3:43 p.m. 

Mai shot the grown men a look of utter disgust. 

Some of them were old enough to be fathers, yet here they were, stooping to such despicable acts against an innocent girl like Haga. 

She spoke boldly. 

“You should all be ashamed of yourselves. But don't worry, I'll ensure you learn your lesson, and then I'll personally escort you to the authorities.”

The men chuckled dismissively, shaking their heads. 

The oldest among them snapped his fingers, and soon they formed a circle around Mai. 

Unfazed, she stood her ground, clutching her phone tightly. 

“Teach us a lesson? You're getting ahead of yourself, missy. But by the time we're done with you, you'll wish you'd never stepped foot in here.”

“This bitch really thinks she's something, huh?”

“Haha, she's not shit!”

“Considering our numbers, it'd be more fun if we gang bang her too!”

“Good idea...”

All of the men taunted her. 

Mai's fists clenched, her breath trembling with suppressed anger. 

Their words triggered a painful memory she'd rather forget. 

This is why I can't stand bullies. Not just because they pick on people or put them down... but because they target the vulnerable. They'll never go after someone they know they can't beat, so they take it out on the weak who just wanna be left alone. They're... they're...

Growing impatient, one of the men grabbed Mai's shoulder from behind. 

“Come on, bitch! Do something!”

In an instant, her eyes blazed with rage. 

With a swift motion, she seized the man's wrist and, with surprising strength, snapped it. Then, she effortlessly threw him over her shoulder, slamming him to the ground. 

He howled in agony, clutching his injured wrist as he writhed in pain. “AAaaRRrGhhH! MY WRIST!” he screamed, rolling back and forth in a useless attempt to alleviate the pain.

 

Mai stared down at the man with a vacant expression, like she felt nothing from doing that. 

“Filth!”

Swiftly, she lifted her foot and delivered a powerful kick straight to his face, shattering his nose with a sickening crunch. 

She continued to rain down blows, each kick sending blood splattering and the man's nose swelling to a purple hue. 

Holding his disfigured face, he wailed, “AAaaarRGGggh! My face! This bitch broke my face!”

There was so much blood on Mai's shoe.

In an instant, the other men pounced on her from all directions, leaving her no room to maneuver. 

“Get her!”

Despite their powerful but sloppy kicks, Mai, skilled in various forms of combat, dodged and countered with devastating precision. 

Her punches broke noses, and her kicks, as hard as stone, inflicted excruciating pain as she crushed the eggs between their legs. 

“Aagghh!”

“Uuoorrghh!”

“Uuuuff!” 

Their cries echoed as they succumbed to her onslaught, clutching their stomachs, throats, and worst of all, their bleeding faces. 

However, Mai overlooked one crucial fact—these men were thugs, not trained fighters bound by a code of honor. Without warning, one of them, his eye swollen, plunged a taser into Mai's back and activated it, sending a jolt of electricity coursing through her body. 

“AHHHHHH!”

Instantly paralyzed, she crumpled to the ground, helpless against her attackers.

My body... *gasp* I-I can't move my body!

Mai attempted to move her body, but each attempt resulted in spasms, leaving her unable to control her muscles. 

Seeing her inability to scream, the man who had his nose broken earlier rushed forward, “Eat this bitch!” and delivered a kick to her stomach, expecting a reaction. 

But Mai remained silent, unable to vocalize due to the temporary paralysis caused by the shock. 

Frustrated, the man prepared to kick her again, this time aiming for her face. 

However, Tomita intervened, restraining the man. "If you're going to hurt her, save her face. I want to see her expressions when she's swallowing my cock," he sneered, unbuckling his tie and crouching down. "But first, let's tie her up so she can't cause any more trouble." 

After securing Mai's arms and legs, Tomita gestured for a taser, which one of the men handed to him. 

“Excellent...” grinning maliciously, he switched it on, relishing what he was gonna do next. 

Straddling Mai, he attempted to force his tongue into her mouth, but before he could, Mai's paralysis wore off. "Get off me!" she screamed, headbutting Tomita with enough force to give him a splitting headache. 

“GyYYAaaahhHh!”

As he recoiled, Mai tried to escape, only to receive a kick in the face, followed by another in the back. 

"Son of a bitch!" Tomita yelled in frustration, stabbing Mai with the shocking taser to paralyze her, then sending her crashing to the ground with a backhand slap across the face. 

“MAAAAIIIIII!!” Haga screamed like her throat would bleed. 

One of the men crouched and grabbed her by the neck, “Be a stupid bitch like her and I'm shoving it inside you first! Do you hear me, bitch?!”

Haga's voice drowned and she shook her head with fear. 

KNOCK! KNOCK!!

There came a knock on the AV Room door, and all eyes turned to see Yuuki calmly entering, holding a pink umbrella. “Looks like Sanda took my umbrella... or I'm colorblind,” he said casually before turning to the men. “Oh? Sorry, who're you guys?” he asked, seemingly unfazed by the tense atmosphere. 

The men growled angrily at the unexpected interruption, but Tomita's surprise hinted that he recognized Yuuki. 

That's the guy from earlier today... he's the one who...

One of the men snapped, “Hey, kid, this ain't the time for movie-watching. Get lost!”

Meanwhile, Mai, still paralyzed on the ground, desperately wished she could speak or move. 

Yuuki-kun... no... what in the world are you doing here?!

Yuuki glanced at her, almost as if he could hear her mind. 

“Mai, I've been racking my brain trying to remember where I'd heard your name before. Then it hit me—twelve years ago, we crossed paths. You were standing up to some bullies for a girl you barely knew. You couldn't beat them all, but you didn't back down... just like you're doing now.”

Each thing he recounted stirred emotions in Mai. 

H-he... remembers me... *sniffle* he really does... 

Though she couldn't respond, a tear escaped her eye. 

Yuuki smiled gently at her. 

“I'll never forget that girl from twelve years ago—the one I told to get stronger before protecting the weak.”

A huge man stood in front of Yuuki and looked down on him, “You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, are ya kid?” he grinned showing his sharp fangs. 

“I'd like to think I am..” calmly said Yuuki as he looked up at the beefy man. “But I have a question for you...”

“Huh?” The man raised an eyebrow.

“AV rooms here have acoustic treatments to minimize external noise interference and create an immersive audio-visual experience... do you know what else it does?” Yuuki plainly asked. 

The men laughed at their fellow gang member, believing the young man was mockingly questioning his intellect.

The man's muscles tensed, and he screamed, "Sharp mouth, huh?" 

With surprising speed, he launched a wild haymaker at Yuuki. 

But Yuuki, aka Tanaka, effortlessly deflected the blow with a swift parry, redirecting the force with minimal effort. 

Then, in a flash, he delivered a precise punch to the man's solar plexus, sending him crashing to the ground in agony. 

The man could barely breathe; like his lungs had shutdown.

The room fell silent. . .

As the man struggled to get up, Yuuki's umbrella shot downward, and its pointy end stabbed the man in the eyes. 

The man gripped his injured eye. "ARRRGGHH!! MY EYYEEEEE!" he screamed in agony as blood streamed from between his fingers. 

Unfazed, Yuuki addressed the group with an empty, cold stare. 

“The AV room also hides out cowardly noises. So I assure you... no one will hear your cries.”

...

N/B: If not clear, Yuuki specialist at Wing Chun (: