An endless battlefield.
Heroes on both sides, their statuesque forms shattered and broken by the inferno of combat, again and again. And there on the front lines, I led the charge of the rebellion. A desperate struggle, and only I was strong enough to save them.
But it was merely a dream, and I awoke from it before I could see the ending.
“Weird dream… gotta stop reading manga before I go to bed…”
When I got up, the annoying chirp of cicadas was all I could hear. That combined with the stifling heat inside my room made me think it was already summer, but I knew there were still a few months to go before the break started.
I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face to try and wake myself up. After that I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs. My mother was still preparing breakfast in the kitchen from the sound of it, and my dad was watching the morning news.
‘- was identified as Toyoda Tasuku, age 22.’ The news was talking about the only thing they ever did these days, another victim had shown up.
Every day it seemed another body was found. Killed gruesomely with a large blade, like a combat knife or possibly a sword… What the hell was going on with the world?
“Ah, Kouta-kun, good morning!” my mom called out to me from the kitchen as I arrived on the first floor. Despite the macabre news the three of us had a peaceful breakfast, and then I headed to school.
On the way I ran into my childhood friend, Yuuki Raza. She didn’t seem to notice me, but she was usually busy with her track practice in the morning, so it didn’t bother me. That and I didn’t really stand out all that much in a crowd, so she may have missed me. We had grown up in the same apartment complex for many years, but next to her stunning beauty I looked even more unimpressive than I usually did.
That’s me, Sugiyama Kouta, the world’s most average man. Middle of the road grades, a decent but not amazing face, and enough athletic ability to get by without being impressive to anyone.
In fact, the level of how normal I was was actually somewhat abnormal. Pretty much everyone had some sort of notable characteristics, but I was basically a blank slate. I could be anyone, almost like the protagonist of a dating sim or harem anime.
Because of this notable lack of notable features, I started to feel like I actually was the main character of some sort of greater story that had yet to begin. I would sit and daydream through class, thinking about developing some kind of superpowers. Of course, this never happened, and I remained a nobody.
Unlike the person I was currently looking at. As I arrived at school a familiar scene played out before me. A large, burly man in a different uniform stood across from a student in my class who definitely did stand out against the rest.
If anyone was the “main character” of this school, it was them. A true delinquent in this day and age, like they stepped right out of the page of a manga. Hatsu Takeru, a real pretty boy with dark brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, yet they didn’t look feminine. Probably because their face was always covered in bandages and cuts, and even from here I could see his muscles barely being contained in his uniform’s sleeves.
“Ora!” Like a cliche, the older, bigger man who had come from god knows where to fight Takeru shouted and threw a heavy punch towards the smaller combatant. If you were an outsider, you would likely think that he had the advantage, but I knew better.
The large, gorilla-like man’s fist never reached its intended target, as Takeru effortlessly caught it mid arc with a single hand. And try as he may, he couldn’t wrench his hand away from Takeru’s grip.
With a twist of his body, Takeru pulled the larger man towards their own fist. Combining his excess weight with the heavy punch, Takeru multiplied the effectiveness of his strike quite marvelously. As the larger man collided with Takeru’s outstretched fist, his face smashed right into the unmoving object placed before him.
The man’s nose exploded into a fountain of blood, and he crumpled to the ground. With a single flick of the wrist, Takeru shook the blood from his knuckles and returned their hands to their jacket pockets. Cool and collected, with an aura of unapproachability, they were without any doubt the complete opposite of myself.
Yeah, when I finally become the protagonist, this is surely my rival character! Stupid thoughts like that would cross my mind every so often, I guess I never fully grew out of my chuuni phase in middle school.
“As strong as ever, aren’t ya Takeru?” one of the punks that fell in line behind the boss of the school ran up to Takeru with a stupid grin on his face. “I don’t see why they keep trying, your one shot punch is legendary already!”
“Hmph, trash like that isn’t even worth fighting…” Takeru sighed, looking quite dejected. “So boring… can’t anyone give me a real challenge?”
I wanted to speak up, to say that I would be that challenger, but I could barely do a single pushup in gym class, so it was nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Throughout the day, I struggled to pay attention to my schoolwork. I kept thinking about that fight from this morning, the memory itself making me feel hot from excitement. As I fantasized about this and that, I noticed a pair of eyes on me from behind. Yuuki Raza was staring quite intently at me, it was actually kind of embarrassing, really. After classes ended I ran up to her, mustering the courage to speak.
“R-Raza-chan! Wanna… walk home together?” I asked her, since we lived on the same street I thought it would be an easy yes from her, but I was quickly shot down.
“Hmm?” she stopped and looked back at me with a puzzled expression. She must not have realized who was speaking, as she was confused when she saw me standing there. “Oh, it’s Sugiyama-san… sorry, I have my part time job after this…”
I got blown off by one of the prettiest girls in the school just like that, even though we were childhood friends too… wait, could she perhaps be… a tsundere?! It all made sense now, and I felt a lot better with the realization.
“Ah, nevermind then, see you tomorrow!” I waved and walked away from her, and she gave a slight wave back to me as I headed home.
God, why was it so hot out when it wasn’t even summer? I was damn near sweating through my uniform, and it was getting hard to breathe even… was I coming down with something?
To hurry home even faster, I cut through the park. I was beginning to get worried, as my chest started to hurt more and more, this was more than just being a bit too hot, I was burning up, and a dull ache began to form in my muscles.
My legs felt like jelly, and I fell down, barely managing to stay on one knee. My breath was extremely ragged now, it hurt so bad… What was happening?
And then, like a whisper in my ear, a voice echoed.
“Power… give me more… power…”
My head whipped around to look behind me, but there wasn’t anyone there. In fact, the park was completely empty, which already seemed a bit strange. But it made sense no one was there, as that voice…
Was my voice.
The intense pain in my body increased endlessly, all I could feel was agony as if all of my bones were trying to burst out of my skin at the same time.
“Ahhhggg, ahhhhhhhh… AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed, more of a beastial wail than a human sound.
…
I lost my sense of time and direction after that. The intense pain, along with the heavy fever that clouded my thoughts… I wasn’t sure where I was anymore. I walked, with no goal in mind, as I couldn’t even form the idea of a target to head for.
I tried to cry for help, but my voice didn’t come out, no matter how hard I tried. I searched desperately for someone, anyone who might be able to help.
And then I saw them.
I tried to call out to them, but my voice wouldn’t come out. So instead, I began to follow them. They were leaving the area, but I staggered behind them, trying my best to get their attention.
I wanted to call out to them, but I didn’t. I realized █ could█’█
█ wanted to ████ t█em.
The thoughts in my head were jumbled and incoherent, driven by the constant beat of my heart against my eardrums. I followed the delinquent into an empty alleyway, almost as if my body had a mind of its own. They finally noticed me as I caught up to them, and I felt a sense of relief.
I wouldn’t live in their shadow anymore, I would become the protagonist! I reached out my twisted, claw-like hand towards Hatsu Takeru. I wasn’t even bothered by the strange appearance of my arm, it didn’t hurt any more.
I don’t know when my body had changed, was it at the park? Perhaps even before then, or maybe this wasn’t a change at all, but an awakening of something that was always inside of me.
My time is now, I can escape from my fate. No longer a background character, I would become the main character I was always meant to be! A normal human couldn’t stop me, I was special, different from the rest!
They ran scared from me, like they should. I was more than a human now, and they couldn’t stop me with their own strength anymore! I stood over them, ready to sink my claws into their weak, human flesh. I didn’t care if what I was doing was right, I was the main character… I could do anything I wanted!
“Is tHiS EnOuGh Of A cHaLLeNgE fOr YoU?!”
I drew back my clawed fingers, preparing to dig them into his unprotected body. I would gauge them, rip them, tear them to pieces. Rip out his guts and strangle him with them, pull out his eyes, bite off his tongue~
“DiE... TaKeRu!!”
My ears filled with the sound of flesh being sliced apart, blood rained down across my field of view. But my claw had never made it to my target, and I was frozen in place. I couldn’t move, my body was no longer responding to me.
My heart, which had been pounding in my chest until then, was silent. A shimmering, golden blade stood out beneath the blood coating it, sticking straight through my chest.
“EhHhH..?”
“Die, monster. You don’t belong in this world.” a soft female voice caressed my hearing. Her words were harsh, but her voice was soothing and angelic.
My body fell as she removed the blade, spilling even more blood onto the dirty alley below us. My face hit the ground, splashing into the pool of my own liquids. It was cold, so cold… wait, wasn’t something wrong here?! Why… had I transformed into a monster and been killed in an alley?
Wasn’t I… the main character?
“I just wanted to be noticed…”
My eyesight was beginning to fail, but as the light began to disappear, I saw my monstrous hand slowly shrink and return to a human form. Oh, something dawned on me…
The serial killings...
