This is a piece of commission I've done. A short story one.

 

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“Good afternoon, Ryo-senpai.”

A curly-haired girl walking closer as soon as she’s aware that her upperclassman arrived at the campus. She’s more like having a little jump rather than walking like any normal person until the said person is close enough. She doesn’t even let him react, and before he knows, she clings on his arm.

 

“Morning. Eri. You’re in a good mood as usual, aren’t you?” he replied nonchalantly, doesn’t look bothered with the girl’s shenanigans, like holding his arm.

 

The girl whose hairstyle is like a small orange dumpling smirks, showing her neat, cute teeth. What could be inside her mind as she’s looking at the guy with her devilish smile?

 

“You could say that. But I wonder about you, Senpai. Are you doing well?”

“I’m in a good mood, thanks.”

“Is it because I, Eri, is here?”

“Eh?” Ryo glances at her with his clueless look.

“I am sure that because I am here, coming to greet you personally, so your mood is better, right, right? Hehe, I know that I’m a good mood-booster for you, senpai.”

“Haha, cut it out, Eri.”

 

They both are laughing at each other as they walk side by side. It’s natural to see them together every now and then, so everyone at the campus knows that. Furthermore, they acknowledged those two are currently dating—since Eri always rejected any confession directed to her without any clear reason.

Though the truth is very far from the rumor, Ryo doesn’t really pay that in mind. He just wants a peaceful time during the day and enjoying his moment with Eri.

 

“Senpai. You’re going to attend your afternoon class, right? When is your class finished?”

“If I recall correctly, I’ll be free in the evening. Are you going to invite me to go somewhere?”

“You’re surprisingly thoughtful today, Senpai. I plan to invite you to go to my apartment.” The girl smirks devilishly.

“Is it what I’m imagining? I bet it’s just only the two of us.” Ryo replied casually as he sits down on the lobby chair and lifts his face so he still able to keep eye contact. There’s an available chair right after the grey table in front of him. But, Eri doesn’t seem interested to use it.

“It’s exactly what you’re imagining. I bet we can have a lot of fun, just the two of us.”

“Oh, bold of you for offering me that, Eri. I can’t help but think about unnecessary stuff,” Ryo giggles to know how daring his underclassman is.

“You know, senpai. I’ll do anything if it’s for you. Even those naughty stuff.”

 

Eri winks teasingly, and surely Ryo catches that.

 

“The only naughty thing I could do is to skip classes. I think you know that better.”

“Hahahaha!! Really, senpai? Ah, you’re really no fun. Are you really won’t attack me if we were locked in somewhere private when it’s only just the two of us?”

 

Eri leans her body forward, so her face is really close towards her senpai. Seeing this, Ryo glance her back as his gaze is staring deep inside her soul.

As he smiles, he notices that Eri’s fragrance is quite calming.

 

“I’ll just be clear to you. If we were in a situation in a locked situation and our body are close to each other, I’m certain that I’ll ravage you without realizing it.”

“Eh?” she doesn’t really expect that answer.

“Yes. Eri is an attractive girl after all. It’ll be a crime for me to not doing something on you.”

 

Ryo smiles with confidence, while Eri is madly blushing and take a step back.

 

“W-w-w-what are you talking about, senpai?”

“Did I stutter? I said that you’re that charming girl who will make any guys going crazy for you, including me.”

 

Eri can’t contain her embarrassment anymore and shake her head really hard as she takes a step back. Watching her reaction, Ryo laughs it off until he satisfied.

 

“It’s almost time for my class. Bye, Eri. Let’s talk later.”

 

Ryo walks away without any reply from his underclassman. After a few minutes, Eri able to regain her composure and put both of her hands on her cheeks. Her head is suddenly getting hot.

 

“What’s with that guy? He got really cocky and whatnot? Uuhh, why he can say it with that confidence…”

 

Since Eri suddenly lost half of her energy thanks to that unexpected comeback, she hurriedly sits on the lobby chair and trying to breathe while leaning on her back. Her eyes are looking at the ceilings with those fluffy feelings.

 

 “Uwawawa….”

 

She blushes for the second time. The girl can’t contain all of the butterflies flying inside her mind and breaking away her logic in the meantime. It’s all Ryo’s fault.

After a few seconds, when she regained her sense, she giggles it away.

 

“Hey, Eri.”

“Good morning, Kyoko. Come! Sit with me.”

 

She sighs as she sat on the chair whose initially being sit by Ryo just a moment ago. Eli smiles cheerfully and puts both of her arms on the table and her hands holding her chin. The girl with glasses put her books on the table before starting to talk with her friend.

 

“I saw you talking to Ryo-senpai again.” 

“Of course. It’s fun just to talk with him. Maybe I should introduce you to Ryo-senpai so we three can talk together.”

“I’m sorry, but,” Kyouko fixes her glasses so she can gaze straight on Eri, “I’ve heard some bad rumor about him.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t intend to pry since you know better about him than me. But, there’s something at least I must do as your friend.” Kyouko inhales and exhales deeply before she set her gaze straight. “Apparently, Ryo-senpai is someone suspicious. People often saw him lurking at the city’s corner when it’s dark outside. I’ve gathered a lot of reliable information, and that’s the conclusion. I want you to have your distance with Ryo-senpai.”

 

The girl with curly hair tilts her head. Surely, that’s something new she heard about Ryo, and that’s just appeared out of nowhere. 

Really, I wonder where those rumor is coming from.

Her friend is saying utterly opposite side of Ryo-senpai, who is known to her. Kyouko is right. There’s no other person than her that really knows what about Ryo than her. Is there any other side of Ryo that Eri doesn’t know about?

 

The girl smiles confidently.

 

“Thank you for your concern, Kyouko. It’s just as you said. There’s no other than me that knows very well about him. So there’s no need to worry. I believe that Ryo-senpai is a nice person.”

 

That words alone make Kyouko think that there’s no use to tell her more about it, along with that sharp gaze and smile of Eri. If he’s really that reliable, then…

 

“Really. Just be careful, Eri. Alright?”

“Hehehe. Thank you very much, Kyouko. You sure care for me a lot. I’m thankful for that.”

 

The girl with curly hair is grinning wide stupidly. Kyouko let go of a relieved sigh and smiles.

 

“Alright, Eri. Are you free right now? I want you to come with me to buy something.”

“Oh, what are you gonna buy?”

“Discounted cosmetics. I don’t want to miss them out.”

“Sure, sure! Let’s go!”

 

This day supposed to be another day for Eri as she walks away and tagging along with Kyouko. She just needs to attend her classes, meeting Ryo, hanging out with her friends, and calling it a day. If Eri was lucky, she’d find a sweet moment with Ryo. Just the two of them.

That’s how everything usually works for Eri. But unfortunately, today is not.

 

One thing that Eri able to remember is to run very far using all her strength. Still, she’s not lucky enough and unable to move her legs. Her ankle was sprained, and she is out of breath now. Her frail body can’t even move except to crawl away and put her back on the wall.

 

“Haah… haah…”

 

In front of her, there are two intimidating young guys. They stood out before her with a weird expression. One of them is licking his bottom lips, looking at a helpless girl.

“That’s the payback for you to bite my arm. Now you understand what will happen if you got naughty.” The one with hat snickers. 

“Right, right. We’re actually good guys, you know. We’ll escort you to your house. But why you harm him? That’s unforgivable.” Another man is clearly mocking her. He wears oversized clothes and dirty jeans.

 

Her head is spinning so much as that girl trying to recall what happened. There’s blood on her forehead and dripping through her cheeks, and it’s slowly get stung. When the college girl is looking around, she sees no one aside than a running stray cat and dirty walls surrounding her.

 

“Look at that. Your cute face is being stained with dirty blood. Hehe, don’t worry. I can wipe it out for you if you want,” said the guy with a hat.

 

Now, how is Eri trapped in this kind of situation? 

 

A few seconds passed as she finally remembers. Finally, everything in her head is moving slower as she starting to grasp the facts that made her here, being cornered at the dark alley.

Kyouko took her time too much than initially planned to look at the discount goods. There’s a lot of surprise discounts, and that made her shocked and thrilled at the same time. Not only that, but Kyouko brought her to karaoke for a few hours. As soon as they finished, it’s quite late already, so the glasses girl bowed her head frantically to apologize.

 

“That’s alright, that’s alright. I enjoyed our time together, really! Glad that you’re enjoying your time looking at the discount, Kyouko. And it’s not sarcasm.”

 

Soon after, they split up on their every own direction, Eri had a walk down to the street, on the way home while looking at the phone. But it seems that it’s going to get late soon as she noticed it by looking at the digital clock on her phone. 

So, she got an idea. She walked past the main street and went through a narrow alley. It’s the quickest shortcut on the way home, even though it has a lot of intersection. But Eri doesn’t really think it through since she knows which way to go. 

The college girl is seldom walking through those alleys, but she has been there before.

“Hence, it’s no problem to go there,” she murmurs happily, and later she hums a few theme songs she familiar with.

 

After a few minutes of walking, she realized that two guys are smoking at this narrow alley, right in front of her. They both blocked the way as they laughed at each other.

Eri didn’t mind that and tried to get past over them.

Until the guy with hat was intentionally hit her shoulder.

 

“Woah, girl. You sure to walk out just like that and don't take any responsibility for this?”

 

Eri doesn’t listen to that kind of remark, but the guy with oversized clothes blocked her way with a weird smirk. She glares with a hostile intention on him, but that alone won’t make the guy budge. And then, she got hugged from behind on her shoulder by the guy wearing a hat.

 

“Look, you're rude, right? We don’t ask much. We only need to have a little fun together. Or maybe you’ll let us escort you home? We’re actually nice guys, you know.”

 

Eri grabbed his arm and bit it really hard until it bleeds. He screams and lets go of her. To see an opportunity to escape was coming, she ran back towards the alley’s entrance soon after the girl hit his chest with her elbow.

 

“You bastard!”

 

She ran with all her might since it’s all on her now. The narrow alley got a lot of intersection so

Eri must get out from here or else—

Unexpectedly, the guy with oversized clothes able to tackle her and made her hit the wall. It almost makes her fainted because of that direct impact and the pain caused by it, but Eri able to stay conscious.

 

And there she was, leaning against the dirty wall with her head spinning around and feeling awful, especially on her legs.

There’s no escape. The two guys are getting closer and closer.

 

Ah, is that it?

 

Her eyes were teary, and her nose is heavy. Eri’s vision is blurred as she feels something is running down on her cheeks.

 

Senpai, help me please… Ryo-senpai!

 

“It’s been a while since I had a woman in my life. We’ll have a party tonight.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll be sure to—guakh!”

 

The guy with oversized clothes being kicked forward as he lost his balance and fall down. While a straight strong punch is landed on the guy with the hat’s face right away as he turns his head to see what’s going on.

Both of the thugs are on the dirt now, totally unaware of that strike.

 

“You know. Actually, a surprise attack is not my strong point.” 

The mysterious man in a neat suit appears in this narrow alley. Since Eri’s sight is terrible, thanks to her tears, she can’t quickly grasp who he is.

The guy in a suit walked over the guy with a hat in pain. When he reaches the oversized-clothes guy who is trying to stand up, a few consecutive punches being thrown on his chest. A single somersault kick right on his head following after when he has no time to process what happened.

 

“Aaargh!”

 

Finally Eri able to grasp the situation clearly and witnesses something which she never has seen before. The guy with hat trying to land a punch on her savior, but the target able to fend it off quickly and counter it with a head butt. The thug flinches as he lost his balance, but the mysterious person doesn’t let this chance slip by as he grabs his opponent’s clothes and pulls it. 

After that, he hit his face repeatedly on the same spot.

 

“One, two, three, four, five…”

 

His count increases with the number of face punch given, along with that crack noises that can be heard often.

 

“Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five… okay. That’s it.”

 

He let go of the guy with hat’s clothes as his body hit the ground with a loud thump. Blood splatters everywhere, his hands included. So, the guy in suit shakes off his hand to sprinkle it off.

 

“Ryo-senpai?”

“What are you doing here at this hour, Eri?”

 

He leans down to check on her face. Ryo observes Eri carefully and nods when he sees her head is bleeding and sprained leg.

Before the girl has the chance to answer, Ryo walks towards the whimpering guy who watched his friend being punched in the face.

 

“How dare you to do that, you fucker! Are you playing hero now?!” A scream of frustration is being thrown, and he stands up at the same time.

 

He suddenly pulls out a knife and swings it frantically. Noticing that, Ryo takes a step back a bit and observes his opponent carefully. As he sees his reaction, the oversized-clothes guy laughs while pointing his knife on Ryo.

 

“Hah? Are you scared, punk?! You finally realized that you can’t fight me, huh? Hahaha—“

 

When he is aware of what happened after, his arms already bend to an abnormal direction, which is impossible for a human hinge to do. And then, another straight kick on the face makes his body fall headfirst. The sharp object is on Ryo’s hand now.

After that, a loud, frustrated scream is being heard.

 

“No, no. Please… forgive me. Let me go!” He is on the verge of tears and asking for mercy. The pain on his hand is incredible, and he can’t stop whimpering, showing a look in terror when he knows what shape is his hand becoming to.

 

There’s no response from Ryo as he’s getting closer.

 

“I think I must give you a lesson in the first place. You know, the girl over there is bleeding on her head and sprains her ankle. Since I already transferred the pain on her head to your friend’s face, it’s your turn to receive the same agony on your legs,” said Ryo.

“W-what do you mean?”

 

The guys in suit smirk and observes his opponent’s legs. Somehow, Ryo dangerously playing the knife, like showing it off while checking on something interesting. And then…

 

“Let’s count it up, shall we? One.”

 

One stabs on the bottom of the thug’s legs, and one scream.

 

“Two, three, four, five…”

 

And the counting goes on along with Ryo stabbing the guy’s legs without stopping. Eri looking at him and still can’t believe her eyes. The girl’s ears can’t count anymore how much that man screams begging for mercy.

 

“…twenty five. Let’s stop here.”

 

When Ryo stands up, he takes a glance over the oversized-clothes guy. His legs are all in a mess with blood everywhere. And then, the man in suit throws away the knife and going to where Eri is, on the side of the alley.

 

“Ryo-senpai?”

“This gonna sting a little bit. Just hold it up.”

“Wait, Ryo-senpai. What are you—“

 

He prepares a handkerchief and wipes away Eri’s blood with it without any warning.

 

“Aw! Aw! Aw! That’s hurt!”

“As I said, just hold it a bit. Now… it’s done.”

 

Er’s face is clean from any blood, though there’s a little bit stain here and there. Ryo sighs in relief and checking on her legs to make sure.

 

“It’s definitely sprained. We must get out from here and have you treated.”

 

The man in suit lower his body and prepares himself, showing his back full and looking back.

 

“Eh?!”

“Let’s go, Eri. This is the quickest way.”

 

Embarrassed as she may be, Eri doesn’t have any other option but to hop on Ryo’s back. When he is sure that it’s firm enough, Ryo gets up and going to the alley’s exit while carrying his underclassman on his back.

There’s a moment of silence between the two of them until Ryo is laughing by himself.

 

“What is it?”

“I just remembered when we talk this afternoon, Eri. As I said. The only naughty thing I could do is skipping classes. Right now, I don’t go to my class when there is an extra class being held. My professor is going to have a business trip next week and—.”

“Who the hell cares about that right now!”

 

Eri smacks his back and shoulder a few times.

 

“Ouch, ouch! Hey, you’re hitting me when I can’t defend myself!”

“Why don’t you carry me in a princess-like manner?”

 

Asking that question, Eri can’t help but blush. She hides her face on his shoulder and waiting for the answer.

 

“Because you’re heavy, and it’s easier this way,” Ryo answered. A smack on his head is following after.

“You stupid!”

“That’s hurt!”

 

Still, Ryo able to laugh it freely since Eri seems pissed because of his answer. 

Actually, there’s a lot of question that the curly-haired girl wants to ask about.

Why he’s here at the late night? Why is he wearing a suit neatly? Why he is so experienced with a street brawl as she witnessed before?

Those questions are piling up. But Eri doesn’t want to spoil the mood because of her curiosity.

So, in the meantime, Eri hugging him from behind and buries her face on his shoulder. While Ryo is not saying anything and keep walking on.

 

Ryo-senpai is the best, after all.