Chapter 7: Regrets

You're Shitting me. Aren't you? Of course, I had to play hero. 

Acting all smug in the store like some budget anime protagonist.

Like, standing up to some punk with no plan wouldn't bite me in the ass. 

God saw that and decided: 

"Yeah, let's humble this clown." 

Now here I was, standing on the sidewalk at night. 

Three girls behind me. 

Three guys in front. 

And one of them had a metal bat with my name on it. 

Nao and Reina were clutching the back of my shirt like I was a damn fortress. 

I wanted to swap places so bad. Let me hide behind them. Please. 

But no. Pride said nah. 

Arisa was the only one trying to keep her chin up. She stepped forward, voice trembling but defiant. 

"GET LOST, CREEP! YOU WERE THE ONE ACTING UP IN THE STORE, RIGHT?!" 

Her voice echoed off the buildings, but I could hear the crack in it, like a porcelain vase about to break. 

The guy just smirked and slapped the bat into his palm. 

"Oi, bitch. Shut up and come with us. You're sexy, but that mouth's annoying. 

Your little boyfriend here got cocky in front of me. So I want payback." 

He stepped closer, dragging the bat on the pavement with a screech. 

Arisa froze. Literally froze. Her hands were clenched, but her legs wouldn't move. 

The fear finally caught up to her. 

So it was me. 

I stepped in front of her, arms wide like I was doing some holy sacrifice. 

"Wow. Did you really need backup to beat up a student? I'm honoured." 

It sounded cool in my head. 

In reality, it just pissed him off. 

He stomped forward, now front and centre, spinning the bat once like he was selecting a weapon in a game. 

"You think you're funny, jackass? Let's see you laugh when I cave your skull in!" 

He lifted the bat. 

"YOU BIIII-" 

FLASH! 

A sudden beam of white light cut through the dark, right past my face. 

He flinched hard, dropping his swing mid-air. 

I didn't think.

Didn't hesitate. 

I swung. 

LEFT HOOK. RIGHT TO THE JAW. 

He dropped. 

Flat. 

My knuckles screamed, but adrenaline drowned out the pain. 

I turned just in time to see what blinded him. 

A phone light. 

Nao was holding it up with both hands, trembling, shouting: 

"SOUTA, RUN!!" 

Tempting. God, it was tempting. 

But I looked behind me. 

Yeahhhh. 

Reina and Arisa were running. 

More like fast walking. 

Actually, no. 

More like jogging through molasses. 

"Goddamn! Those jugs were slowing them down!" 

Rude. Yes, uncalled for. But also… kinda true. 

Big chests: 10/10 until you have to run for your life 

I realised there was no way we're outrunning anybody with that pace. 

The guy on the ground groaned, blood dripping down his lip. 

His friends stepped forward. 

All three of them now. 

Bats ready. 

Eyes locked on me like I just insulted their entire bloodline. 

"YOU'RE DEAD!" 

"GONNA MAKE YOU BEG, PUNK!" 

"AFTER WE'RE DONE, YOU'LL BE EATING THROUGH A STRAW!" 

They fanned out. Flanking me. 

I backed up slowly, trying to buy time to think, to do anything. 

My fists were shaking. 

I couldn't run. 

Couldn't fight. 

Couldn't call for help. 

Then the guy I punched wiped his lip and laughed. 

"I'm not gonna kill you yet. 

First… I want you to watch. 

Gonna have some fun with your little girlfriends while you lie there crying, you bitch." 

Three bats. 

One terrified idiot. 

And a few precious seconds before they pounced. 

The street was silent. 

A leaf cracked under a footstep behind us. 

Then. 

"It seems you've done well. You've gained some of my respect, Pervert." 

The voice was cold. 

Sharp. Like ice. 

"Jackass." 

We all turned. 

A figure stepped out from the shadows. 

Black twin-tails. A black jacket. Eyes that could kill. 

Yuki. 

Like some kind of ninja, she launched in front of me, dressed head to toe in black, her midnight hair whipping through the air like it had a personal contract with the moonlight. For a second, it was as if she were posing for a photoshoot, except this wasn't glamour; it was chaos. 

She spun low, sweeping the front two guys with a slice kick so clean they dropped like bowling pins. 

"HOLY SHIT, WE'RE SAVED!" I wheezed out, half-laughing, half-sobbing like a villain who just got saved by their overpowered best friend. You know those scenes? When the bad guy's sweating bullets until their S-tier buddy shows up, and suddenly they're the cockiest bastard in the room? 

Yeah, that was me. 

I straightened my back like I owned the place. 

"Hahahaha! Now what?! Getting dropped by a girl?! Couldn't be me!" I shouted, voice booming with freshly borrowed confidence. 

But of course… 

You know my luck. 

The smile on Yuki's face, the one that screamed "I'm a badass," crumbled. She winced, then looked at me, eyes shimmering under the glow of a flickering streetlamp. 

"I-I-I-I think I sprained my ankle…" she sniffled, trying to hold in tears that didn't ask permission to fall. 

"FUCK RUN!!!" 

No hesitation. I bolted and scooped her up like a prince carrying his tsundere princess. 

"UNHAND ME, YOU PERVERT! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!" she screamed, fists flying at my face and shoulders. She slapped me so hard I saw constellations. 

"You just body slammed two guys, and now you're crying? I'm saving your ass here!" I snapped, ducking another slap as I caught up to Arisa and Reina. 

But the girls weren't fast; they were dragging their feet like we were in a slow-mo horror movie. I couldn't pass them, couldn't risk leaving them behind.

If those guys caught them… 

I clenched my jaw. 

Fine. I'll be the bait. 

I kept running, Yuki flailing in my arms, every punch and kick making it harder to stay upright. The goons behind us weren't losing steam. They were getting faster. But I didn't look back. 

Running. 

Running. 

Running. 

Until I noticed it. 

The apartment. 

Long gone behind us. 

I'd passed it, way too far. Shit. The others must've turned off earlier. Now, it was just me, Yuki, and the footsteps behind us getting louder.

"YOU'RE GONNA GET US KILLED, SOUTA!" Yuki yelled, eyes wide with panic. 

I didn't answer. I couldn't. I just focused on fixing my screw-up. 

I veered left into a narrow alley, then cut right, then left again, dodging through shadows and squeezing past rusted fences. A second of silence was all I needed. 

Boom. 

Found it. 

A half-lit parking lot packed with dusty cars. 

I slid toward the center and spotted a tiny red coupe parked awkwardly between two trucks. No time to be picky. I dropped to my knees, immediately regretting it. Pain shot through my shins, and I shoved Yuki underneath. 

"Watch the hair!" she hissed. 

"No time for hair, Yuki!" 

I wriggled in beside her. 

Wrong choice. 

The undercarriage of the car was barely a foot off the ground. We had to press flat, really flat. One wrong move and any part of us could peek out. 

And that's when I realized… 

Her face was right there.

Inches from mine. 

I could feel her breath, warm, shaky. Her chest moved against mine every time she inhaled. The air was tight. My brain screamed at me not to move, not to breathe, not to say something stupid. 

Then… 

CLANG! 

A metal bat hit the ground right beside the car. Yuki flinched and jumped into me. My arms instinctively wrapped around her, not out of romance, more like "holy shit, I'm dying" reflex. 

She didn't push away. 

Her Chest was pressing mine. 

But she didn't say a word. 

We froze. 

The man's shadow loomed on the asphalt, stretching longer as he approached. I could hear his boots scraping gravel. He crouched slightly, just enough for his hand to reach under the car. 

My heart exploded in my ears. 

No, no, no, don't look down, just grab the bat and go, bro. Please. 

His fingers wrapped around the bat handle. 

Don't look. DON'T LOOK. 

I squeezed Yuki tighter, my face nearly buried in her hair. She didn't even flinch this time. I could feel her breath on my neck. It wasn't angry. It wasn't annoyed. 

It was scared. 

And then. 

The bat dragged away. 

Footsteps retreated. 

Silence. 

I didn't move. 

Not for a full minute. 

Then, finally, Yuki exhaled. 

"…You smell like sweat and cheap instant ramen," she whispered, voice trembling. 

"Better than blood and regret," I whispered back. 

She chuckled. 

A tiny laugh. 

And for once… 

Just for a second… 

I think she was glad I was there with me...