Miku's location: Near the old storage building.
Dust clung to the air like fog.
The building was barely used—just a forgotten place behind the school grounds, rusted metal siding and shattered windows covered in boards.
Inside, Miku stirred.
Her wrists were bound with old rope. A loose metal chain hung from the ceiling above her like some medieval ornament.
She squinted. Her head throbbed. Her body ached from being tossed like trash.
Akira paced the room slowly. The two guys—one big and quiet, the other thin and twitchy—leaned against stacked crates, watching.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Akira said casually. "But sometimes... you need bait to draw out a lion."
"You're insane," Miku spat, her voice raspy.
Akira just smiled. Not the cocky kind. The eerie, knowing kind.
---
Outside.
The three of them found the building fast.
Alya spotted the bike marks leading around the corner. Taiki noticed the faint scuff marks on the wall. Rio... he just felt it.
He didn't wait.
He kicked the door open so hard it rattled on its hinges.
The fight broke out instantly.
Rio launched himself at Akira with a fury Taiki had never seen.
It wasn't tactical.
It wasn't calculated.
It was raw.
Anger. Pain. Memory.
His fists flew—each punch a fragment of the storm inside.
Akira grunted as one hit his jaw—but countered fast. His own punches were cleaner. Sharper. His movements precise. Efficient.
He dodged Rio's next hit and slammed his elbow into his ribs.
Rio stumbled back, blood pooling at the corner of his lip.
Akira sneered. "Still weak, Silver. Still the same scared kid underneath."
Then he drove Rio back with a brutal strike to the stomach and threw him against the wall.
Miku screamed.
"RIO!!!"
The other two guys moved toward her—until a blur came from the side.
Taiki.
Fast. Focused. Dangerous.
He tackled one to the ground, then ducked under a swing from the other. He snatched a broken shard of wood from the floor and slashed the rope binding Miku's wrists.
"Come on," he said.
She didn't hesitate.
They ran out the door where Alya was waiting.
Alya wrapped her jacket around Miku. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine—Rio—he's—"
"He can handle it," Taiki said, eyes sharp. "He's not alone anymore."
---
Inside.
Rio barely stood. His chest rose and fell raggedly. Blood smeared his chin. His eye was swelling.
Akira, still on his feet, breathed evenly.
He looked like a ghost from Rio's past.
One that wouldn't die.
"You never change," Akira said, walking forward. "You wear that 'hero' mask, but deep down, you're just a scared, broken little boy. Always trying to prove something."
Rio blinked.
And then—something clicked.
A flash in his mind.
Rin.
The person who saved him from the worst days.
The one who saw strength in him before he ever did.
> "You're not the same kid anymore, Rio. You chose to change."
"Strength isn't about fists. It's about will."
Rio's eyes snapped open.
He ducked under Akira's next punch.
Then threw his own.
One. Two. Three.
A roar ripped from his chest as he let it all out.
The pain of his past.
The fear that haunted him.
The chains he'd broken.
Every strike screamed I'm still here.
Akira stumbled, breath catching.
And finally—he fell.
Collapsed to the ground, gasping.
Rio stood over him, bloodied but unbowed.
"I'm not scared of you anymore," he said, voice hoarse.
---
Outside, Miku turned just in time.
Rio stepped out of the smoke and dust, eyes tired but alive.
Wounded.
But standing.
Alive.
Free.
Miku's heart clenched. Her feet moved before she thought, but Alya gently pulled her back.
"He needs to breathe," she whispered.
Taiki stepped forward, met Rio's gaze—and nodded.
No words.
Just respect.
The fight was over.
Or so it seemed.
Because inside, on the cracked concrete floor, Akira stirred.
And even in defeat…
He smiled.
> "It's not over yet…"