*WHACK

"OWWWW! What's that for?!"

Rei ignored him and bowed to Tetsuro.

"Please.... forgive him and call of the fight!"

"You're an oni warrior too, kid. You know I can't do that"

"Then, at least give him time to prepare.... please!"

Arc tried to protest but was held down and gagged by his other cellmates.

"How long?"

"2 weeks!"

He burst into a huge laugh that echoed through the prison.

"You have 2 days"

"But—"

*WHOOSH

Rei was frozen in fear from the murderous intent that whooshed momentarily from Tetsuro.

"Two days, during free time. I'll see you then...short stuff"

He turned around and walked away waving while Arc's cellmates got off of him.

"Why did you stop m—"

*SLAP

"What the hell were you thinking? I get you want to make yourself feel better for last night but killing yourself isn't the answer"

"Last night? Oh, I almost forgot about that, haha"

Rei was about to furiously smack him again but Yuki stopped her, asking her to calm down.

"That's not why though. We're cellmates, comrades. It's only natural to help each other, right?"

"Wrong! Why the hell would someone in their right mind help an enemy just because they happen to be in the same cell?!"

"You covered for me at volunteer work yesterday despite everything. This time, it was just my turn to help you"

His smile turned her ears a little red— she turned her head and stomped away after calling him a naive brat. Arc got up, dusting himself.

"Well, I'll see you guys later"

"black room two days in a row, huh? You sure are unlucky"

Alfred teased jokingly, unaware it was going to be three days in a row tommorow. Arc received his "punishment" and went to volunteer work where Rei avoided him throughout.

************

"Haaaaa..."

Arc soaked in the open air bath at ten thirty once everyone had already left.

[Hoho, do your scars embarrass you?]

"I-It's not like that, I'm just not feeling comfortable in a mixed bath is al—"

Arc kicked the water, narrowly dodging the person who dove in right from the entrance with killer intent.

His assailant rose to the surface, the splashing water and moonlit sky backdrop illuminating her figure, the tiny splashes from her hair landing on her collarbone and trickling down her pale skin as she looked at him with her deep azure eyes. She was almost like

"A-An angel"

"You call someone who attacked you an angel? Masochistic little brat. Still, good reflexes. You might not be a lost cause after all"

"M-Ms Rei, c-cover yourself, you're naked"

"It's a mixed bath, comes with territory. Seriously, do all kids your age harbor dirty thoughts these days or were you just dropped on the head as a kid?"

She retorted, flicking him on the forehead

"Uhmm...why are you here? I'm pretty sure you took your bath earlier with the others"

"To train you, obviously"

"Train....me?"

"What do you think the days I bought you were for? Sipping margaritas? The way you are right now, you'll be dead in minutes"

"You worry too much, I'll be fine"

After all, he received proper close quarters instruction from the cradle and sparred seriously for 2 months against a master class.

"Prove it". She said, stepping out of the bath

"Single point match, me and you"

"You can't expect me to h-hit a girl"

"That didn't stop you in the forest"

"I thought you were a boy back then"

He regretted that statement after seeing her looking at him with a face that said "die"

"I'm only sixteen! They'll still grow big soon, I know it"

"Grow.... big?"

"Nevermind. Get up here, I'll be sure to knock you into next week"

Arc got out of the hotspring, wrapping his towel around his waist.

"Fine, but put on some clothes at least"

"I'm more comfortable this way so no. Besides, it'll teach you concentration"

Arc felt her true intention was revenge for her loss in the forest but agreed anyway. The sooner they start, the sooner they can finish.

She dashed forward to land the first strike but he parried and tried landing a counter strike which she dodged.

"Did you think it'll be that easy, brat?"

"Maybe"

"You little..."

She moved into close quarters, giving up on hit and run tactics and they started throwing hands for a while— both parties parrying the other's attacks and trying to counter but getting shut down.

Arc was considerably impressed by her skill in martial arts, she had been trained well. However, he'd adapted to her speed and movements and was ready to end it.

He left a tiny opening on purpose which Rei went for. He instantly moved in for the win, landing a counterpunch faster than her and ending the fight.....at least, in his imagination anyway.

*SPLASH

He shot through the water, only realizing he'd been hit after his back touched the other end of the open air bath. At the last second, Rei's speed increased considerably—at least ten times as fast.

He looked at the victor in shock and noticed something that wasn't there before, her horn

"H-Huh? How can you do that with the collar on?"

"I knew it!"

She replied, facepalming with exasperation

"This horn is part of oni physiology not a ygg skill, so I can manifest it without issue."

"I see..."

"While it does boost our skills and ygg reserves, it also increases our physical abilities by about five to seven times"

"Seven times?!"

"In addition to that, the martial arts style I use is known by every oni warrior— it was designed to maximize the horns capabilities so you should be thinking about ten times"

"I'm going to die"

Arc said, holding his hair. Rei sighed

"Seems I was right to be worried. Listen up! From now till the big day, you'll spar with me and get used to an oni's fighting style. The only reason you've won so far is cause we've been underestimating you...."

Arc got out of the water while listening to her speech

".....From our fight, I can tell you pick up things quickly. I'm not going to take it easy on you. You ready, brat?"

"YES, MASTER"

He bowed as though he was back at martial arts class in the cradle. She blushed a little at the title

"That's right, respect me!..... Let's begin"

They trained till the bath closed that night and the one after. Arc didn't have black room torture on the day before so they both trained all through free time.

"I won!"

Arc jumped for joy at his first win during free time.

"Well done. Now let's keep going, a single win means nothing against the chief, you need to be able to beat me consistently"

After a couple more losses, he didn't lose again that day but still attended their night training session. Rei was already in the bath when he got there so he joined her, already used to seeing her bare.

"I'm ready to train, master!"

"No, you need rest for tomorrow. Let the hotspring heal your wounds ahead of your execution"

"Execution?! That's just mean"

"Hahaha"

They fell in awkward silence after that. Two, three, four minutes....

"Hey, brat?"

"Yes, master?"

"Those wounds on your body..... they are different from the other onis. You're being tortured, aren't you?"

His face sank. She knew she touched a sensitive topic but gathered her courage and continued.

"When we first met, you were protecting the princess. I thought you were on their side"

"I guess... it's alright if master knows"

He told her everything from meeting Selene in woods till getting tortured and thrown in prison.

"That's awful...I knew she was horrible but still"

"...."

"That said, any normal person would've accepted then escaped once they found an opportunity, why didn't you?"

He thought for a second then smiled softly

"I guess.....I don't want to compromise my morals"

"A stupid reason, as expected...."

"Hey!"

"..... But still, the right one. According to our informant, the princess's personal knights are tricked into signing slave contracts after which they can never disobey her. I heard she molests them without remorse, irrespective of age or gender"

The only thing that stood out to Arc was

"Informant?" He reiterated under his breath

[Kidnapping a Princess is impossible for a gang of teenagers. It stands to reason they had a mole feeding them info]

"And all to become a hunter? Sighhhh"

"Do you not like hunters?"

"I hate hunters with every fiber of my soul. After all, they took everything from me....

...from us"

Her expression was one of pure rage and hatred, suffocating malice engulfing the air, drawing Arc in.

"Now that I've gotten to know you, I know you're a nice person. So why? Why did you resort to kidnapping? And why do you hate hunters so muc—"

*Brrrgggghh

Rei pushed his head into the water, using it as a support to get out of the bath. The moment Arc brought his head out, his eyes locked with her beautiful azure eyes, entranced by her gentle smile contrasting perfectly the moonlit sky

"If you win tomorrow, I'll tell you everything you want to know. Goodnight.... Arc"