Chapter 3 : I Wonder Who in the World are You

It happens again, tonight, at the same dark footway where she got kidnapped at yesterday last night.

Remembering the time she was kidnapped by some abductors, like these delinquents makes Akane trembling in fear. She knows she has to get out from there as soon as possible, but her legs almost given out, and they would block her way out in no time.

Have no time to think anything, she instinctively runs backward and slips through her way out from another thug who is shorter than the one standing in front of her few moments ago. She got past him and caught him off guard.

"Wha! Where do ya think ya are run, you bitch!?" he shouted.

Shocked, he starts chasing her. Akane's already running far away from him, but he runs faster so their distance is grown closer in 4 seconds. The situation worsens when the earlier delinquent is following her behind his accomplice.

After their distance are close enough, the short delinquent catches her left arm quickly, grabs it firmly, and pulling her closer to him, causing her body to dragged backward and she almost loses her balance because the sudden force pulling her. And then, his right palm grabs her mouth, preventing her to scream.

"Hmmngh! Hmmmmmngh!"

'Get off me!' says Akane inwardly while struggling from his grasps. Before another one coming to her, she kicks the short one near his groin area with her left leg.

"Aaagh!" groaning in pain, he let go her left arm and clutches his near-groin area.

This situation gives Akane chance to run away from them. Just thinking about how they would do to her if she's lowering her guard and eventually getting assaulted by these scumbags send shivers down her spine, she has to run away.

"Shit! Da hell are ya doing!" the taller one shouted furiously as he starts running faster towards Akane, ignoring his accomplice that had just been kicked with slightly irritated expression, determining not to let Akane off the hook.

As Akane came out from the footway, suddenly there was another delinquent at her right side. He's already waiting and getting ready to take some action. His physique's more muscular than other two so he looked even more terrifying.

"Do you think you are going home tonight, little girl? Not gonna happen!" says the muscular one as he slowly approaches and then starts running towards Akane with a sinister smile a while taking out his knife from his pocket, trying to assert things with violence.

"Wha…" Akane almost yelped out a voice, just when she turns her body around, the tall one pushed and pinned her against the wall behind her.

"Finally, gotcha." He grabs her right arm and slams it against the wall, cornering Akane. And then covering her mouth with his right palm and squeezes it tightly.

"Mmm…mmmmm!"

No, let go!

She can't, his squeeze on her mouth is so powerful that she can't even open her mouth. She's slowly getting suffocated because his finger blocks her nostrils. Also, she's struggling pretty hard so that's making her more fatigued.

The muscular thug approaches her with his knife placed near Akane's neck. Knowing what is going to happen, Akane's face started to turn pale, she starts trembling in fear, and her tears on her eyes starts dripping down on her face.

"Mmm! Mmmmm!"

"Hehehe… nobody's gonna come to save you, little girl!" says the muscular thug while laughing evilly.

"Look at ya! Trembling in fear like that! Who would have thought that the princess of the Nishino conglomerate would be wandering outside this late!"

"If you gonna blame someone because of this shit, just blame yourself being sooooo careless."

The two of them sneering and laughing her helplessness as the knife user approaches his knife closer as its sharp edge touches Akane's white, slender neck. Shaking in horror, her knees start to feel limp, and her eyes drifting around while continues dripping tears, seeking for help from anyone.

"It's no use, you helpless little girl, if only you don't meet us in the first place, you don't have to hurt and you can go home safely. But, you know, we can let you off the hook if you do us something. You know what I'm trying to tell you, right?"

"M-mmm!?"

"This is your third kidnapping. I heard you got your second time yesterday, just like now, am I right? Don't try acting that you don't know a thing."

Her eyes burst open. Her memories about her kidnapping that buried deep inside her mind starts emerging once more. The memories of her almost being sexually assaulted by some pervert and love-delusional stalker, and almost being raped by a delinquent yesterday. Remembering those horrible events almost break her mind out of intense fear as she starts cold-sweating profusely all over her upper body.

"I have to say, ya got pretty face and figure like an idol, ya even got some huge racks on ya. Honestly, I do get what that stalker bastard and the other one yesterday felt after seeing yer alluring figure that made them wanted to do it with ya." says the other one with a sneer on his face as the muscular thug start unbutton her uniform until her cleavage is exposed.

"Hmmm! HMMMMM!" Akane struggles with all her might but in vain, her face goes red due to shame of her body got exposed by thugs who wants to defile her dignity. Right now, inside her fragile heart, she truly wishes to 'him' to come over and save her.

'Please… save me!'

"Stop struggling so desperately. I told you. No one will come to save you. Give it up and do as we say!" The knife user swinging his knife threateningly towards her neck. At the moment his knife almost touches its target, all of them hear someone screaming and cracking behind of them.

CRACK!

"AAAAGH! MY AARMM!"

It's the sound of bones fracturing.

"Ple-please stop-" but unfortunately…

WHAM! And then, CRACK!

"AGGGH!" the short delinquent has fallen on his knees and lying right-side against a wall after getting a punch on his face. He's not bleeding, but he's knocked out unconscious with some bone's inside was already broken by the man in black with balaclava mask.

"Weak." said the man in black in a nonchalant tone

"Wha… who's there!?"

The man in black moves the short thug's body in a narrow alley not far from the dark footway. There's a rustle sound as he put down the short thug beside the trash can on the dark alley. After that, he walked out of the dark alley and facing the remaining two. His figure is the same as he comes to Akane yesterday at the abandoned warehouse under the street light.

"Damn it. Who are you!?"

And then, the man in black speaks in deep, confident voice as he crackles the joints of his both hands.

"Who, me? I'm just Stylish Hoodlum Slayer wandering around."

Akane's helper has come.

'You come…'

The muscular thug glance irritably at the newcomer. "Who do you think you are, you punk!? You will regret after picking a fight to-" he roars as he is running forward while thrusting his knife to Stylish Hoodlum Slayer. But before he finishes his words, the balaclava vigilante dodge to the right evading the knife thrust coming to him. Immediately after, he grabs the muscular one's left hand, pulling it backward, and then punches the thug's left face so hard that he got almost knocked out.

"Uuugh! Ooofff..." he's staggering to the right. Although he's not fully unconscious, he can't move for a while. The muscular thug did not expect that the balaclava vigilante could make him fall on his knees. He's not just some small freak.

"Tch, da hell did ya do-" said the tall one as he let go all of his grasps off Akane as he's running to Stylish Hoodlum Slayer, only to being kicked on his chest area all of the sudden.

"Guhaahhh!" he coughed up blood. Akane could tell that the kick just now was really powerful to make that tall thug coughing up blood. After that, he falls down while clutching his chest to pacify the pain.

As the other one has fallen, Minoru, as Stylish Hoodlum Slayer, hears a shout from the muscular one, "You little bastard, DIEEE!" and thrusts again his knife towards his opponent.

"Don't shout while you attack. You're opening yourself." says Minoru while taking out his favorite weapon, a crowbar. Handling it like a tonfa on his left arm, swinging it effectively and swiftly as he disarms a knife from the muscular thug's hand. After that, Minoru moves forward to closing his distance between the two of them.

"Wha- Why you- Uuuggh-!" Minoru kneeing thug's lower jaw quickly as he proceeds to perform T-kick on his chestbone and send him far enough.

"Looks like you're not that strong than I anticipated, I guess." Minoru comments his opponents' strength as if he's disappointed to them.

Actually, what he's disappointed to is he can't go all out to them. They were all on the open road so there's a chance that the authorities or polices might spot them and catch them, including Akane and himself. Even if he and Akane could get away from them, those delinquents would go after them and Minoru absolutely cannot beat them outside neither his house nor Akane's because that would spark some new unnecessary problem.

So, the only solution he can think of is to incapacitate them as soon as possible and put them beside the short thug which had been beaten a while ago, making that scene like they're gotten themselves in a fight with another delinquent.

"Huff…huff… *cough* *cough* *cough*… You, don't tell me you're…"

"I don't have a time to answer any of your questions. Goodnight." He moves quickly behind the msucular thug who had just standing up again as he handchopped the thug's nape with some force that is enough to knock him unconscious.

"Ugh-"

One person has fallen.

"You're that Balaclava Berserker, are you!? The one who beat many of us using that crowbar earlier!" shouts the tall one, his mouth spit out a bit of blood, while his expression is clearly shocked by the truth has coming to him.

"Correct or not, it's up to you. But I'm not gonna answer your question."

"You little...! YOU THINK YOU CAN GOT AWAY WITH THAT!?" he roars his irritation aloud to Minoru as he charges blindly towards his opponent with very open defenses. He's desperate because he got beaten by this jerk without any effort.

Not going to waste any time more, Minoru uppercuts the tall thug's lower jaw as hard as he could, not going to spill any more blood on the road, and knocks him out immediately.

After that short fight, Minoru takes a long breath and he examines two delinquents' body that have collapsed. And then he carries up the muscular thug first. After putting him inside that dark alley, Minoru carries the tall thug without more effort compared to how he carries up the muscular thug a moments ago.

Minoru glances around the three collapsed body. After he makes sure that those three still not regained consciousness, he walks slowly towards Akane who had silent and stood frozen in place.

"How long are you going to be silent?" says Minoru in a slight deep tone, snapping Akane back to reality. Her eyes wondering around, she found no one apart from her savior.

Notices that he is looking at her face, not body... wait, he did, although just a little. Akane remembered that her upper body is exposed.

"Wha! Please don't stare at me so intensely!" blushed. She turns around and hurriedly buttons up all of her uniform.

"Huhhhh…" Minoru exhales a sigh, he doesn't care about her upper body being exposed. He did glancing at them, but chooses not to give another though about that and starts thinking about how she could go home safely.

"U-Uum… thank you for saving me." says Akane slowly as she finished button up her uniform. Her face is colored with a gratitude towards him.

"Take your bag and follow me." Minoru turns around and start walking to the footway which she got intercepted tens of minutes ago.

"U…Umnn." She follows him from behind, taking her bag which is located near the lightning pole across the dark alley. She spotted the three collapsed body beside the trash can. Looks like they're still unconscious, but it is safer by not to getting too close to them so she runs onto Minoru's right side, while shoots them a glance before continues moving forward. And then she tells the direction her way home to Minoru as they walked along the road.

20 minutes later, they arrived outside Akane's house.

"We're here." says Minoru.

"Thank you for escorting me home." Akane replies with a light smile.

"You're welcome. Goodbye, then."

"Eh?"

"Next time, be more careful on your way home, okay?" he turns around and go away.

Silence fills the place

At the same time, she realized something.

His eyes, when they looking at Akane while she's near half-naked, are the very same eyes like her seat neighbor, Minoru, have.

Both his and Minoru's eyes looking at her 'properly'. They showing gentleness but also seriousness and confidence, just like Minoru's but that mediocre's eyes are masked with bored and sleepy look so she and other classmates don't notice that.

Moreover, his voice, when he told her to be more careful next time, she heard a familiar voice, a same bored and relaxed tone like his.

As if Minoru and Stylish Hoodlum Slayer are the same person with different personality.

"Just, no way, right? Or, you are really…" says Akane while feeling quite astonished by the fact.

Although she's already certain regarding similarities of that two people…

"Nah, let's just find out more later." says Akane with smiling relaxly and streches her stiffened body.

She chooses not to reach that conclusion directly without a convincing proof herself.

The ties of clues about Minoru's and Stylish Hoodlum Slayer's identity, Akane would dig deeper into it.

After got in inside her house, no one's home except her house sitter hired by her family. It's almost 8 PM, so she quickly takes a shower, eat her dinner, study, and do her homework.

10 PM, while studying, she checks her phone, opening LNE app, and sees Minoru's private room chat. Looks like he replies her sticker with another hello sticker, she notices that he sends that sticker after her make-up lesson.

She smiles and sighs lightly, feeling relaxed for some reason. And replies back with a 'Good night' sticker.

After studying and cleaning herself, Akane goes onto her bed and she receives another notification from him.

It's another 'Good night' sticker from him.

She smiles and sighs lightly again, placing her phone on her chest while thinking…

"Minoru and Stylish Hoodlum Slayer… I wonder who in the world are you?" she desires to know about him more.

Then, she takes her drama script book, memorizes her part until she's yawning, conditioning her body to sleep.

She turns off the light and goes to sleep with her relaxed smile.

On another place, Minoru, after wandering around looking for a prey to be hunted, though they were just a small fry, goes home, studying, and doing his homework. The Eminence in Shadow have to be a clever and knowledgeable person so he usually studying almost everything he needs to know. He also learns his school material to keep up his studies and his persona as a mob.

A moment after he's done with his homework, there's a notification on his phone. That's from his seat neighbor.

He sees a "Good night" sticker. Wondering why is she sending him that sticker.

He decides to think about that later and continue studying until it's already late.

After studying for few hours and more, he looks back at his phone.

In the end, he found no reason why she sends him a sticker. Not going to think about that further, he replies back with another 'Good night' sticker, feeling that it's not good to ignoring person who's waiting for his reply.

Finally, he closes the book as he's feeling studied enough for tomorrow's lesson, brushing his teeth, and going to sleep for few hours before another bandit hunting.

Hello guys, thank you for reading the third chapter of this fanfiction. Please forgive me for the slow progress of this fanfiction. I have my own problem at my college, but I will keep doing my best! This chapter's writing process is more difficult than the previous two because of my own circumstances. As always, do correct me about the typos, grammar errors, miswritings, and anything else, I'll appreciate all of your idea and critics for making this fanfiction better than its previous chapters. Check the favorite and follow check column to get the latest chapter of this fanfiction. See you again next time.

After a long night, another revelation about him is known and the truth is moving closer to her.