However, it was not just lying there, but she lay in a coffin, looking almost as if she was asleep. She was dressed in a white kimono, but instead of the flaps being left over right, as the living wore it, the white kimono had the right flap over the left. Her blond hair, a strange sight on anybody who lived in Japan, was arranged neatly around her. Her brown eyes were closed and would never open again.
Those thoughts weren't the only thing that was making the young boy cry, it was the fact that he had been there when it happened and he couldn't do anything about it because he was too scared. Nobody faulted him for doing so; he was too young to have done anything.
It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two children had been playing in the sand pit of a playground when the incident happened. A man running away from the cops had stumbled upon the two and snatched the little girl up in his arms and put a knife to her throat, stopping the pursuit for fear the young girl would be hurt. The young boy could have done something, jumped at the criminal to try and give his friend some time to wiggle away, but he was instead frozen in fear. The criminal got away, and the girl's body was found cooling in a forest a few hours later, throat slit open. However, the criminal was soon apprehended, and would be facing several crimes.
The boy had always fancied himself as a man, not liking it when anybody would treat him as anything else. However, this incident had opened up his eyes, and he would never object to being called a boy again.
"Come on Kensuke-chan," a woman said to the boy. "It's time to go." The boy nodded silently; still not letting his tears fall. They would come soon enough, late at night, when everybody else was asleep.
Eight years passed since the day of the funeral. Shigara Kensuke walked down the hallways of his high school, looking as dangerous as ever. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to search someone out. His friend, Kimura Tarou, had been hurt because of a money related dispute and the punk who had done it was known for pick pocketing people. Kensuke's friend was just one of the first to stand up to the bully and tried to get his money back. It resulted in two black eyes and a broken rib, Tarou being on the receiving end of these injuries.
Kensuke was furious when he heard about it. Tarou was still recovering in the hospital, and the faculty was too scared of the big man to do anything to him. The angered teenager would take justice into his own hands. He had sworn to protect his friends after the funeral that had taken place eight years ago. In this case, he was unable to protect his friend, but he could prevent anybody else from being hurt.
The green eyed teen soon found the target of his rage, the bully Nakama Todo, who was sitting under a tree and tossing a wallet, which Kensuke recognized as Tarou's, up and down. Todo was a giant of a man. Kensuke recognized that. The bully stood at six feet and seven inches and had a wide frame that made him barely able to fit through the doorways in the school, not that it mattered. The bully rarely went inside the school to attend classes, instead preferring to stay in the courtyard and sleeping.
The top of Kensuke's wild hair barely reached the bigger man's chin. He stood at only six feet. The width of Kensuke's body, arms included, only matched the bully's torso. However, there was a certain presence that the green eyed teenager had which made some people stray even further from him than they had Todo.
"Yo," the angry teen greeted, slamming his foot next to the bully's head. Todo's response was to smirk arrogantly back at Kensuke. "Stand up, I'm gonna deal with you right here Nakama and I don't want to use a cheap shot."
The bully smirked back. "Really? Too bad I don't care!" Todo threw a fist full of dirt in Kensuke's eyes. The teen's response was to naturally shut his green eyes, which left him defenseless for the punch that caught him in the stomach and knocked him back. The bully didn't waste any time and got up to stomp on the smaller man's torso.
Kensuke was in a world of pain, however, he managed to clear the dust from his eyes as he squirmed in pain from the stomps. He opened his eyes and saw a giant foot rise up. Panic rising for a moment, the green eyed man rolled out of the way and managed to avoid the stomp. He struggled to his feet and clutched his stomach, but snarled angrily at the bully who was still smirking. Small pebbles rose up as a bluish aura invisible to most people sprang up around him. Nobody noticed either the pebbles or the aura as he charged in at the bully.
The charge was cut short as a monstrous form with a big white mask appeared behind the large bully. It was easily twice the size of the giant man Kensuke was facing. It also had an even nastier smirk than the one the bully had.
"Kuhuhuhu," it laughed, a horrible sound to the green eyed man's ears. "What a tasty soul you have."
Kensuke froze up in mid run and looked around, wondering why none of the people gathered at the windows, watching his fight with the bully, were looking at it in shock. The bully took this as a sign of the smaller man's fear of him and moved in on Kensuke, who saw the masked monster taking a step at the same time.
The spectators started screaming. Nakama Todo disappeared from site. He didn't only disappear, he disappeared in a flattening motion. It appeared that the bully's blood and bone were smashed under something that nobody could see. Kensuke was spared from the sight, he saw what crushed the bully.
"Kuhuhu," it laughed again, taking another step towards the Kensuke. It suddenly sniffed the air, and growled in anger and fear. "I'll eat your tasty soul later," it said and disappeared.
The teenager lost the function of his legs and collapsed backwards. His legs wouldn't stop shaking in fear, the same fear he had experienced so long ago. Kensuke just lay back and closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the fear that now gripped him.
When Kensuke awoke, he looked around to figure out where he was. He soon realized that he was in the school's infirmary, recognizing the white curtains that separated each bed.
"You're awake I see," a male voice said. Kensuke turned and saw a man wearing a lab coat.
"Ah, Kataba-sensei," Kensuke said. "I didn't notice you there."
The doctor looked at the now pale young man in front of him. "Other than the injuries you sustained from fighting Nakama-san," he explained. Kensuke just nodded in response. "Do you know exactly what happened to him Kensuke-kun?" the doctor asked.
Kensuke really wanted to tell him that the bully was crushed under the foot of a mask wearing monster that nobody else could see, but he felt that he would soon find himself restrained and facing off against several men wearing white coats. "Not at all," Kensuke responded.
"It must have been shocking for you to face such a trauma," Kataba said. "After all, it's not every day that a boulder falls out of the sky, crushes the one you are fighting, and then bounces into the ocean," the doctor said.
The survivor of the fight blinked. He blinked again. What had just been said confused him greatly. 'How did that story get around?' he wondered. 'It's no big deal I suppose, that bully would have targeted the wrong person one day anyway.'
"Anyway, you're free to go home if you wish," the doctor said, standing up. "It's already late and your family must be worried about you." Kensuke just nodded and walked away, trying to make sense of what happened.
The green eyed teen walked sat down on a bench in a park, still trying to figure out what happened. He knew he had seen a monster step on Todo, but didn't understand why nobody else saw it. Right before that, he also noticed a strange blue aura that formed around his body as he got extremely angry. It was all very confusing.
Suddenly, Kensuke felt a large presence behind him, a large terrifying presence. "Kuhuhuhuhu." Shivers ran down the teenager's back as he heard that laugh again.
"I found you!" The voice was almost teasing. Kensuke dreaded to do so, but he turned around to face the masked monster.
He forcefully calmed his shaking, knowing that he had to stop this monster for the same reason he needed to stop the bully, to prevent any others from being hurt. For his own sense of justice, he would have to stop this monster, even if the only victim Kensuke knew about was one that he believed did not deserve to live. Kensuke put his hands up into a fighting stance, wondering exactly what he could do against the thing. His shaking returned and he had to calm it down again.
"Oooh, you're going to fight me huh?" the monster sneered. "But you still look scared kid." The masked monster just smacked the boy to the side with an arm, sending the boy flying into a tree.
Kensuke didn't stand a chance. The impact had knocked him senseless and he knew that he had barely survived it. He looked up again to see a pair of giant jaws close in on him. The darkness claimed him.