After all this time... I finally won.

Although... it was at the expense of my aunt.

"Auntie... are you alright?"

"...wow, Yuu-kun! That was amazing!"

I breathed a silent sight of relief as the fear I sensed earlier was now gone.

"I went really overboard there, my bad..."

"No, no! You were incredible, especially at the end! That cardfight really had my heart racing!"

"Ah... same here. Your Skill really caught me off guard. It's really strong."

"Hey, that's my line! I had no idea you could use the Balance Breaker on the TTS."

"Neither did I... it just suddenly awakened out of nowhere. I feel exhausted, though..."

My head felt woozy and I nearly slipped forward, but auntie caught me in her arms.

"Aww... don't worry, Yuu-kun. I'll drive you back home so you can get some good night's rest, okay?"

"Yeah... that sounds good..."

I silently hoped that, one day, I could get to cardfight auntie again.

Packing up our stuff, me and auntie left the restaurant. As I did, a flash of silver ambushed me.

Before I had any time to think, I instinctively cocked my head to the side to dodge it, but the slash caught my left cheek, cutting into the scar on my skin.

Just when that was starting to heal...

Blood began to trickle down my face as a man dressed in pitch black brandished his knife at me in a reverse grip.

It's smooth blade, tainted with my blood, shimmered under the moonlight.

We were less than 10cm apart, but the threat of his weapon was enough to keep me on my toes.

A rush of adrenaline pumped through me as the seriousness of this situation settled in.

I only began to realise just how much danger I was actually in.

The person standing before me tried to kill me moments earlier.

If it wasn't for my lightning fast reflexes and inhuman reaction time, I would've died.

When faced against a blade, the mortality of my being came into full perspective.

I had to stay calm.

Immediately, my mind crossed to auntie, who was behind me.

Before I could do anything else, I stretched out my arm to push her back inside the restaurant.

"Auntie, stay there!"

When I turned around to warn her, my assailant used this chance to strike me in my blind spot.

"Yuu-kun!"

If it wasn't for her immediate cry, the knife would've stabbed me in the throat.

I whipped my head around and side stepped his strike, running away from the restaurant to bring some distance between him and auntie.

I had to keep this fight away from her. She was the one most at risk here, not me.

However, he was nimble, and quickly pursued me with another swift slash aimed at my head.

He was really serious about killing me...

In that case, I had to fight for my life.

I lowered my stance, dodging his strike, and reached out to grapple him.

My assailant seemed to be surprised at my reflexes, as he stepped back to create some distance between us.

Right now, the most important thing was to suppress his movements so he couldn't stab me.

My mind became clear as I discarded everything unnecessary in my surroundings and focused solely on him.

I was going to burn into my memory every little detail about this person in case they tried to get away.

I wasn't going to forget the man who tried to kill me.

In a split second, I processed everything.

Covered from head to toe in darkness, he was wearing a thin black jumpsuit that clearly defined his lean muscles. He seemed to be slightly taller than me, perhaps 170cm. With broad shoulders, a thin waist, and a six pack, I could tell he was an athletic person.

It seemed he had meticulously prepared for this, as he also wore a pair of matching leather gloves and boots to conceal his skin colour and to blend in with the dead of the night. If it wasn't for the shining full moon, my vision of him would've been skewed.

In his right hand was the knife, meaning he was probably right-handed. That would make it harder to identify him later on since the majority of students are right-handed. From what I could tell, his knife of choice was a switchblade with a simple design.

However, the thing that made him stand out the most was the spiked mask he wore to conceal his identity. Fitted on like a motorcycle helmet, it too was pitch black, but had an indigo visor stretched over it like a faceplate.

I don't know who this person was.

I don't care who they are.

But I won't forgive anyone who attempts to take my life.

As he drew closer to me, I side stepped once again to get into a more open area. Since I was his target, I started backing away from the entrance to ensure auntie's safety.

By the way he moved, I could tell he was a professional. He spun the knife in his hand flashily before trying to slash me again. He was silently conveying to me just how proficient and comfortable he was with handling this weapon with that simple party trick.

His attacks were confident and full of vigour. They were strong and deft, carrying a heavy weight behind them that showed his intent to kill. There wasn't a hint of fear or reluctance in his light footed steps.

The edge of his knife was taunting me with every close shave. The speed and precision of his strikes were impeccable.

Initially, I thought he was sloppy due to missing an easy first strike at the entranceway. However, it seems he did that on purpose to try and lower my guard.

It was only mere moments ago that I felt necessary to get serious. This was definitely not his first time with a knife. The more he revealed his true colours to me, the more I became wary of him.

Judging by how he matched my pace, this man was extremely capable of fighting, potentially even more than I was.

It reminded me of my scuffle with Shimada, except this time, my assailant wasn't slapdash about it.

As these fleeting thoughts popped in and out my head, my assailant continued to try and hack me apart with the knife.

For the most part, I was forced to stay on the defensive, evading his strikes and stepping out of the way. I was looking for an opening to stop him from attacking so I could turn the tables on him.

The counterattack would either come in the form of a sloppy strike, due to a miscalculation, or a weak strike, due to fatigue, or—

He brung his arm down in an arc, slicing the knife through the air.

What he just attempted to do right now.

I stretched my left hand out to grab his wrist, stopping the descending blade moments away from reaching me.

With a powerful twist of his wrist, my assailant's hand writhed in pain from my bone crushing grip. His body contorted uncomfortably as the pain rippled out into his arm.

However, that wasn't enough to make him let go of the knife, as he continued to clutch onto it desperately no matter how much pressure I applied on him.

It felt like his wrist would snap if I squeezed any harder. If anything, the pain seemed to encourage him to struggle under me, as he was gripping onto the lethal weapon even stronger than before.

Fine. If he wasn't go to let go of his weapon, then I'd take something else from him.

I tightened my right fist and pulled it back.

Now captured in my grasp, he couldn't escape from this.

Like a rocket, I slammed my entire fist into his face.

A crack appeared down the middle of his mask.

Then, it split.

The two halves fell apart and came crashing down around him.

His long black hair fluttered over his pale face, obscuring it briefly.

His violet eyes, illuminated under the moonlight, widened in surprise.

As I stared down at the man before me, the anger that surged into my left hand nearly crushed his wrist entirely.

"Nakajima..."

"Takanori-san."

The man behind the mask was Nakajima Rokurou from 1st Year D Class.

"Or should I say... Blade-san?"

With that one word, he changed my perception of him entirely.

All I knew Nakajima for was being a delinquent, like Shigeru and the others.

At first, I thought he was trying to kill me for some petty grudge that I don't remember.

However, after what he just called me right now, there had to be more to this man than just that.

I steadied my breathing to stay calm, but the alarm bells were ringing out incessantly in my head.

A deep sense of trepidation filled my body and chipped away at my mind as the realisation that yet another person knew about <that> settled in for me.

We exchanged calculative glances at each other, trying to size the other up.

However, the deeper I looked into his eyes, the more I was being swallowed up in his sullen air.

I was being dragged back into that world, where everyone had that same hollow look in their eyes.

There was no doubt in my mind anymore.

Nakajima was a denizen of the Underworld.

The walls in my head were crashing down, even heavier than before.

However, I had to cast away all of those thoughts right now.

I didn't have the luxury to be able to focus on Nakajima's connection to <that>.

Because right now, I was currently locked in a fight for survival.

One slip up here could mean the death of me.

The first thing I had to do was to get rid of the immediate danger that lurked sharply over my left hand.

"Drop the weapon."

"I refuse!"

Nakajima shook his head, trying to pull his hand out of my grasp instead.

If that's how it is, then I'd have to use force.

I tightened my fist and raised it above my head.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Nakajima ignored me, continuing to pointlessly try and escape my grip.

I sighed.

Why did human beings have to struggle so much over such trivial things?

I punched Nakajima in the solar plexus, sending shockwaves throughout his body.

He collapsed to his knees instantly, but managed to still stay upright.

For any normal person, receiving a punch like that would be enough to knock them out cold. The fact he was still conscious was more than enough proof that he came from that place.

As the impact of my blow spread out into his arms and legs, Nakajima's left hand twitched open involuntarily, dropping the knife by my feet.

Before he could reach down and grab it with his right hand, I kicked the weapon away from me, sending it in auntie's direction so she could pick it up and keep it out of Nakajima's grasp.

"Huh..."

Nakajima sighed before releasing all the tension in his body.

He looked at me indifferently, like he didn't want to fight anymore.

It was almost as if he was acting like the victim here.

"I guess you really are the real deal."

However, a glint of satisfaction could be found in his hollow violet eyes.

"It was nice meeting you, Blade-san."

"Don't act like you're going anywhere. You're not going to escape from my grasp until the authorities arrive."

During our trade of blows earlier, I saw auntie frantically call for the police out of the corner of my eyes.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

A thin smile appeared on Nakajima's lips.

"What did you do...?"

"Anything at this school can be paid for with private points, you know?"

Nakajima reached into his back pocket.

I readied my fist again, preparing to knock him out for good this time if he were to pull out a second weapon.

However, he pulled out his phone instead.

Flipping it around, Nakajima showed me the point balance on his account.

He had somehow accumulated more than four million private points despite being a 1st Year.

"When did you...?"

"Even if I get arrested, I can pay for my immunity. It's pointless, Blade-san."

It irritated me every time he called me that name.

Essentially, Nakajima had a get out of jail free card.

No wonder he could act so brazenly. He could pay away all of the consequences that befell on him.

No matter what happened to him, as long as he had these points on standby, he was safe.

"How did you get that many points?"

"If I tell you, I'd be in big trouble. However, since you've been much less troublesome to deal with than the other two, I'll be nice and give you a hint."

The other two...?

What did he mean by that? Has he tried to kill two other people before me?

Slowly but surely, the man known as Nakajima Rokurou was growing into a considerable threat in my mind.

"Ikumashi."

When Nakajima said that, I lost the last remaining strings of my composure that held my crumbling mind together.

Everything fell apart with that one name.

Using my sudden fragility as a chance, Nakajima slipped out of my loosened grip and scooped up his broken mask from the floor.

"See you at school, Blade-san."

Nakajima waved unceremoniously at me as he disappeared into the night.

I slumped to my knees.

But I thought the Ikumashi family weren't involved in the Underworld anymore...

Ikumashi, much like the Kuroshi family, was one of the three pillars of the Underworld before they were expunged out.

Their speciality was blackmailing others for money.

Was that the secret behind Nakajima's wealthy sum? Had he extorted private points from other students by blackmailing them?

Somehow, it fit his delinquent personality perfectly.

However, what I couldn't wrap my head around was why he name dropped them in the first place.

While the Ikumashi is the only surviving family out of the three, these days, they run a publishing company.

They've completely ceased their Underworld activities as far as I know.

So, why?

Why did he say their name?

It doesn't make sense...

My mind burned with questions. My face was smeared with dirt. My left hand ached from holding Nakajima's wrist for so long.

There was a deep irritation in my heart that I couldn't scratch at.

A gentle warmth enveloped me from my right side.

Auntie was hugging me tightly, burying my face into her chest.

Warm tears dropped from her eyes and onto my face.

"Yuu-kun... I'm so happy... you're still here..."

Holding onto me tightly, auntie painfully sobbed for my sake.

My steady shoulders finally started to shake.

The emotions I refused to let myself show in front of an enemy like Nakajima started to suddenly pour out in front of her.

My anxiety, my weakness, and my mortality.

As the gravity of the situation dawned on me, I recognised a new feeling that had entered my heart.

It wasn't anger, like with Kaido.

It wasn't excitement, like with Kishou.

It was fear.

I clutched onto auntie, clinging onto her shaking body and absorbing all of her love to confirm one thing.

I was alive.