"Haha! ⭐︎ 'My turn'? Says the guy who was just getting pummeled?" Mika taunted. "You know, like in Kivotos manga—beat-up hero awakens, takes down the enemy. I'm getting serious now," Mash replied. "Hero, huh? So I'm the villain?" "Not quite." "How can you say that after everything you've heard?"
Both battered, they closed the distance. Mika had fractures in her right forearm, left tibia, and a crack in her left femur. Mash's second right rib was shattered, intercostal and latissimus dorsi muscles crushed, and both fibulae cracked.
(Right forearm… radius, probably. Left leg, tibia. I can endure one more round,) Mika thought. "Sorry for breaking your bones," Mash said. "You're worse off. Just my arm and leg—yours?" "Second rib's gone, maybe piercing my heart or lung. Arms and legs just cracked." "Mine are broken, and yours aren't? Unfair!" "I'm built tough." "Still bleeding, pushing too hard." "Same goes for you."
Despite broken bones, they stood and spoke calmly. Hifumi gave up understanding—Trinity's fate rested on these two, wielding inhuman mystique and strength.
"Back to it—why am I not a villain? After all this?" Mika pressed. "You know you're doing wrong. Real villains don't. And villains don't claim to be villains," Mash said. "You think I feel guilt? That's naive, Sensei. ⭐︎" "Gotta stay optimistic to enjoy life. If you're not hurting… why look so sad about Seia's death?" "!" "Why ask how to turn back?" "!?" "Why look so sad now?"
Mika lunged, silencing him with a punch. Mash caught it with his broken arm. She swung with her other fist; he blocked again. They locked hands, facing off.
"Shut… up…" "…" "I'm a bad girl, a witch!"
Mika's fists trembled. Mash held firm.
"You have to take me down, Mash-kun! ⭐︎" "…" "And I have to beat you—because that's what villains do!" Jump! "Hmph!" Jump!
They leaped, crashing through the gym's ceiling, kicking mid-air. Unlike before, Mash held the advantage.
(Why's his power not dropping in mid-air!?) Mika thought. (She's not used to aerial combat… or maybe that's normal,) Mash mused.
In the air, without ground friction, Mash hovered, kicking as if on land. Mika faltered, her attacks slowing—a chance.
"Hmph!" Swing-swing-swing! "Waaah!?"
Mash spun Mika, hurling her to the ground. She crashed into the gym's cracked center. Mash flapped his legs like wings, descending slowly to cool his overworked muscles.
"Oof—" "You got me, Sensei!"
Mika retaliated, throwing rubble.
"Dodge-dodge-dodge!"
Mash hopped across the debris, landing before her.
"Welcome back!" Slam! "Home sweet home!" Bam!
Mika hurled more rubble and ceiling fragments. Mash punched through, advancing.
"Danger! Everyone, retreat!" Azusa shouted. "Back further!" Hifumi urged. "This is too much!" Koharu cried. "The gym's done for… Sensei, please!" Hanako pleaded.
Mash's shattered rubble scattered like shrapnel, hitting Arius and the club. As he glanced at them—
"Eyes off me, Sensei?" "Mika Jump Drop Kick!"
Mika aimed a dropkick. Mash didn't dodge—he caught it.
(Braced with abs! Normally, you'd fly back!) Mika thought.
Mash grabbed her legs, spreading them to shoulder-width, locking her ankles under his arms.
"Triceps Magic: Human…" Grip! "No way!?" "Hurricane!" Spin!
Mash spun Mika like a turbine. She struggled to hold her skirt, but the accelerating whirl created typhoon-like winds, making breathing impossible.
"Ngh!"
(Lifting her torso with abs!)
Mika freed her hands, grabbing Mash's neck.
"Feel this!?"
(This neck… it's like iron! Gotta squeeze harder… tough!)
Mash's neck was near-impenetrable. Mika fought wind, centrifugal force, and hypoxia while trying to choke him.
"Critical… Mika…" "!" "Headbutt!" Bam! "Ow…"
Mika's headbutt landed, loosening Mash's grip. She kicked free, escaping.
"Haa… haa…" "That hurt… impressive, Mika-san. I'm—" "Seriously… what the hell!?"
Panting, Mika pushed her exhausted body.
"Cracked arms, legs, broken ribs… how do you move!?" "That's just me." "Why endure the pain?" "For everyone." "Including me?" "Of course." "Why!?"
Mika swung again, undeterred. Mash, now accustomed to her speed, read her eyes, breathing, and muscles, dodging easily as her hypoxia-weakened state slowed her.
"Why not abandon me!?" "…" "Ignore me! Scold me! Hate me!" "No way." "If you don't… I'll… break!"
Guilt and loneliness crushed Mika. She'd killed, betrayed, hurt friends. If Mash cursed her as a witch, letting him defeat her as a villain, she'd find relief.
But Mash fought not to destroy her, but to stop her—for everyone, including her.
"Just… leave me alone!" "I don't need friends! I'm fine alone!"
Mika feared losing what mattered. Being hated was easier—losing nothing, hurting no one. Her hatred for Gehenna was an excuse, a shield for her pain.
"Please…"
A student's desperate plea—Mash's role as Sensei was to answer.
But if it meant her misery, he'd refuse.
"No. Absolutely not. That won't make you smile." "!"
"Beat me, frame Azusa, steal Nagisa's seat, wage war with Arius, wipe out Gehenna—are you happy then?" "That's…" "Trinity doesn't want war. Some will hate you. Arius doesn't want more pain, right?" "…Mash Burnedead…" "You'll be alone. Forever." "!!"
Mash grabbed her fist, pulling her close.
"Alone? No friends? Fine by yourself? You won't live normally like that." "!" "Some like solitude, but that's not loneliness. Only those content with life can handle it. You're not." "You barely know me—how can you say that!?" "We've only met a few times, but someone who loves being alone wouldn't grieve for Seia. Someone who doesn't care about friends… wouldn't look like that."
Mash fiercely rejected her claims. She didn't want loneliness—she was forcing herself into it. He knew the pain of isolation and refused to let her suffer it.
"I hate being alone. I love lively chats, eating cream puffs. I don't want you to feel that sadness." Throw!
"Even if my bones shatter, even if I'm dying, I'll stop you. I won't let you be alone."
Mash's honest eyes showed no sign of stopping. Mika understood—he was as relentless as she was.
"If we were the same age… things might've been different," Mika sighed. "Maybe." "You won't stop… so neither will I."
Mika turned to Arius. "Subdue the Remedial Class." "Mika-san!" Hifumi gasped. "Sorry, Sensei. I'm grateful, but I have to win!" "Understood," Arius replied. "Are you insane!? Fighting here means worse than injuries!" Koharu shouted. "Orders are absolute. We've seen the world's futility. Death's better than surviving in shame," an Arius student said. "…"
Arius aimed at the club. Then—BOOM!
Explosions echoed outside, gunfire and muzzle flashes nearing.
"What's that!?" "Team VIII! Ambush on the perimeter—Argh!?" "Ambush? Who defies the Tea Party's martial law!?" Mika stammered. "Bit naive, Mika-san," a voice said.
Bullets rained from the entrance, precisely hitting Arius, sparing the club. Mika turned.
"Utasumi… Sakurako." "Quite noisy for this hour, Mika-san," Sakurako said.
Clad in nun-like uniforms, haloed like crosses, the Sisterhood—Trinity's cathedral faction—stood firm.
"Something big's here… the Sisterhood?" Koharu said. "First meeting, Mash Burnedead-sensei. I'm Utasumi Sakurako, Sisterhood leader," Sakurako greeted. "Yo." "Sorry for the delay. We'll handle this," Sakurako said. "May peace be with you," Hinata added. "Sorry for intruding!" Marie chimed.
Sakurako, Hinata Wakaba, and Marie Ioroi led the Sisterhood, guns aimed at Mika and Arius.
"Sensei, your injuries!?" Marie gasped. "Wakaba Hinata. Come here, Sensei," Hinata urged.
Marie and Hinata rushed to Mash.
"Tea Party host, Mika Misono. You're under arrest for inciting harm and attempted assault on other hosts, plus assault on Shalle advisor, Mash Burnedead," Sakurako declared. "Haha, fighting the Sisterhood? You've ignored us until now. What's with the sudden move?" Mika taunted.
She hadn't anticipated this—or what followed.
"Gyahahaha!" "That voice… no way! Why!?"
BOOM!
"Sensei! Koharu!" "Tsurugi-senpai! You came!" Koharu cheered. "But why? The Justice Task Force shouldn't move!" Hanako said.
Tsurugi Kenzaki, Justice Task Force leader, crashed through the gym's wall, defying orders.
"Sensei…!?" "Seriously? Defying orders? Your position's at risk," Mika said. "We serve the Tea Party, their pawns for Trinity's security. But this time, it's me alone. My choice, not the Task Force's," Tsurugi growled. "Defying orders is justice?" "I sensed Sensei and my kouhai fighting. That's why I'm here. And…"
Tsurugi glared at Mika, eyes blazing with killing intent. Defying orders risked her position, but she didn't care.
"How dare you hurt Sensei and Koharu!"
Tsurugi aimed her shotgun, finger on the trigger, enraged by Mika's actions against her mentor and junior.
"Protecting them… that's my justice! I'm not your pawn anymore!" "Was gonna clean out the cathedral anyway. Might as well do it now," Mika said, slapping her cheeks, gathering strength.
"Let's see how far I can go!" "You'll fight? You're outmatched," Sakurako warned. "Maybe. But I can't give up. I was never allowed to say 'I'm done.' This was always my path."
Mika spread her wings, gazing at the shattered gym ceiling and the open sky.
"I'll crush the Sisterhood, Remedial Class, and Sensei, become Tea Party host, annihilate Gehenna, and rebuild Trinity with Arius in a purified Kivotos!" "Who wants that!?" Hanako snapped. "Me and Arius. Pater might join if I speak up. But that doesn't matter, Hanako. Without Gehenna, everything will work out… it has to." "You still believe that!?" "Sorry, but I can't be me otherwise. I'm too weak to hold on without this. Sorry, Sensei, Hanako." "No matter your title, we'll stop you!" Sakurako vowed.
As the Sisterhood aimed and Tsurugi lunged—
"Wait."
Mash stepped between them.
"Sensei!? You're still fighting with those injuries!?" Tsurugi gasped. "Thanks, Tsurugi, for coming. But no." "But!" "Sisterhood, leave this to me. Sakurako-san, protect the Remedial Class. They've got exams—can't tire them out." "With those wounds!?" Sakurako protested. "These are nothing compared to their struggles. I have to win this, end it myself—as their Sensei, to save my student."
Mash faced Mika and Arius, stopping the Sisterhood and Tsurugi. They couldn't fathom how a bloodied, halo-less human could stop her.
Tsurugi cooled her head, staring at Mash, worry unrelenting.
"Sensei." "Yeah." "Checkmate, huh?" "Yup." "Then…" Raise.
Mika lifted her hand. A light gleamed in the clouds, descending as they parted.
Everyone froze. Even Mash was stunned.
"A meteor… for real?"
A 10-meter meteor hurtled toward the gym.
"What's that!?" Hifumi screamed. "Mika-san… summoned it!?" Hanako gasped. "It'll kill us all! We need to escape!" Koharu cried. "Her mystique? This is too much!" Azusa said. "You'll die with us, Mika!" Tsurugi roared. "Hahaha! Exactly! This is all I've got!"
Mika poured her mystique into summoning it. A direct hit would obliterate halos, devastate Trinity, and ruin the Eden Treaty. No one could stop it—
Except one fist.
"Then I'll smash it."
"What?" "Destroy it?" "Tsurugi, be right back." "Wait, Sensei! What—" "No self-destruction. No sacrifices."
Mash dusted off, crouched, and glared at the meteor, charging his quads and calves, ignoring his pulverized bones. His muscles and veins bulged.
"No abandoning. No failing to save."
Mash focused, locking onto the red-hot meteor.
"Full Muscles Magic: Hyper… Jump!"
BOOM!
A sonic boom erupted, the gym floor cratering as Mash rocketed toward the meteor. The Sisterhood froze in awe; Tsurugi and the club prayed for his safety.
"Full Muscles Biceps Magic!"
Mash unleashed a no-holds-barred punch—
"Full Muscles Ultimate Asteroid Punch!"
CRASH!
A deafening collision echoed across Trinity.
BOOM!
The meteor shattered into dust.
"…" "Sakurako-sama's eyes… wide open! First time!" Marie gasped. "Speechless…" Hinata murmured. "Of course… Sensei's invincible," Koharu said.
Mash landed, rolling to absorb the impact, then faced Mika. She stared, incredulous, screaming.
"What… are you, Sensei!?"
Mash clenched his bloodied fist.
"Your Sensei. Be proud."
Different from the original? Too late! ❤️ Wanted the Justice Task Force to shine a bit (even if it's just one).Battle's not over yet.
Bonus:
"Aniki, your type?" "Someone I love who loves me." "That's cheating!" "What's that mean?"
"Bro, your type?" "Short, flat, older or younger." "Obvious, you lolicon!" "Then what are you!?"
"Guys? Kind, compatible, warm." "Girls? Hina-chan." "Naming characters now?"
Our house today. Both lolicons… yup.
--------------------------------
The new chapter just dropped! Be the first to read it 🤭 Patreon: [pat*eon*com/Greyhounds]