Takemura Itsuki

“… You win…” Those words echoed in my ears as I looked at his lips opening and speaking those. “This fight is over.”

Airi had her hands in front of her mouth in awe. Beneath her hands, her smile widened which she tried to suppress a little. Katsuki had his streamlined eyes fixed at her, who stood on his right. Katsuki then turned his feet at her and started to walk towards her. His gaze was fixed as he walked. He walked by Airi’s left and continued to walk all the way from the three of us. His strong and dominant back, covered with his green robe and his black pair of lower moved away and away as he walked from the front of Ichika, who had her eyes fixed at her, and continued to walk from them. The crowd in front of him had their shocked eyes fixed at him as his eyes evaded them and gazed aimlessly to his front and he continued to walk towards them. He moved his hands inside the pockets of his pants, continuing to walk dominantly. The crowd in front of him got aside to give him way, their eyes still unable to digest that man. As Katsuki continued to walk, the crowd in front of him kept on stepping aside to give him way. He crossed the crowd, who had turned their head to the back at him walking towards the edge of the ground a dozen of steps away from him, where the horses stood. He stood beside a brown horse, turned it to his left, fixated his left foot upon the metal rod, and moved his body up. He fixated his butt on the saddle, whipped the horse with his hands, and the horse started to run. The cloud of dust rose up as the horse ran away to my left. I had my eyes fixed on my left side, where he was walking. Then, suddenly, my fist closed tightly and my lips widened in a huge smile. “Yes!” Airi, who still hid her smile beneath her hands, hurriedly walked towards me, and Haruto too walked at me with a huge smile on his face. He moved his left arm on my shoulder and shouted, “We did it, pal!”

“We defeated that shitty bastard!”

“We won!” Airi jumped up as she walked at us and stood beside us.

“Someone take me up too!” Ichika shouted some steps away from us.

“YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!” The crowd started to cheer up as they raised their fists up in the air. “They’re so cool!”

“They literally defeated one of the sinners!”

“These kids got guts!”

“Whoa!”

“I don’t know how but I literally did it!” I shouted at them with a wide grin.

“You used kazi!” Airi replied. “I saw it!”

“What?!” I replied with a smile. “How the heck?!”

“I don’t know!” Airi happily replied. “But that was just great!”

“You can finally use kazi, pal!” Haruto complimented.

“Man,” I said with a large smile, surrounded by my two teammates. “I… really, really did it…”

“Well, that’s because of your dedication,” Haruto replied with a smile as he stood on my right. “You’re gonna become a good warrior.”

“In just some time, we can even beat the shit outta this king!” I commented. “And then we’re gonna go back home!”

Someone suddenly patted on my back. In the middle of all those cheering and clapping, I turned to the back and looked at a group of some big men standing behind me. They all were smiling. The two at the front bowed their heads down, held my legs, and suddenly rose me up. “THIS GUY RIGHT HERE JUST DEFEATED KABATA!”

“YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!”

“Aye, what did you tell your name was, huh?” A man on my right asked.

“Takemura Itsuki.”

He then shouted, “LET’S CELEBRATE THE WIN OF TAKEMURA ITSUKI-KUN!”

“ITSUKI! ITSUKI! ITSUKI! ITSUKI! ITSUKI! ITSUKI!” The crowd shouted my name as they applauded and rose their fists up in excitement.

Katsuki, who was sitting on top of his horse, had his depressed eyes tilted down, dark and covered with his blonde hair as he heard the chanting and shouting of the crowd behind him.

Ichika had a smile on her face as she sat on the ground and looked at Itsuki on top of some guys in the middle of the crowd. The crowd was cheering and chanting and shouting on top of their lungs. Suddenly, she heard the footsteps of someone walking towards her. She turned her head upon her right, and looked at Airi walking at her with a big smile on her face. She stood beside her, moved her hands on her waist, and turned her head at the crowd again. “I guess we finally defeated him.” She then turned her head to her left down at Ichika. “All thanks to you, Tachibana-sensei.”

Ichika turned her eyes up at her with a big smile on her face. “It was not just me. Itsuki had worked hard a lot.”

“You made him work hard, Ichika,” Airi said as she turned her head to the crowd again. “Your motivation, speeches, and zeal were what motivated him.”

“I guess so…”

The atmosphere between the two was full of faint voices of the crowd some dozen steps away from them. The two continued silently staring at the celebration going on. Then, Airi suddenly turned down at Ichika and asked, “Wanna stand up now?”

Ichika turned her head up. “Yeah, of course.”

Airi bent her back down on her left and held Ichika around her back. “Here.”

Haruto stood some steps away from the crowd, his arms crossed in front of his chest. As he glared at my wide grin in between the rising fists of the men around him, he thought, “Well, he’s having fun in this world.” Haruto tilted his smiling head down. “I should be happy too.”

“But… he’s having fun in this world… while I’m suffering alone in this dark ocean of despair.”