"Kyoka..."
A muffled sound calling her name made Kyoka Jiro grunt softly. Her consciousness was still hazy, but soon other noises began to invade her ears: creaking wood, shattered glass, and... screams.
That was enough to make her suddenly wake up.
"Coff! What... Coff! Happened?" Kyoka asked between coughs, trying to get up.
However, she realized there was someone on top of her.
"Ah... Hi."
"Hi..." Shugen replied naturally. "About your question, it seems something landed on the café's roof, went through the ceiling, and destroyed everything."
As he spoke, he shifted his shoulders slightly, feeling the enormous weight of the rubble pressing on his back.
"H-hey! Are you okay?"
"Don't worry."
Shugen slowly raised one of his hands.
"Dismantle."
Slash!
An invisible cut sliced through the wreckage above them.
In the next instant, concrete, wood, and iron bars were split into countless pieces, opening up enough space for daylight to illuminate the place again.
Shugen stood up calmly, brushing the last bits of debris off his body and cracking his neck.
"What a pain..."
"Ah..." Kyoka also tried to sit up.
But the moment she moved her leg, an intense pain shot through her body.
Her eyes widened.
"...Damn it..."
A steel bar had pierced through her leg, pinning it to the ground amid the rubble.
Shugen immediately turned his gaze to the wound.
His expression changed completely.
The indifferent features vanished, giving way to a serious look, as small bluish sparks began running across his body.
"Please don't move, Miss Jiro."
He knelt beside her and gently placed his hand on her head.
A warm energy spread through the girl's body.
"I'm going to pull it out."
Kyoka stared at him in confusion.
"...Huh?"
Before she could ask anything...
Yank!
Shugen ripped the steel bar out in one firm motion.
Kyoka's body tensed reflexively, but the pain was far less than she expected.
'...Didn't hurt that much?'
Without wasting time, Shugen moved his other hand to the wound.
An orange glow began to envelop his palm.
'Using my Bio-Field to shape my Bio-Energy into different forms...' His eyes stayed fixed on the injury. 'It's something I developed for emergency situations... but it's working.'
The orange energy made contact with the wound.
Tsssss...
A faint vapor rose from Kyoka's skin as the heat quickly cauterized the ruptured vessels, stopping the bleeding almost instantly.
A few seconds later, Shugen withdrew his hand.
The wound was still there, but the bleeding had stopped completely, allowing Kyoka to receive medical attention without risking a dangerous loss of blood.
BAAM!
Suddenly, a huge, muscular figure burst through the remaining rubble of the café. Its gigantic fist shot up from below, lunging violently with the intent to strike Shugen and Kyoka at the same time.
However—
Foosh!
In a single fluid motion, the creature completely lost its balance.
Its body was flung into the air, twisting unnaturally as its arm was guided by Shugen's technique.
『Kanzaki Style - Aikido Method: Shiho Nage』
In the next instant, Shugen already had his feet firmly back on the ground.
His body settled into a flawless combat stance: fists clenched close to his face, shoulders relaxed, feet spaced apart, one in front of the other.
『Kanzaki Style - Boxing Method: Jab』
BOOM!
The punch struck the creature dead on.
The force of the impact sent its body crashing through the rest of the destroyed café before it was hurled out into the street, skidding across the asphalt and carving a massive trail of destruction.
Shugen remained still for a brief moment.
Then he turned only his face back.
"All survivors in this café... don't leave and don't get up. I'll handle the creature."
He calmly took off his coat and tossed it toward Kyoka.
"Hold onto this."
As Shugen walked out of the establishment, the civilians began to lift their heads from among the rubble.
Their eyes followed the young man as he headed straight toward danger without a trace of hesitation.
Small bluish sparks ran across his body, crackling faintly around his arms.
Among the survivors was a child of about five years old. Injured and lying on the ground, she watched him with tear-filled eyes.
"Who are you, mister?"
Shugen slowed his pace and took a deep breath.
'Just this once...'
Without looking back, he answered in a calm tone.
"A hero."
The child remained silent, staring at his back as he walked out of the café.
The reason?
That child deserved to have hope.
Just as he, too, had once received his.
Foosh!
In the blink of an eye, Shugen appeared before the creature.
His arm shot out first.
Jab!
Right after—
Straight!
And then—
Cross!
Each blow landed on the monster's face and torso, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—"
The creature opened its mouth in a deafening roar, but Shugen gave it no chance to continue.
Uppercut!
BOOM!
The fist rose violently into the creature's chin, snapping its jaw shut and cutting off the roar instantly.
Without allowing any recovery, Shugen seized the enemy's wrist.
His hips pivoted and his feet slid across the ground.
Then he twisted the creature's arm with precise control.
『Kanzaki Style - Aikido Method: Kote Gaeshi』
With one explosive movement, the wrist joint was completely overpowered, and the creature's gigantic body was slammed back down against the ground.
Looking more closely at the creature, Shugen made out its features more clearly.
Its skin was a dark shade, it wore nothing but a pair of torn pants, and its face was completely abnormal: bright yellow eyes stared at everything without any emotion, while two mouths split its face, making its appearance even more grotesque.
For a brief moment, Shugen simply watched it.
Then a small smile appeared on his face.
"Ah... you're one of them."
He slowly raised one arm.
"Then I can crush your head as much as I like."
The creature had been created without fear, happiness, anger, or any other feeling. Its mind was empty, driven only by instinct.
But in that moment...
It felt something, its body trembling slightly.
It wasn't fear, exactly. It was a primal instinct warning it that the boy standing before it was eager to break it into pieces.
Without wasting time, Shugen closed the distance and pressed his palm against the creature's face.
『Kanzaki Style - Practical Taekkyeon Method: Ki Pulse』
BOOM!
A powerful wave of energy burst from his palm.
The asphalt around them was shattered by the pressure, while the creature's head was violently driven into the ground, forming a massive crater.
Without even waiting for the dust to settle, Shugen remained standing before it.
Then he slowly raised his leg above his own head.
『Kanzaki Style - Practical Taekkyeon Method: Monstrous Serpent Strike』
BOOM!
His heel dropped like a guillotine.
The impact was brutal.
The entire street shook, countless cracks spread across the asphalt, and part of the crater grew even larger under the force of the blow.
Even so, the creature remained alive.
Before Shugen's eyes, the broken bones began to knit back together, muscles rearranged themselves, and the skin returned to normal within seconds.
"Regeneration..." Shugen remarked as he watched the process. "Is that Quirk trending these days?"
Before he could do anything else, the creature lunged forward.
Its enormous arms wrapped around Shugen's body in a tight grip.
"Hm..."
BAAM!
It slammed him violently into the ground.
BAAM!
Then again.
BAAM!
And once more.
Each impact caused the asphalt to cave in and fragments of concrete to fly in every direction.
On the last strike, however, Shugen freed one arm, and the instant his back touched the ground again, his free hand sank into the asphalt.
『Kanzaki Style - Grappling Method』
His fingers dug deep into the concrete.
The creature tried to continue the motion... but Shugen simply wouldn't budge anymore.
It was as if his body had been anchored to the ground itself.
The creature tilted its head slightly, unable to understand why it couldn't move him.
That was when it looked down and found Shugen smiling.
It was a wide, brazen, clearly amused smile.
"My turn~"