The thing about bullies is that they can smell change on someone like blood in the water.
Kai had barely made it through the school gates when he spotted them lounging against the vending machines near the main building—the same spot they'd claimed as their territory since freshman year. Daichi Sasaki stood in the center of his little pack, that familiar smirk already spreading across his face as he caught sight of Kai.
Kai's steps slowed. Not from fear this time, but from something else entirely. The rage that had been simmering beneath his skin since breakfast suddenly flared hot and bright, and for a terrifying moment he could picture exactly how it would feel to drive his fist through that smug expression.
Easy, he told himself, forcing his breathing to stay steady. Not yet. Not here.
In his original timeline, this encounter had followed the same script every morning for months. Daichi would make some comment about Kai's "bookworm" appearance or his lack of athletic ability. Kai would keep his head down and try to slip past. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. Either way, he'd spend the rest of the day feeling like a coward.
But he wasn't that person anymore.
"Well, well," Daichi called out as Kai approached, his voice carrying that particular tone bullies used when they wanted everyone nearby to know something entertaining was about to happen. "Look who finally decided to show up. I was starting to worry our little scholar had gotten lost in one of his boxing magazines."
Kenji and Ryo flanked him like loyal dogs, already grinning in anticipation of whatever humiliation their leader had planned. A few other students slowed their pace, sensing drama in the air. Some looked away uncomfortably. Others seemed curious to see how this would play out.
Kai stopped walking when he was still a few meters away—close enough to show he wasn't running, far enough to maintain tactical distance. "Morning, Daichi," he said, keeping his voice calm and level. "You're up early. Don't you usually sleep until third period?"
The comment wasn't particularly clever, but it caught Daichi off guard. In all their previous encounters, Kai had never responded with anything but mumbled apologies or nervous silence. Kenji's grin faltered slightly, and Ryo's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what had changed.
"Funny," Daichi said, but his voice had gained an edge that hadn't been there before. "Real funny. You know what I think is hilarious? I heard a rumor that you're planning to start training seriously. Boxing training. Is that true?"
The way he said 'boxing' made it sound like a joke. Like the very idea of Kai stepping into a ring was so absurd it belonged in a comedy routine.
"It's true," Kai replied, still maintaining that same even tone. "Uncle Hiroshi's been trying to convince me for months. I finally decided he was right."
"Your uncle was a has-been twenty years ago," Kenji jumped in, probably thinking he was being helpful. "What's he gonna teach you? How to lose fights professionally?"
That crossed a line.
The rational part of Kai's brain—the part that remembered he was supposed to be building strength gradually, that recognized this wasn't the time or place for confrontation—screamed at him to let it slide. But the part of him that had listened to Hiroshi's stories about his boxing career, that knew exactly how much pride his uncle took in what he'd accomplished, that understood the respect he commanded in the local boxing community, wasn't interested in rational responses.
"Kenji," Kai said, and something in his voice made the boy take a half-step backward. "My uncle made it to the national semifinals as a middleweight. He fought professionally for eight years and never once backed down from anyone. If you want to talk about his career, I'm happy to discuss it. But if you're just running your mouth because you think it makes you look tough, maybe you should reconsider."
The sudden quiet that followed was louder than any shout. Several students had stopped walking entirely now, openly staring at their little group. Kai could feel their attention like static electricity in the air.
Daichi's smirk had vanished completely. "You feeling brave today, Kai? That's interesting. Usually you can barely string two words together when we're talking."
"Usually I don't have anything worth saying to you," Kai replied. "Today feels different."
"Different how?"
Kai looked at him—really looked at him—and for a moment saw not the confident bully who would someday climb the professional boxing ranks, but a teenager who used intimidation to mask his own insecurities. Someone who needed to put others down to feel strong. Someone who would eventually grow into the kind of man who thought violence was the solution to any problem he couldn't manipulate his way through.
"Different because I'm not going to spend another day pretending you matter," Kai said.
The words hung in the air between them like a challenge. Daichi's face flushed red, and Kai could see his hands clenching into fists. For a moment, Kai thought the bully might actually swing at him right there in front of the school entrance. Part of him almost hoped he would.
But Daichi was smarter than that. He'd built his reputation on picking fights he could win easily, not on public displays that might get him suspended. Instead, he took a step closer, lowering his voice to a growl that only Kai could hear clearly.
"You think you're tough now? You think signing up for some training sessions with your washed-up uncle is going to change anything? I've been fighting since middle school, Kai. I know what real strength looks like, and it sure as hell isn't you."
"Maybe not," Kai agreed. "But here's the thing, Daichi—I'm done caring what you think about anything. You want to keep playing these little games? Go ahead. But I'm not playing anymore."
Kai started walking again, moving directly toward their group instead of trying to go around. For a second, he thought they might actually try to block his path. Daichi's jaw tightened, and Kenji shifted like he was preparing to step into Kai's way.
Then something in Kai's expression—or maybe something in the way he carried himself—made them move aside.
He walked through their little formation like it was nothing more than an inconvenience, not even breaking stride. Behind him, he heard Daichi say something to his friends in a voice too low to catch, followed by their nervous laughter.
Let them laugh. In his previous life, that laughter had felt like acid on an open wound. Now it sounded like exactly what it was—the desperate noise scared animals made when they sensed a predator nearby.
The rest of the walk to his classroom passed in a blur of whispered conversations and curious stares. Word traveled fast in high school, and by the time Kai reached his desk, half the student body probably knew that quiet Kai Nakamura had somehow grown a backbone overnight.
He settled into his seat and pulled out his literature textbook, trying to look like nothing unusual had happened. But his hands were shaking slightly, and he could feel his heart hammering against his ribs.
Not from fear, though. From exhilaration.
For ten years—in this timeline and the last—he'd let Daichi Sasaki treat him like he was beneath notice. He'd accepted the bully's casual cruelty as the natural order of things, convinced himself that keeping his head down was the mature response.
What a load of bullshit that had been.
"Kai?" The voice belonged to Yamamoto, the guy who sat next to him in most classes. He was staring at Kai with wide eyes, like he'd never seen him before. "Dude, what just happened out there? Did you really tell Daichi Sasaki that he doesn't matter?"
"Something like that," Kai said, not looking up from his textbook.
"Are you insane? He's going to make your life hell for the rest of the semester."
Kai finally raised his eyes to meet Yamamoto's. "Yamamoto, he's been making my life hell since freshman year. The only difference is that now I'm not going to pretend it's okay."
"But he's..." Yamamoto glanced around nervously, as if Daichi might materialize behind them at any moment. "He's dangerous, man. Everyone knows he trains at that boxing gym downtown. He put Tanaka in the hospital last year."
"Tanaka started that fight," Kai pointed out. "And Daichi finished it because Tanaka didn't know how to protect himself. There's a difference between being dangerous and being a bully who preys on people who can't fight back."
"And you can fight back now?"
The question was innocent enough, but it made Kai pause. Could he fight back? Physically, probably not yet. He'd been training casually with Uncle Hiroshi for months, but he was still basically a beginner when it came to actual combat. Daichi had years of experience and real training behind him.
But fighting back wasn't just about throwing punches.
"I don't know," Kai said honestly. "But I'm going to find out."
The rest of the morning passed without incident, but Kai could feel the change in how people looked at him. Some seemed impressed. Others looked worried on his behalf. A few appeared to be waiting to see what would happen next, like he was some kind of social experiment that might explode at any moment.
During lunch, Kai found himself sitting alone at his usual table near the windows, picking at a convenience store sandwich while going over notes from his morning classes. The cafeteria buzzed with its typical chaos of conversations, laughter, and the clatter of plastic trays, but he was only half-listening to the noise around him.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Kai looked up to find Takeshi standing next to his table with his lunch tray in hand. He looked nervous but determined, like he'd been working up the courage to approach for a while.
"Sure," Kai said, gesturing to the empty chair across from him. "But are you sure you want to? I'm probably not the most popular person to be seen with right now."
Takeshi sat down and unwrapped his own sandwich with careful precision. "Actually, that's kind of why I wanted to talk to you. About what happened this morning, I mean."
"What about it?"
"I saw the whole thing. The way you stood up to Daichi and his crew." Takeshi paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "I've never seen anyone do that before. At least, not without getting their face rearranged afterward."
"The day's not over yet," Kai said dryly.
"That's what I wanted to ask you about. Aren't you worried about what he might do? I mean, everyone knows he has connections to some pretty serious people outside school. His brother trains at one of those professional gyms, and some of the guys he hangs out with aren't exactly model citizens."
Kai set down his sandwich and studied Takeshi's face. In his original timeline, Takeshi had always been on the periphery of the bully situation—not quite a target, but definitely someone who lived in fear of drawing their attention. He was smaller than most of their classmates, quiet in the way that came from learning early that speaking up often led to trouble.
"You're right to be worried," Kai said finally. "Daichi isn't just some school bully who's going to grow out of it. He's building toward something bigger, and people like us are just practice for him."
"People like us?"
"People who don't fight back. People who let him get away with whatever he wants because we're too scared or too polite to make it a real problem for him."
Takeshi nodded slowly. "So what changed? I mean, you've been putting up with his crap for years, just like the rest of us. What made today different?"
The question hit closer to home than Takeshi could have known. How could Kai explain that he'd lived through ten years of consequences for exactly the kind of passivity he'd been showing? That he'd watched the woman he loved suffer because he'd never learned to be anything more than a victim with good intentions?
"I realized that being smart and staying out of trouble weren't the same thing," Kai said instead. "I thought I was being mature by not fighting back, but really I was just enabling him to hurt other people. And eventually, that was going to come back to bite me."
"So you're planning to fight him?"
"I'm planning to become someone who doesn't have to."
Takeshi looked confused, but before he could ask what Kai meant, another voice cut through their conversation.
"Well, isn't this cozy."
Kai didn't need to look up to know who was standing behind him. Daichi's voice had that particular quality that could cut through background noise like a knife through paper.
"Daichi," Kai said, turning in his chair to face the bully. "Enjoying your lunch?"
Daichi wasn't alone, of course. Kenji and Ryo flanked him as usual, and they'd brought Sho Watanabe with them this time—a thick-necked guy who'd made a name for himself by winning underground fighting competitions that technically weren't supposed to exist on school property.
"I've been thinking about our conversation this morning," Daichi said, pulling out the chair next to Takeshi and settling into it without invitation. "And I realized I might have been too hasty in my judgment."
"How so?"
"Well, you said you were done playing games, right? That you weren't going to pretend I mattered anymore." Daichi's smile was sharp enough to draw blood. "But the thing is, Kai, I don't think you understand what kind of game we've been playing."
The cafeteria around them had gone quieter, though most students were trying to pretend they weren't listening. Takeshi looked like he wanted to disappear into his chair.
"Enlighten me," Kai said.
"See, I always thought we were playing 'pick on the smart kid because it's easy and fun.' But maybe we've been playing 'see how long it takes the smart kid to do something stupid.' And if that's the case, congratulations—you just won."
Sho cracked his knuckles, the sound unnaturally loud in the sudden quiet. "Daichi's been telling us about your new boxing hobby. That's real interesting, Kai. Real interesting."
"I'm glad you approve."
"Oh, I more than approve," Daichi said. "In fact, I'm so excited about your new direction that I want to help you with your training."
Here it comes, Kai thought. The real reason they'd sought him out.
"That's very generous of you," Kai said carefully.
"Isn't it? See, I was thinking—if you're serious about learning to fight, you should probably get some real experience. And it just so happens that there's this little informal competition that happens after school sometimes. Nothing official, you understand. Just some guys testing their skills against each other in a safe, controlled environment."
"You mean the fight club that meets behind the old gymnasium," Kai said flatly.
Daichi's grin widened. "I prefer to think of it as a learning opportunity. And since you're so eager to prove you're not the same person you were this morning, I think you should join us. Today, in fact."
The challenge was obvious, but it was more than that. This was Daichi's way of calling Kai's bluff, of forcing him to either back down publicly or step into a situation where Daichi could humiliate him properly. In Kai's original timeline, this moment had never come because he'd never given Daichi reason to escalate to this level.
But Kai wasn't the same person who'd graduated from this school ten years ago.
"What are the rules?" Kai asked.
Takeshi made a small noise of protest, but Kai ignored him. Daichi looked genuinely surprised that Kai was even considering it.
"Rules are simple," Daichi said after a moment. "One round, three minutes. No weapons, no biting, no eye gouging. Everything else is fair game. You win, and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the semester. I win..." He shrugged. "Well, let's just say your new attitude problem gets adjusted permanently."
"And who decides the winner?"
"Knockout, submission, or whoever's left standing when time runs out. We'll have plenty of witnesses to keep things honest."
Kai looked around the table at the four of them. Sho was practically vibrating with anticipation. Kenji and Ryo looked like they were already planning how they'd describe Kai's humiliation to their friends. Daichi just watched him with that calculating expression Kai had come to hate.
In his original timeline, this was exactly the kind of situation Kai would have found a way to avoid. He would have made excuses, or tried to negotiate his way out, or simply refused and accepted whatever social consequences came with backing down from a direct challenge.
But that approach had led him to an alley ten years in the future, broken and helpless while the woman he loved paid the price for his weakness.
"Alright," Kai said. "But I have one condition."
Daichi raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly in a position to make demands."
"Maybe not. But if I'm going to do this, I want it to mean something. So here's my condition—when I win, you don't just leave me alone. You leave everyone alone. Takeshi, the freshman you've been hassling, that kid from the art club whose lunch money you've been taking. All of it stops."
"When you win?" Daichi laughed, but it sounded forced. "That's pretty confident for someone who's never been in a real fight."
"Do we have a deal or not?"
Daichi was quiet for a long moment, studying Kai's face like he was looking for some sign that he was bluffing. When he didn't find it, his expression grew thoughtful.
"Deal," he said finally. "But when you lose—and you will lose—I want you to stand up in front of the entire school and apologize for wasting everyone's time with your little tough-guy act. And then you go back to being the same quiet, invisible nobody you've always been."
"Fine."
"Fine." Daichi stood up, and his crew followed suit. "Four o'clock, behind the old gymnasium. Don't be late, Kai. And don't bring any teachers with you. This stays between students."
They walked away, leaving Takeshi and Kai sitting in the artificial calm that followed a storm. Around them, conversations gradually resumed as other students pretended they hadn't been eavesdropping on every word.
"Are you completely insane?" Takeshi hissed, leaning across the table. "Do you have any idea what you just agreed to? Daichi's been training for years. He's put three guys in the hospital. And Sho Watanabe once broke someone's arm just for looking at him wrong."
"I know exactly what I agreed to," Kai said, surprising himself with how calm he sounded.
"Then why? Why would you do something so stupid?"
Kai looked at him—really looked at him—and saw himself as he'd been in his original timeline. Scared, smart enough to know when he was outmatched, but not strong enough to do anything about it.
"Because someone has to," Kai said simply. "And it might as well be me."
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period. As Kai gathered his things and prepared to head to afternoon classes, one thought echoed in his mind:
Four o'clock. Behind the old gymnasium.
He had less than four hours to figure out how to win a fight against someone with years more experience, better training, and every possible advantage except one.
Kai knew exactly what kind of person Daichi Sasaki would become if no one ever made him face real consequences for his actions.
And he'd be damned if he was going to let that happen again.