Chapter 2- (Un)Known World/I am fLaWeD
"This… is a lot bigger than it looks on TV, isn't it?" muttered Miura, an awed look on her face.
Hikigaya did not reply, his eyes fixed on the sight in front of him. It was true: Soubu High was indeed massive. There were three main school buildings, and out of them, the central one stood the tallest, reaching so far up, the top was hidden among the clouds.
"... They're definitely compensating for something here," he said.
Miura punched him on the shoulder.
"Are you trying to get us both killed on our first day?" she whispered furiously, even as she glared at him, green eyes practically alight. It was a bit of an exaggerated response, but Hikigaya knew where she was coming from. After all, she was the same as him. He'd known from the moment she'd said she was a transfer. It was possible, of course, for one to transfer schools for all kinds of reasons. But it was a bit too much of a coincidence for someone to do so right after Soubu's announcement. Unless that announcement concerned them. That, and there were several cues in her body language. She hid the truth well, but Hikigaya's eyes were sharper than most. The subtle hunch in her shoulders, the way her eyes darted around every now and then, scanning her surroundings: they were the signs of someone conditioned to be wary, to always be on guard. That kind of conditioning happened when you were attacked over and over again, often from behind, by something invisible, that you could never sense coming.
Flawed couldn't sense Magic.
Needless to say, kids were cruel.
Middle school kids were no exception.
She must have had it rough.
And indeed, going by her reaction when he had brought it up, that had probably been the case.
"You're Flawed, aren't you?" he had said. Again, starting a conversation wasn't something he normally did, much less about something as personal as this. But there was a nagging sensation somewhere in the back of his head, along, of course, with the vision he had seen. Where had he seen this girl, and how? Who was she?
Miura's pupils had dilated in alarm, and she'd taken a reactionary breath, even as she tensed up. A preparatory response for fight or flight. Before things could escalate and a scene was caused in the train, he had quickly spoken again.
"I am too," he had said.
She hadn't entirely relaxed.
"You say that," she muttered. "... How did you know I was?"
"You told me you're a transfer. Given the announcement, there was a high chance you'd be someone looking to take advantage of Soubu's new policy."
The tension had slowly left her body, and she had relaxed.
"... It's too big of an opportunity not to take," she had said. "They've never allowed us in before. Still… you're a weird guy. You know people can transfer for other reasons too, right? I could have been a Mage, and you'd have outed yourself in front of me."
"I had a hunch you weren't."
"Like I said, you're weird."
And that brought them back to the present moment.
Flawed were loners by nature: given their position in society, they avoided attention for the sake of self-preservation. Hikigaya would not have spent this long with a girl, or anyone for that matter, and neither would Miura. But, being the same, the two had struck up an unspoken alliance. In a different world, Hikigaya might have mistaken that proximity for something else, but he knew it was no such thing. They weren't friends, or even acquaintances yet. Just temporary allies in an unfamiliar environment.
He was brought out of his musings by the sound of Miura unfolding a piece of paper.
"Let's see here: according to this, I'm in Class 3-F. New students are supposed to report directly to their assigned homeroom."
Hikigaya pulled out his own orientation doc, his eyebrow rising as he saw what was on it.
"Huh. Seems I'm in 3-F too."
A coincidence? Too soon to say.
Whatever the reason, it was an opportunity Hikigaya was thankful for. He needed to know who Miura was. And to that end, the more he could talk to her, the better.
"Well, don't just stand around then. We better get moving," she said.
Hikigaya nodded, and the two of them headed into the school campus. According to a map and floor plan they'd been given with their orientation papers, 3-F was located in the Secondary building, the one to the right of the central tower. As they walked, Hikigaya noted that the grounds were mostly empty. He did see some maintenance staff here and there, but no students or teachers. He checked his watch. It was twenty minutes past eight. He'd been asked to report at eight-thirty. If Soubu High had the same timings as other schools, then classes probably began at eight. Which meant, right now, students and teachers should already be inside the classrooms.
Why ask us to come late deliberately?
Most schools preferred to have students enter the regular routine as soon as possible, from the very first day. Something was nagging about Soubu's choice to not do the same, but he decided to put the thought aside for now. He glanced at Miura.
Who are you? How do I know you?
That was what he wanted to ask, but doing so meant he would come across as crazy. Not exactly a great start to the school year. Neither was asking her a bunch of questions about herself. That would only come across as suspicious. Which meant… he was out of options right now. It occurred to him that if he were the naturally outgoing type, he could have breezed past this barrier like it was nothing. Unfortunately, his social skills were practically non-existent.
"Hikigaya."
The sound of his name suddenly coming out her lips nearly made him start in surprise. He wondered if she had caught him staring.
"W-what is it?" he asked. To his credit, he managed to keep the stutter out of his words. Mostly.
"I've been wondering for a while now," said Miura, looking him up and down. "But what's the deal with your body?"
Hikigaya glanced down at himself before looking back at her.
"... I'm glad we're getting personal," he said.
She rolled her eyes.
"No, seriously. Like… why are you built like that?"
Hikigaya wondered for a moment how he was supposed to answer that question. He was an average enough height for a Japanese youth, around five feet and seven inches. However, that was where everything average about him ended. He was large, but not overly so, possessing a wiry yet powerful build. His shoulders and back were wider than usual, his arms and legs thicker. Even with the school blazer and trousers on, the hard shapes of lean muscles were visible, straining against the fabric.
In a world where the overwhelming majority of people were Mages, physical performance was the result of the degree to which Magic could be used to Enhance one's own body. Physical training was an art and science the general populace didn't even know existed. In addition, using Magic led to high calorie expenditure. As a result, most Mages were slender. Hikigaya, on the other hand, had been lifting weights and eating as much protein as he could force himself to stomach since he was ten years old.
Flawed in general grew up being told that Magic was the way to power, and it was a way that was closed to them, meaning, they were doomed to be powerless forever. It occurred to him that to Miura, the entirely common-sensical idea that one could make muscles stronger by subjecting them to work and damage… might sound absurd.
Taking this into account, he answered with all the eloquence and grace he could muster.
"I'm just built different."
Miura glared at him.
"Real funny."
He shrugged.
"I do try," he said.
"Weirdo."
"Hey, I have feelings."
Miura rolled her eyes.
"Looks like this is the place," said Hikigaya. They had reached the third floor of the building. As they had ascended the stairs, he had heard the muffled but energetic sound of voices, and seen the lights pouring out through the classroom doors, the obvious sign that classes were in progress. However, that had all changed when they had reached the third floor. In contrast to the others, the entire hallway was dark, only illuminated by the little sunlight that filtered in through the very dusty windows. The hallway itself looked poorly maintained. The walls were cracked, the plaster was falling off in places, and the doors were covered in cobwebs.
Miura was staring at the sight in front of her with a mixture of disgust and complete confusion.
"Is… are we even in the same school? This is Soubu High, right?"
The state of the place was so different from the rest of the school, the bright, sparkling clean hallways and rooms, it was as if they had stepped into a different world altogether. Hikigaya had a feeling this was definitely the right place.
"Come on," he said.
He walked down the hallway, past each of the doors, until he came to one with a signboard next to it that was barely hanging off its hinges.
3-F, it read.
The moment he saw the door, a shiver ran through his body, an electric feeling.
This place… I've seen it before.
The look on his face must have changed, because he heard Miura call out to him, in a slightly concerned voice.
"Hikigaya…?"
He reached out for the door's handle. The moment his fingers came into contact with it, another electric shock ran through him, and his vision was overlapped by more images.
He had slid open this very door. Inside the room, he had seen three people. An aggressive blonde with fiery eyes, a delinquent who had her blazer tied around her waist, and a silver-haired beauty.
"Hikigaya!"
He was broken out of the vision by Miura, who was shaking him by the shoulder.
"You okay? Snap out of it."
"I'm fine."
He looked at Miura. The look of concern was more pronounced on her face now.
Heh. So she's one of those types who acts more haughty than she is…
He chuckled slightly.
"... That's a really creepy laugh, Hikigaya."
"Yeah, yeah," he waved away her jab.
More importantly, Miura had been in the vision he had just seen. He wasn't sure how he knew, but did know that he had just witnessed scenes from the past, something that had happened before.
Miura was inside the room. This was where I first met her.
He shook his head.
No, he was assuming things again. He had no idea what these visions were, or how they could possibly be from the past, when he had never been to Soubu before. In any case, they didn't match what was happening either: Miura wasn't waiting inside the room. She was out here, with him.
A sharp pain shot through his head, and he almost clutched at it instinctively.
Got to keep it together.
For now, there was no point idling out here.
He slid open the door.
No sooner had he done so, than he spotted another (un)familiar figure. Like Miura, she had a naturally curvy, athletic build that was emphasised by the way she wore her blazer, tied around her waist. Her long, light blue hair was tied back in a ponytail. The moment he had opened the door, her eyes had flicked over to him, wary, on guard.
She was in that vision too.
Expecting to see the silver-haired beauty as well, he turned to the other person in the room… and found that it was someone completely different. Yet, it was someone he had seen before, in one of those strange "memories".
In place of a petite girl with short, silver hair was another girl, slightly taller (and much bustier). Her hair was a strange shade (pink or dark blonde?) and her eyes were a bright, near scarlet colour. Unlike everyone else, she actually managed a smile as she looked at Hikigaya. Despite the caution evident in her body language, she was putting up a front of being open and friendly.
What the hell is going on?
He thought he would find answers at Soubu, but things were already going differently from what he had "seen". All he had found were more questions. There was no time for him to stand there and dwell on it, however, Miura walked right past him into the room.
"What's going on here?" she asked. "Where is everyone?"
The delinquent and the nice girl both grimaced, hesitating to answer.
Hikigaya's mind was racing. There was a lot here he didn't understand, but he at least had a fairly good idea of why it was just the four of them here. The odd choice of location and timing, the fact this entire place seemed deserted and it was only them here: it all added up.
"This is everyone," he said aloud. "The four of us here are all Flawed. The reason it's just us here is because that's what the school intends, to set us all apart, put us in our own little ghost town inside Soubu High."
Miura turned to him.
"But why…?"
"Isn't it obvious?" he muttered. "From day one, they want everyone to know what we are. As for why that is, I have no idea. But it doesn't matter…"
He didn't have to explain any further. All of them knew exactly what it meant to be Flawed.
And here at Soubu High, they would be surrounded by elites, those who believed more firmly in Mage supremacy than any others. The four of them were worse than trash to them.
"No," said Miura. She shook her head, disbelief on her face. "That can't be. This has to be some sort of mistake. Either that or you're joking, right? Right?"
She looked at Hikigaya, a hint of desperation on her face.
"No, he is absolutely correct."
Hikigaya whirled around, facing the source of this new voice lightning quick, alarmed. He had not sensed the presence of anyone else in the room at all. For someone to be able to hide in plain sight from him long enough to overhear the entire conversation… it was disturbing.
As he looked on, the patch of air in front of the teacher's desk began to shimmer, glowing brighter and brighter until a gleaming silhouette formed, which in turn solidified. As the light faded away, standing in its place was a woman. She was around the same height as Hikigaya. Despite the suit and white lab coat she was wearing, he could tell from the tension of the fabric and her posture that she was not like regular Mages: her body was trained. The woman's face was quite youthful. The smooth curve of her cheeks contrasted her sharp eyes, which were an unusual violet colour, and gleamed slightly. Long, dark, slightly untidy hair hung all the way down to her hips.
Hikigaya unconsciously slid his feet further apart, going into a wider stance as he lowered his centre of gravity.
As a Flawed, he had absolutely no ability to sense Magic energy whatsoever. However, the experience and instinct forged over the course of his life did not lie. From one glance at her, he knew.
She's an incredibly powerful Mage.
Hikigaya did not know of any Magic Skills that granted the user true invisibility. Yet, she had appeared in front of him, seemingly out of thin air, as though she had been here all along. And she had pulled off that feat without the slightest sign of strain.
It was at this moment that the woman's eyes locked on to his own.
And when they did so, the most vivid vision thus far occurred. The sight of the world around him was replaced entirely by it.
"Widen your base. Be firm, but not tense. Fluid, not stiff."
Strikes crashed into him, too quick to react to.
"Open your senses, feel the attack coming, and counter."
He turned around, raising his forearm in time to knock aside a punch that had been heading for his face. Immediately, a second punch followed, and he met the fist with his own. The two stood, neither able to push the other back.
"What do you fight for, Hikigaya?"
"It really ticks me off when I'm stepped on."
"Is that all, then? Revenge?"
Growling, he drove his arm forward with a burst of strength, forcing her to slide backwards.
"What would you know?" he said. "You weren't born like me."
No sooner had he uttered the words than he found himself barely blocking a kick from smashing into his chin.
"Stop wallowing in self-pity. It's pathetic."
Hikigaya growled, but the woman continued.
"A warrior's task, his only task, is to fight for the protection of what is important. He does not run from evil, nor does he look away from it. He strikes it down, swiftly and with great force."
He blinked, eyes wide open, as the vision cleared. A bead of sweat poured down his face as he realised he was surrounded by swords. Each of the blades was made of shimmering red energy, and they were all pointed right at him.
He looked at the labcoat-clad woman, and when she spoke, her voice was the same as the one he had just heard in his mind.
"That killing intent is a pain," she said. "Keep it in check around me. I don't want to have to discipline you on your first day here."
Hikigaya realised that he had allowed his "mask" to slip, allowed his restraints to come off. He took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing and standing up straighter. It annoyed him to admit, but if she wanted to hurt him, she could have.
The woman looked at him a moment longer before she dispelled the Energy Blades Skill, and the swords disappeared.
"I'll get right to the point," she said. "Like he pointed out, the four of you are Flawed. I wish I could say the school actually had your interests at heart when they finally allowed you admission here. But the truth is, you're all here just as an experiment."
She paused for a moment, then continued.
"Political pressure and all that. Nowadays, everyone's all about equality, and giving everyone the same opportunities and all that. School board doesn't really give a damn about any of that. But, public opinion can't be ignored. Not if you want that government funding. So they figured, why not kill two birds with one stone? Let a few of you in here, just to keep the people happy. And at the same time, find out if any of you can actually be any use to society. Cut to the present, and here you are."
Miura cautiously raised one hand.
The woman turned to her, and pointed.
"Blondie."
Miura spoke up. "Uhm… who are you?"
"Hiratsuka Shizuka. I'll be handling homeroom for the four of you for the year. And given that you're all third year transfers, I guess that means I'll be your homeroom teacher for the entirety of your time here."
Hiratsuka Shizuka…
So that was her name. Yet another person had been added to the list of those he had "seen", despite never having met them before in his life. Interacting and getting information out of Miura (a classmate) would already be hard enough. How was he supposed to do so with a teacher? And that wasn't even counting the other two girls, both of whom had also appeared in those visions.
"In any case," said Hiratsuka, "Lessons here take place in their own lecture halls and labs. The locations for those are mentioned in your class schedule documents. We're nearly out of time for homeroom, so you should hurry. You don't want to be late for any of your subjects. Oh, by the way, one more thing."
Her expression darkened.
"Here at Soubu High, teachers don't interfere in the affairs of students, so long as they don't break the school rules. And make no mistake about it, those same rules apply to you."
With that, she disappeared, turning once more into shimmering light before she faded from view.
"What was that all about…" said Miura.
There had been something ominous about the way she had said those words.
Well, the entire situation's ominous to begin with.
He looked at the others. It was at this point that Hikigaya Hachiman realised something important.
He was the only male in this class, even including the teacher.
It was like the setup to every poorly written harem manga ever.
He all but face-palmed.
I really don't have time to be thinking about all this…
Hefting his bag a little higher on his shoulder, he began to walk towards the door.
All of this is weird. These visions… this place, this whole arrangement. What the hell was I thinking, coming here?
Hikigaya Hachiman was supposed to be logical. That was how he did things, by thinking them through, and arriving at the right conclusion. Running on emotions, following one's heart, that sort of thing was reserved for the protagonists of anime. It didn't work in real life. This entire plan had been an idea. He had transferred schools literally because of a series of dreams. It was absurd.
Even as he thought that, however, he knew that wasn't the case. Not entirely. The incident in middle school had nearly gotten him expelled. And a lot of the people from that very same middle school had ended up coming to Kaihin Sogo, just like him. He had somehow managed to last two years there, but things had been getting steadily worse. If he stayed there, it would only be a matter of time before another incident happened.
No matter which way he looked at it, there was no choice.
The only option in front of him was to come to Soubu High.
Absurd.
He already knew what was going to happen here. It was going to be more of the same crap that happened at Kaihin Sogo. Except, on a bigger scale. After, all the kids here were the sons and daughters of the country's elite. He didn't want any part of that stupid conflict. It was utterly useless. Things wouldn't change anyway.
"Hey, where are you going?" said Miura.
He answered without turning back.
"To class."
Without waiting for an answer, he left.
Incredibly, lessons actually passed by without any issue. He did get a few stares every now and then, but he was otherwise left alone. While Soubu High was a Magic School, and practical application of Magic was beyond Flawed, subjects were also studied theoretically, and these were the lessons 3-F attended.
Four hours later, the bell rang indicating lunch break, and Hikigaya leaned back in his seat.
He was mentally exhausted. Back to back maths and physics lessons had taken everything he had to keep up with. It turned out, Soubu's ridiculous standards didn't just apply to Magic. He was surprised he'd even been able to keep up. Hungry, he decided to head to the cafeteria to get some food. On the way, he glanced briefly at Miura and the others. The three of them had stuck together.
Good for them. They've got a better chance of survival if they're together.
…
Survival, huh?
It's like I think something horrible's going to happen to them.
This was an elite school. These prissy prudes wouldn't tolerate indiscipline in here.
That was what he told himself.
Me getting involved will only make things worse.
Yes, this was for the best.
Those strange visions… they couldn't be good news. This entire situation was bad, but now that he had enrolled here, he couldn't just leave. No, the best solution was to keep his head down, and survive a year here without being noticed.
He began to make his way to the cafeteria.
As he walked, he heard voices behind him, slowly getting louder.
He had nearly reached the lecture hall door. Nobody had stopped him, or even looked at him. All he had to do was take a single step forward, and he wouldn't have to get involved.
For Komachi's sake.
I told her I wouldn't do anything that worried her.
He took a deep breath and exhaled.
Yes, that's what I told her.
Then why am I walking back inside?
The teacher had left as soon as the class had ended. But many of the students had stayed behind. And they'd formed a crowd. Hikigaya could hear their voices as he approached.
"... heard the school was going to be providing some playthings for us. But I never thought it'd be girls. Guess the School Board's really upping its game, huh?"
Laughter followed.
In this world, there were those with Magic, and those without. To be born without it was to be born Flawed. By your very nature, there was something wrong about you. Something broken. Something that made you less of a human being. That was what society had told him, time and again. Everything in the world was built on Magic. The powerful were to be respected and adored, and the powerless were to be trampled underfoot. And there was no one more powerless than the Flawed, right? If so, what use was their existence, other than as the slaves of Mages?
Oh, to be certain, there were rules and laws.
Things human beings wrote down so that they could feel civilised.
So that they could feel a little better about themselves, as they turned a blind eye to their true nature.
So while one half looked away, the other half did whatever they wanted.
Hikigaya had lived through that.
As a child.
In middle school.
And even in high school.
For the longest time, he'd struggled against it, until one day, he'd got tired of struggling.
Pushing his way through the crowd, he arrived in the middle, where he found a boy, his gaze fixed on Miura and the others, who were floating helplessly in mid-air, unable to move.
"What do you say? How about we see what's underneath these cloth-"
Before the boy could finish what he was saying, Hikigaya's open palm connected with the base of his skull, right behind his ear. With the brain rattled, there was no way for him to maintain control of his Magic, and all three of the girls began to fall.
Miura Yumiko watched the ground seemingly rushing up to meet her, and closed her eyes. A moment passed by, and she realised she hadn't felt her head getting cracked open. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and realised she was hanging above the ground. Wrapped around her waist was an arm practically made of iron. Looking up, she glanced at the one holding her.
"H-Hikigaya?"
The loner had somehow caught her before she had fallen. But not only that. On his other shoulder, he'd also caught the remaining two members of 3-F.
But that's impossible…
Miura would have hit anybody who called her heavy, but she wasn't deluded enough to think she was weightless, nor that the other two girls were. At the minimum, the three of them combined would weigh around a hundred and twenty kilos. The actual force of them falling from several feet up in the air would be even greater. There was no way anyone without Enhancement Magic would be able to catch them.
Yet, Hikigaya was holding them, without any sign of strain.
What he had said earlier echoed in her head.
"I'm built different."
At the time, she had passed it off as a joke. Now, however…
Hikigaya slowly lowered them to the ground, sighing.
"I was hoping to avoid this."
He really had been hoping it wouldn't come to this.
I'm sorry, Komachi. I won't be able to keep my promise to you after all. Your brother's going to do a few things that would worry you if you knew.
He widened his stance, raising both hands high. He'd thought he was done with this life. He glanced at Miura and the others. Hiratsuka's words from the "memory" played in his head.
"A warrior's task, his only task, is to fight for the protection of what is important. He does not run from evil, nor does he look away from it. He strikes it down, swiftly and with great force."
"Well, let's get this over with."
"Why, you son of a bitch… who the hell do you think you are? You're a Flawed, a miserable goddamn Flawed. How dare you…"
"Yeah, yeah. Skip the speech."
As soon as Hikigaya said that, he knew the attack would come.
A Flawed cannot sense Magic.
However, the instinct forged from thousands of fights did not lie. And in addition, Hikigaya had learnt to pick up one other thing. Something Mages themselves weren't aware of.
Right before the releasing of Magic, it has to be gathered within the body of the Mage, and converted to a useable form. This process releases a sonic pulse which is impossible for human ears to detect. The time gap between the pulse and the onset of Magic is less than one-third of a second.
Hearing the pulse was already impossible for a human, let alone reacting to it.
Yet, Hikigaya Hachiman did both.
Hearing the pulses go off, he knew the attack would come from all sides, and knew that even if he dodged, the girls wouldn't be able to do the same. Thus, he did the only thing he could.
He crouched low, and swept all three of the girls' legs at the same time.
Miura's panicked scream accompanied the sudden fall to the ground, but the beams of Magic missed her, passing through the air above her. Since the Mages had been standing in a circle, this meant that several of them ended up knocking each other out with friendly fire.
Shouts of surprise and alarm rang out. The class was in disarray.
That was all the opening Hikigaya needed.
In order to fight Mages, Hikigaya Hachiman had learnt three different martial arts, each of them because of the unique techniques they offered him.
Karate, for its versatile and crippling strikes, as well as its well-rounded defence.
Western boxing, for its footwork, distance control and efficient, powerful movements.
Judo, for its devastating grappling and ability to dismantle opponents.
These three styles he had combined into a hybrid mix of his own, and modified them into a form suitable for one with superhuman physical strength and agility.
The result…
Several Mages were lifted off the ground at almost the same time. The blow that had launched each of them was different. Upward palm strike to chin. Roundhouse kick to the thigh. Gut punch. Upward elbow strike. To Hikigaya's senses, it seemed as though each of the Mages' bodies was floating towards the ceiling in slow motion.
Spinning, he lashed out with a heel kick that smashed into all of them.
And suddenly, Mages were flying through the classroom in every direction, their bodies crashing through chairs and desks alike before they finally came to a stop, battered, bloody and unconscious.
Hikigaya didn't stop there.
For a Flawed, defeating a Mage became exponentially harder once they successfully cast a Skill.
Therefore, the method Hikigaya had developed was centred around a simple principle.
Absolute and overwhelming offence.
And this he executed to near-perfection.
Dashing through the crowd, he struck out with attack after attack.
It wasn't just that they were delivered with bone-crushing power, or even the fact that they were lightning quick.
Each single attack landed exactly on target, with frightening precision.
Hooks that rattled the brain. Liver blows that incapacitated the body with pain. Hip throws that nearly broke the back and left one writhing on the floor in agony. Leg kicks that smashed the knee joints and obliterated the calf muscles.
Miura's eyes grew wider by the second.
This wasn't the first time a group of boys had tried molesting her. While Flawed and Mages were equal so far as the law was concerned, the reality was a different matter. Most cases by Flawed against Mages were immediately dismissed. And so, fewer and fewer Flawed even bothered lodging complaints. It was a vicious spiral, growing progressively worse. She had managed to escape that horrible fate somehow through a mixture of luck and her own efforts.
All the while hoping, wishing, that she could make the Mages who had made her life hell since birth feel even a tenth of her pain and humiliation.
Right now, in front of her, someone was doing exactly that.
Every single one of Hikigaya's blows seemed loaded with the anger she had been holding back all these years.
Next to her, the blue-haired delinquent suddenly started.
"Wait, hold on a second… that guy…"
Miura turned to her.
"Hikigaya," she said. "You know him?"
The delinquent's eyes widened, and her face paled slightly.
"Did… did ya say his name was Hikigaya?"
Miura nodded.
"Ah. That explains it."
She turned her gaze back towards the fight, or more accurately, the beating.
"A few years ago, a rumour made the rounds about a Flawed kid. It was all over the internet. Probably still is. At the time, I thought it was just a rumour, though a few photos were making the rounds too."
"A rumour?"
"Apparently, this kid had put ten of his classmates in hospital. No one believed it, of course. There was no way a Flawed could do that to Mages, right? That's why he didn't go to jail. There wasn't enough evidence to put him away."
She paused as she watched Hikigaya enter a weaving boxing stance. With each forward step, he swung from side to side, lashing out with vicious hooks, left and right. Each movement had such force, Miura could have sworn she was hearing jet engines when he moved. Switching seamlessly from boxing back to karate, he ended the combo with a forward-stepping gyakuzuki. The punch sent its recipient sailing backward until he smashed into a wall backfirst.
"On the forum boards, they called the guy who did it the Demon. Rumour went, his real name was Hikigaya Hachiman."
Miura's eyes widened.
"The guy you're looking at might just be the strongest Flawed in Japan."