Stealing Spree

As I wasn’t always around this neighborhood, I had no idea what the authorities near this place were doing. Clearly, they’re neglecting their duties in cleaning up places like this. However, if put in their shoes I could understand their plight.

Even if they cleaned this place up, idiots like this group would just find another place to infest next. And given time, if they stopped focusing here, they would just return. Furthermore, they could just evade the patrol times. In the end, there’s truly no cure for them unless they put them behind bars or reform them to become law-abiding citizens.

But judging from their uniforms, they’re probably around one or two years older than me. Even if they put them into a juvenile detention facility after apprehending them for public disturbance, they’d still be freed given time.

I mean, unless they did a grave crime and were fully convicted for it, they’d just continue throwing their weight around, scaring or picking on other people.

In this case, they caught sight of Aoi and Ria. It’s either nobody witnessed them being dragged to this place or no one had the courage to step up for them.

Moreover, even if I got taken down by them, I doubt they would just put their hands on the girls. Their plan was probably to coerce the two by promising to let me go if they give their consent to accompany them. That’s how they would be able to dodge being charged with a crime. I could report an assault but they are most likely going to use the girls to keep me quiet.

It would work on others for sure. But they picked the wrong target this time.

“What did you say?! Just because you’re good at fighting, doesn’t mean you can take on six of us alone!” The leader shouted in response to me calling them an idiot.

The bald guy and the other one who didn’t have any distinguishing features quickly raised their guard and covered their crotch after I blocked their advance, afraid to suffer the same as that other guy that’s now writhing on the ground.

“Oh. For sure, I won’t be able to if you’re all such great fighters. However, you seem to be the only one who has knowledge of fighting. These guys are only used to street brawling. I mean, that’s still useful most of the time. You all looked intimidating, after all. But, how many fights have they gone through by now? One? Two? Look at that guy crying after being slapped his arm away.” I laughed and pointed at the long-haired idiot bawling on the ground.

Anyway, this park was clearly turned into a place people tended to avoid because of these delinquents. Even those passing by the street walked to the other side just to not be picked on by them.

When I told Aoi and Ria to run outside the park, they did more than that. They’re now on their way to cross to the other side of the street after I successfully block the two. With cars and other vehicles occasionally passing by, they’re now certainly safe from being used as hostages by these thugs. Besides, the street wouldn’t stay deserted, sooner or later someone would pass by and see what was happening.

And when that happened, these idiots’ struggle would be over.

Upon hearing my taunt, the long-haired guy pushed himself up and roared before charging toward me.

“Oi! Wait!” The leader shouted but it was all too late.

I stepped a foot forward and lowered my body, enough to be at the same level as his chest. Using the momentum of his dash, I first grabbed the arm that he used to throw a punch. Following that, I quickly turned around and slammed him to the ground.

With his eyes opened wide, a loud thud of his body echoed before he groaned in extreme pain.

When I let go of his arm, it powerlessly fell to his side as he once again writhed there.

Upon seeing that, the bald guy and the other guy took a step back. They’re now afraid to charge forward, only to suffer the same fate.

The leader then stomped his feet as he took the front, standing a few steps before me. He’s now in a defensive stance, much like the other two.

While gritting his teeth, he scanned the surroundings. Three from his groups were down and the other two were now sweating in fear.

On the other hand, I stood fearless before them.

Seconds quickly passed when no one moved. While he’s weighing his choices, I also drew a plan on how to knock the three of them down.

However, after around two minutes, from the corner of my eyes, I saw Aoi raising her arm with her phone in hand. Looks like she already managed to make a report.

They couldn’t do that earlier. There’s a possibility that instead of enacting what they planned to do, these idiots would forcefully drag the two girls into that darker side of the park where they emerged. And if that happened, the situation wouldn’t be favorable. It would be too late for me to save them.

Besides, Aoi and Ria had no idea when I would arrive. They surely acted compliant to make these idiots feel like they were in control of the situation.

“What? You’re still at a numerical advantage. Why are you three putting your guard up? Scared?” With a calm tone, I threw these questions.

I could see the two continuously gulping down in fear while the leader met my gaze. My earlier observation was correct. He’s the only one among them who could hold his ground and even think clearly.

Anyway, I know I’m not invincible. If I was any bit overconfident and careless, I would surely be restrained by one or two of them which could lead to me having no chance of retaliating. But because they underestimated me right from the start, I managed to grab an opportunity by making the first move. And without breaking my posture, I managed to intimidate those inherent cowards.

After deliberating for a while, the leader ignored my taunts and signaled to the other two to back off. He then took another step forward and lowered his guard. “Who are you?”

Did he lose the will to fight back? No. He also noticed Aoi and deduced what that gesture meant. Without any assurance that they could take me down, he decided to stop the conflict and switch to interrogating me instead.

“Are you giving up?” I ignored his question and just faced off against him. He’s a little taller than me but given the distance, I didn’t need to look up. “After all that talk… This is why you’re idiots.”

I shook my head and threw another taunt to confirm that he was truly giving up. As I expected, apart from the two behind him, this guy was unaffected. So, he’s half an idiot, I guess?

He’s using his head, after all. Unlike those flies I dealt with back then. However, after shouting that earlier, wasn’t he at least embarrassed of himself? What was that again? ‘Just because I’m good at fighting bla bla bla…’

Although I favored this turn of events, that was truly disappointing. I thought I would be facing difficulty against his fighting skills.

“Your uniform. You’re from 4th High. Are you part of that—”

“If you’re going to blabber continuously. Just get out of my sight. Don’t forget to pick up your trash.” I cut his question off. Since he already gave up, there’s no reason for me to play this game with him.

Besides, just from those few words, it’s easy to deduce what he’s thinking. He’s suspecting that I’m part of our school’s delinquent group or if there are other groups, I don’t really care. He’s probably going to drop a name if I let him continue.

I didn’t recognize any of them but their uniforms were clearly from the school Akane, Aoi and the others are attending. These idiots were probably dropouts or those who didn’t care about classes. And since they’re hanging out at this place at this time of the day, acting like this place is their turf, they’re a headache even for their families.

“Also, if you ever think of taking revenge and dragging them here again. Make sure you find a place to hide because I’m going to hunt you all down. You can try ganging up on me again or set up an ambush. I don’t care. Just be sure to save up for your hospital bills.” After saying that, I turned around and confidently strode out of the park to join Aoi and Ria at the other side of the street.

I didn’t glance back at all to keep the image of extreme confidence but I kept my senses spread open. If I heard heavy footsteps behind me, I could react immediately.

Surprisingly, there were none. That leader didn’t pursue me at all or ordered his underlings to do it for him.

When I reached the other side of the street, Aoi and Ria promptly hugged me, their expression filled with worry. After patting their heads to calm them down, I turned around to check on those six.

The leader was still standing where I left him, looking straight at me. The other two were helping those I knocked down to stand up. Whatever was going on in his head… I had no idea. This might not be my first and last encounter with him.

Even before the sound of the police siren broke the peace of the night, I guided the two girls out of the vicinity of that park and returned to the train station.